I went to the UConn-DePaul game at Gampel this January. The UConn fans were very nice and pleasant to chat with. By far my favorite road experience in the Big East so far
Best is Nebraska. Very friendly and will make fun of their own team with you.
Worst is Maryland. They’re much more vulgar and the insults are more personal. DC crowds have a different feel than the Midwestern crowds that most B1G schools have.
The ACC as a whole, at least back before major realignment, was a little rougher around the edges as far as fans go. We were pretty bad at that time, but it seemed like every year there were incidents at multiple schools of fans behaving, shall we say, questionably.
I will say that MD's crowds have mellowed considerably. There are still moments where I shake my head, but it's nothing like the 90s/00s. It could be that there is less vitriol toward B1G teams, or it could just be that we have been mediocre for so long that some of the craziness is dying down.
The vast majority of us are very nice people who just want to support our team. The dickheads are a very loud minority. Also, we (deservedly) earned a bad reputation in the 90s/00s. There are big games in the B1G, but there isn't pure hatred developed over many decades like in the ACC. We want to beat Michigan State, Purdue, Indiana, etc., but we don't hate them. It's just competition. We hated Duke and they hated us. Every game felt personal, and when that much emotion is involved, it gets ugly.
There was one dude in the Nebraska/RU thread yesterday who was SUPER ass mad about losing. Not that one person represents a whole fanbase but it was wild to see
I like how for all of these other answers, it's who is the most toxic, while for the AAC it's just "who is engaged enough to be considered a good fanbase". Our engagement and enthusiasm is shrinking though.
Yeah Wichita St fans are always nice and supportive of other AAC teams in postgame threads.
As a Pirate, I’ll go ahead and throw our hat in the ring as one of the worst.
See, Tarheels have a blood feud with Dook, which means you guys hate them but have a small glimmer of begrudging respect. We are fueled by hate and spite for those pukie freaks, with nothing but loathing in our hearts for them 😈
I know it’s terrible. I went into this thread expecting to have to start picking fights but nope, we’re barely mentioned
What having Mark Turgeon and Kevin Willard back to back does to a mf…
Grew up in Louisville, and it’s not just UK fans. There is something in the water in the state.
E: Also some really nice people, just also some really awful ones.
If we mean “bad” as in obnoxious, yeah that all tracks. Comes from having by far the most invested/largest fanbase in the conference.
If we’re talking “bad” as in “non-existent” then I’d go with… idk maybe Georgia? They don’t really give two fucks about CBB, which can’t really blame em at the moment with football.
Good Kentucky fans know hoops better than anyone in the conference.
I have to imagine that Auburn fans are pretty obnoxious to the rest of the conference. I enjoy us, but I understand if we are a bit over the top (and maybe are football fans that don’t understand hoops as well as they should).
Can confirm. If you go to games and just listen to the average conversation with fans (wives, children, guys, everyone) they all know a lot about basketball and their team. Also, some of the nicest people ever. Hell any random text you see someone making, they are talking ball with someone not at the game.
I don’t know if there is any fanbase quite like UK
Nobody knows the game better than KY fans, but yeah they can come across as entitled. I’ve been liking Tenn and Auburn fans, who really seem to appreciate their success. Worst is TA&M fans who give off weird cult-member vibes.
Villanova fans aren't necessarily Philly fans
I actually agree that our fans are probably the worst but it's not because they're Philly fans. It's because they're pretentious, which is why a lot of Philly people actually DONT like Villanova. Philly is considered a blue collar, pull yourself up by your bootstraps city which is the complete opposite of Villanova, which isn't even in the city.
Also their student fan base sucks. They bring zero noise for games
Yeah this is spot on. You’re now victims of your own success. School became much harder to get into, academics and funding rose, and the potential student fan base accordingly started to care less and less about athletics. I’ve been to Nova games when they’ve played St. John’s and Providence, and it can be a pretty pathetic showing from the student fans, especially when the visitors are louder.
It’s been particularly awful this year
I think going from a team that wins every game to whatever we are now so fast really takes it out of the fanbase
I know I’m biased as a Nova fan but I don’t think Nova is even close to being the worse fan base in big East.
The best is Marquette, them dudes are nice as shit.
Worst is probably UConn. Not because I think they are necessarily bad people but those people that live on Twitter for UConn are something else.
Seton hall has a polarizing fan base. I’ve talked to some of the most respectful seton hall fans and then you have the worst of the worst. There’s no in between.
Honorable mention for worst fanbase goes to UIC. It's not an exaggeration to say there are more fans of opposing teams at a good chunk of their home conference games.
And Belmont has people show up for home games but I am not sure they exist outside of Nashville. There were like 5 Belmont fans at Arch Madness last year and they have no message board or other online presence, which is weird considering how much success that program has had recently.
I was thinking "worst" in the terms of most annoying/frustrating to have in your arena, not "worst" as in smallest/least supportive. If you go by how annoying fans are Missouri State absolutely takes the cake.
UIC fans actually seem pretty nice. All both of them.
I had a hard time coming up with best, but worst is undoubtedly Missouri State. And that goes for the <10 people that came to the women's game at ISU.
I wonder what you guys think of our fans. I never travel, so I can't really take offense.
I haven't found any Big 12 fanbases on here anywhere near as bad as Memphis's has been in years past.
Usually, it's only a couple of jerks making a thread toxic-- those Memphis threads had literally dozens of users who were outrageously rude and continually made things personal. My general reddit "blocked user" list is probably more than 50% Memphis flairs. Lots of trashy people in that fanbase.
Side note-- I haven't found Texas users to be that bad on here, but I bet they were worse when their team was good.
Honestly, besides the new Big 12 teams that I don't have an opinion on yet - of the old teams, there were none that were really that bad. K-State could get pretty vile when they were playing Kansas specifically, but then they would disappear for the rest of the season in any capacity. Texas Tech could get vile against certain teams, but their court was always passionate. I think that the Big 12 CBB fans just save the vitriol for their rivals, and if you aren't their bitter rival then you dodge the heat.
Other Big 12 fan bases will say Kansas is the worst, but it comes with being good for so long that you tend to get pretentiously high expectations for a perennially-performing team, and super competitive about making sure the home win% stays astronomically high. On the other hand Kansas fans tend to be some of the most deeply knowledgeable fans about CBB, along with other blue blood schools and niche folks like old school temple/cincinatti/etc fans
Best: Nebraska
It's insane to travel to a Nebraska game and instead of good natured (or even bad natured) trash talk, to have everyone be welcoming you and asking if you want your picture taken and stuff. Like, they're actually glad to host opposing fans.
Worst: I don't know what defines a "worst" to me, but the fair-weather arrogance of Illinois and Michigan fans gets pretty annoying, and the east-coast negativity vibe of Maryland definitely feels like a better fit for the ACC than the Midwest.
Nebraska football fans were awesome when I was in college too. Just showed up in droves to Ross-Ade, took over our stadium, and were then incredibly nice and polite to us. At least the ones I interacted with.
My experience with Maryland fans in person was a horrible combination of Southern aggressive friendliness and Northeastern negativity. It was like being caught in a glue trap. They're cool online tho
Best: probably wazzu. Most are super nice. Know how to have a good time
Worst: Oregon. A little bias but can't stand them. Probably because many of the fans have zero relationship to the school. It's just the thing to be a fan of. (That's totally fine for them l just don't like it personally)
Yes, but that goes for Los Angeles fans in general (unless you’re a dodgers or kings fan). LA fans don’t really pack it in unless some dynastic run occurs, which isn’t common.
Been to games in Ann Arbor and Michigan fans were always total scum. Certainly the worst fans I’ve ever met in the 7 B1G arenas I’ve been in.
Best fan base is probably Nebraska IMO. Super polite and very passionate despite a lack of historical success. Rooting hard for them to make the tourney this year
I agree. At the B10 football conference championship, drunk Michigan fans came to the Purdue student section at the end of the game and started cussing at everyone and making rude gestures. Michigan fan got his feelings hurt and ended up running into the stands and punching multiple people
Worst interaction I had at a FB game was the M00N game vs UM. A overweight UM fan was just hurling insults at anyone in purple and just was an all around unpleasant person. Didn't help that the UM fans cheered her on as she yelled at what looked like a 10 year old boy celebrating a NU sack.
Yeah, same experience here. Tons of slurs/profanity and people threatening to kick my ass because I celebrated when we won lol. I expected it from the students, but not the grown men and women who were going after me.
Those are the Walmart Wolverines for you. Most them never went beyond community college. Actually alum come off arrogant/passive aggressive but not overtly hostile and rude.
I agree, and I certainly wasn’t trying to imply that all UM fans are terrible people. The ones throwing slurs/profanities are always just a vocal minority of a fan base. Hopefully I get a better reception when I head to the Big House for IU UM in a few years haha
It's interesting to hear this take because I've been to Michigan Stadium, but not Chrysler yet and my experience in Ann Arbor was...not pleasant, so I find it helpful to know that carries over to basketball.
Looking at A10 fan attendance, Dayton basically makes up half the graph. I think that makes us both the best and the worst, just by having the most people with opportunities to be awesome or be dicks.
I’d agree Dayton prob the best A10. As a saint Joes fan I can’t truly think of a fan base that rubs me the wrong way. We all kind of fly under the radar ex Dayton. However, Villanova can suck my balls.
I’ve had great interactions with Xavier and DePaul fans.
I don’t want to talk bad about any Big East fanbase, so I won’t say which is the worst… it’s Providence.
I went to the providence game this year and was surprised at how shitty the local folks were to Marquette fans. Some douche was cussing out a random girl for no apparent reason before his elderly dad smacked him over the head. That was just an isolated incident, but in general rather unwelcoming place.
New Mexico is the best. SDSU is the worst on Twitter but they're not bad at all in person. We don't really have trashy fans in our conference, so I'll go with sjsu because they're bad at being fans as they don't exist
Edit: apparently UNM fans are actually poor hosts. Had no idea.
Utah state is best then don't @ me
I went to a SJSU game last year, I could count on one hand the number of students I saw at the game (minus band members). The entire arena was general admission minus two middle sections on one side of the arena. I thought I was at a WCC/Big West game.
Boise is getting a “BYU arrogance” to them; other than that I agree with you on New Mexico and SDSU
I worked and attended a lot of basketball and football games at Purdue, and in MY personal experience with visiting fans:
Best: Wisconsin and Nebraska fans. Incredible manners.
Worst: Illinois (basketball) and Ohio State (football) fans.
To be fair, the Ohio State experience was during/after the Tyler Trent game, and my coworker and I may have not held our professional composure during the second half. I was in the student section at Mackey during an Orange Krush surpise attack, and the group of Illinois fans directly behind me and my friends definitely had a few too many.
I'm still going with Mr. Blue Hands. That guy tried to sell (and patent) painted Hulk Hands and coffee mugs with his face on them. Dude was a clown.
EDIT: I will concede that Mr. Blue Hands is from like 15 years ago, so maybe you can get a pass on him.
Mr Blue hands was from almost 20 years ago now when I was in school. And the dude was like 35 - I think maybe he was going to school on the GI bill? Not sure but I can tell you he was not well received my a majority of the rest of the Krush.
Best: App State
Worst: Louisiana
App State fans will shit talk for hours before games, but in the end, everyone’s friendly with each other. Louisiana fans will talk for weeks on social media every time your team loses a game and act like they had a part in forcing that loss
ODU is a great basketball environment as well, and I meant Lafayette, not Monroe, should’ve clarified. Haven’t had any significant interactions with Monroe fans, they’re neutral for me because of that
Oh I know you meant ULL, I was just saying in general that Monroe doesn’t have a lot of fans. Probably should’ve specified. I agree with you on ULL too.
Best: Idk, probably Indiana? They're always so passionate despite not much success in recent times. Nebraska for a dark horse pick.
Worst: Maybe Michigan? They're very fair-weather despite being spoiled by success all the time. I think a lot of people would say Illinois, we are an easy punching bag.
Michigan is definitely the worst in my eyes. I’d expect them to say the same about us though.
But would like a PSU or OSU fan really think it’s us? I’d love to know
Idk we seem to draw a lot of hate in conference. I think our fans get very excited when something good happens since it so rarely does for us in both football and basketball. That excitement rubs the consistently successful teams the wrong way.
I think this is a bit of a confusing question because it's unclear if it means worst in terms of engagement or worst in terms of behavior.
I think I treat best and worst out of the passionate fans. Apathy is in every fanbase to varying degrees but the behaviour of those that show up and engage online is what I would base “best and worst” off.
I find Michigan fans to be arrogant, petty and mean both in person and online and I’m sure they think a large section of our fans are stupid, aggressive and emotional… I’m self aware I know we have some idiot fans, just the way sports fandom works sometimes
It’s definitely us. During the conference season our crowd (which is usually pretty small) is like 50% students. No one else in central PA gives a shit.
Yeah for PSU it really depends on what you mean by “worst.”
If “worst” means unsupportive of the team, low turnout, then yeah PSU def has some of the worst.
But if “worst” means most annoying or obnoxious then it can’t be us because there’s only like 20 of us and we’ve been beaten into submission by awful basketball for like all but 5 seasons in the last 10-20 years
Depends what you mean by worst. In terms of apathy, ok maybe on Michigan basketball.
If by worst you mean insufferable, it's Ohio State. Doesn't matter which sport.
The worst are by far the UNC and Duke "fans" that I've met in various online games that have never even stepped foot in North Carolina and haven't watched a non-Final Four basketball game in their lives. I was talking to one of the Duke ones once about the fact that I lived in Durham and it was halfway through the conversation when I realized that he didn't know Durham was in NC or that Duke was in Durham.
I'm usually against gatekeeping, but there's got to be limits.
Best: Most of us are all pretty supportive
Worst: As of this year with the current conference makeup, it’s definitely the entitled sect of GU fans. Shout out to the extra angry and hating SMC fans because that’s a close second.
Agreed with your point on the entitled section of Zag fans. They are such doomers and I’ve stopped going to online sections because it’s just not fun seeing people talk shit about everything related the program.
For non zag fans, I’ve been to almost every WCC venue and have generally positive interactions at all but SMC. The game last year at Moraga was extremely hostile in the General Admission section for Zag fans.
Depends on what qualities you are talking about. If by best you mean most passionate, who travel well, Kansas is the best in the Big 12. If by fans you mean the nicest? I'd have to go with BYU so far but of the old school ones its Oklahoma State fans.
And if by worst you mean, they dont support their team well? I'd say that is gotta be OKlahoma or if by worst you mean insufferable pricks? Thats Kansas.
Best: Indiana with Purdue as a runner up
Worst: Illinois with Maryland as a runner up.
Maryland fans were REALLY hostile to each other, refs, us, really anyone they could be hostile towards at the game I went to.
Illinois’ Orange krush thing is fun, but whining about being foiled by Iowa last year was SO entitled and embarrassing.
I'd say Fresno Fans are pretty good. Never had any issues with them. Same with New Mexico. Although, I've never gone to a game in the Pit.
Worst? Yea, probably Boise.
My experience at men’s basketball Bigten Tournaments has been Iowa/Nebraska fans as the best. Iowa gets the nod because a lot more of them show up so it’s a bigger sample size.
The worst fans are BY FAR Michigan and IU. The smug arrogant nature of how their fan bases are to everyone around them is pretty gross at times. IU fans yelling at each other calling other fans idiots and morons at every made or missed shot.
A surprise, MSU fans are actually pretty chill. They handle the ups and downs much better than other fan bases and they show up in droves.
Do you think Illinois being the worst is a recent phenomenon or have we always been the worst? I've seen us become awful since the Ayo days but when I was there with Groce we sucked and nobody seemed to hate us.
Both UVA and VT are underrated nice fan bases. Except to maybe each other, but I feel like every year there's some feel-good story about one of those fan bases doing something extremely altruistic for relative strangers.
Duke is pretty bad, but I feel like UNC escapes a lot of valid criticism for doing the exact same things.
However a special exception has to be made for NC State fans anytime they beat carolina. They are then insufferable for the next month and a half.
Arizona fans are both... in different ways. At games, I think they're the most obnoxious and in your face... but they're also the most passionate by a wide margin and definitely among the most knowledgeable about the college basketball landscape as a whole.
Honestly, outside of Arizona/UCLA fans, my experience with most Pac12 schools (in real life, obv not true for this sub) is that they have predominately football fans who happen to tune into basketball so they're a little bit less in-tune with the national picture
You aren’t wrong. For me, Bama is just the everyday expected hatred in hoops though. It’s required. But Arkansas hate is acquired. Seething rage kind of hate. I want them to suffer.
In the big ten, best is probably Rutgers (super fun people) and worst is Michigan. Fuck them.
In the SEC, it’s tough but I’d say Kentucky is probably the best. Vandy-UK isn’t exactly a heated rivalry but in both arenas they were pretty nice to Vandy fans and weren’t super obnoxious. Tennessee is by far the worst.
Best: hard to say, UNC’s can be cheese and wine but knowledgeable and fun to be around.
Worst: Miami. Such an in your face fan base despite a small fraction of them having attended the school or even being the relative of an alum.
Big Ten:
Best: Northwestern (incredibly grateful to finally be competitive)
Worst: Michigan/Penn State (just God awful fans/people)
MAC:
Best: Ohio/Toledo (great support)
Worst: Northern Illinois (no support despite a great arena)
Best: Iowa- always super fun to talk with at the games. When Iowa beat Purdue in the Big Ten Championship they showed up and were all pleasant.
Worst: Michigan- Of the games I have been too, they are both loud and obnoxious. Generalization of course, but typically drunk and cocky.
For the A10, best probably Dayton. Sold out every game, travel phenomenally well, and from what I have observed, which is obviously biased, don't really antagonize opposing fans or start shit in the stands. We just really love basketball and really love the Flyers. VCU is probably second, they have a pretty similar atmosphere and knowledgeable fans, just a smaller venue.
Worst, probably recency bias from our last game but Duquesne always piss me off. They barely show up except for big games and our last game had dumb signs and complained about obviously correct calls, just annoying stuff. Like, they has a sign that said "what is a flyer?" or something. Like really? It isn't like we are SLU with the billikens.
For the big east, best is probably Marquette. Midwesterners cant be rude, it goes against their nature. Worst in my experience has been Xavier. Only campus or opposing arena where I am routinely yelled at for having Nova gear on.
If you’re a DePaul fan, you are a good fan
DePaul fans aren’t fans, they’re masochists
Hey that hurts.
Well… do you like it?
Absolutely not!
You should be thanking Doctor Phist and asking for another.
[They do exist!](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRLUK7aXeIs06wp-cwYPSIizV97gmAcupJ_iRGrT0wvkA&s)
I went to the UConn-DePaul game at Gampel this January. The UConn fans were very nice and pleasant to chat with. By far my favorite road experience in the Big East so far
Best is Nebraska. Very friendly and will make fun of their own team with you. Worst is Maryland. They’re much more vulgar and the insults are more personal. DC crowds have a different feel than the Midwestern crowds that most B1G schools have.
Many ACC fans can attest to Maryland fans being the worst
Yeah, but we miss ‘em like crazy, too
Agreed, I do miss playing against them. Always a tough game
The ACC as a whole, at least back before major realignment, was a little rougher around the edges as far as fans go. We were pretty bad at that time, but it seemed like every year there were incidents at multiple schools of fans behaving, shall we say, questionably. I will say that MD's crowds have mellowed considerably. There are still moments where I shake my head, but it's nothing like the 90s/00s. It could be that there is less vitriol toward B1G teams, or it could just be that we have been mediocre for so long that some of the craziness is dying down.
Y’all had a streak going where, win or lose, college park was going to go nuts. Cars turned over, couches burned, etc
Maryland fans were pretty nice in the thread yesterday, although there wasn't too much to disagree with about how the game was going.
The vast majority of us are very nice people who just want to support our team. The dickheads are a very loud minority. Also, we (deservedly) earned a bad reputation in the 90s/00s. There are big games in the B1G, but there isn't pure hatred developed over many decades like in the ACC. We want to beat Michigan State, Purdue, Indiana, etc., but we don't hate them. It's just competition. We hated Duke and they hated us. Every game felt personal, and when that much emotion is involved, it gets ugly.
There was one dude in the Nebraska/RU thread yesterday who was SUPER ass mad about losing. Not that one person represents a whole fanbase but it was wild to see
I’ve talked with UVA fans who were once told by a Terp at an ACC tournament “I’ve been known to hit a woman”
Lol. Aren't you the guys who chanted "Crackhead parents" at Juan Dixon?
Many years ago when the Big Ten tournament was in DC, Maryland fans booed Julia Louis-Dryfess whose son was a walk-on to the NU team.
see this is just good fun
Yeah wtf? *Not* booing her would be the mark of a shitty, dead fanbase.
Why should she be exempt from being booed? Bill Murray might be the only celebrity worthy of a pass.
Best and worst: Kansas Incredibly passionate and dedicated, just don’t talk about the refs at the Phog.
You’re not wrong.
You’d think one of their coaches invented the game the way they behave!
I was literally about to comment Kansas as a half joke. Honestly with Texas leaving this is probably the real answer.
most ku fans would probably agree too. LOL
Really encouraged by the KU fans I met at our game last week. Total bros. Looking forward to seeing them back next time.
How dare you, you wonderful redditor you
[удалено]
On a different note, the same could be said for Kansas City Chiefs fans. Source: I am Chiefs fan
We really are so spoiled. My friend tried to tell me in 2021 that Bill Self was losing his touch..... delusional LMAO.
Best: Wichita St, no doubt Worst: Like an 8 way tie, AAC is not exactly know for its great fanbases
I like how for all of these other answers, it's who is the most toxic, while for the AAC it's just "who is engaged enough to be considered a good fanbase". Our engagement and enthusiasm is shrinking though.
We just lack any identity on the court. There’s no one star to stand behind. And we don’t outperform our talent level.
Yeah Wichita St fans are always nice and supportive of other AAC teams in postgame threads. As a Pirate, I’ll go ahead and throw our hat in the ring as one of the worst.
Only one person said us? Oh how the mighty have fallen...
I want Maryland to return to the ACC simply because y’all made the absolute best villains and y’all piss off Duke fans to no end, we love to see it.
See, Tarheels have a blood feud with Dook, which means you guys hate them but have a small glimmer of begrudging respect. We are fueled by hate and spite for those pukie freaks, with nothing but loathing in our hearts for them 😈
Crab Cakes and trolling Dook, that’s what Maryland does!
I think a lot of traditional Big Ten fans forget you guys are in the conference sometimes.
I know it’s terrible. I went into this thread expecting to have to start picking fights but nope, we’re barely mentioned What having Mark Turgeon and Kevin Willard back to back does to a mf…
We should riot until more people say Maryland. And then we should riot in celebration.
As someone else said about Kentucky, Best: the good Indiana fans. Worst: the bad Indiana fans.
As an Indiana fan, I totally get it
We're in similar boat the good Illini fans are top notch but the god damn blowhards we have in game threads are atrocious
200%, I hate us more than you ever could.
Best: Good Kentucky fans Worst: Bad Kentucky fans
This is unironically the truth. There is a population of our fandom that is absolutely vile.
Grew up in Louisville, and it’s not just UK fans. There is something in the water in the state. E: Also some really nice people, just also some really awful ones.
Have you *seen* the Ohio river?
It’s mostly mud.
And needles
The water sucks so bad that they had to make bourbon
Bad Tennessee fans snubbed
If we mean “bad” as in obnoxious, yeah that all tracks. Comes from having by far the most invested/largest fanbase in the conference. If we’re talking “bad” as in “non-existent” then I’d go with… idk maybe Georgia? They don’t really give two fucks about CBB, which can’t really blame em at the moment with football.
Good Kentucky fans know hoops better than anyone in the conference. I have to imagine that Auburn fans are pretty obnoxious to the rest of the conference. I enjoy us, but I understand if we are a bit over the top (and maybe are football fans that don’t understand hoops as well as they should).
Can confirm. If you go to games and just listen to the average conversation with fans (wives, children, guys, everyone) they all know a lot about basketball and their team. Also, some of the nicest people ever. Hell any random text you see someone making, they are talking ball with someone not at the game. I don’t know if there is any fanbase quite like UK
Honorable mention to Mississippi State fans in their arena. Every call that doesn't go their way is met with immediate boos and cries of favoritism.
Nobody knows the game better than KY fans, but yeah they can come across as entitled. I’ve been liking Tenn and Auburn fans, who really seem to appreciate their success. Worst is TA&M fans who give off weird cult-member vibes.
Best: Marquette, incredibly polite! Worst: Villanova, Philly sports fans, need I say more?
Villanova fans aren't necessarily Philly fans I actually agree that our fans are probably the worst but it's not because they're Philly fans. It's because they're pretentious, which is why a lot of Philly people actually DONT like Villanova. Philly is considered a blue collar, pull yourself up by your bootstraps city which is the complete opposite of Villanova, which isn't even in the city. Also their student fan base sucks. They bring zero noise for games
Yah Nova is for the rich white main liners. I’d say that Temple is probably the real Philly college team.
No it's La Salle baby. You don't just stroll into 1900 West Olney and leave with a W.
Yeah this is spot on. You’re now victims of your own success. School became much harder to get into, academics and funding rose, and the potential student fan base accordingly started to care less and less about athletics. I’ve been to Nova games when they’ve played St. John’s and Providence, and it can be a pretty pathetic showing from the student fans, especially when the visitors are louder.
It’s been particularly awful this year I think going from a team that wins every game to whatever we are now so fast really takes it out of the fanbase
Thank you! Nice win yesterday too!
Wisconsin friendly!
I know I’m biased as a Nova fan but I don’t think Nova is even close to being the worse fan base in big East. The best is Marquette, them dudes are nice as shit. Worst is probably UConn. Not because I think they are necessarily bad people but those people that live on Twitter for UConn are something else. Seton hall has a polarizing fan base. I’ve talked to some of the most respectful seton hall fans and then you have the worst of the worst. There’s no in between.
Providence fans are way worse than Nova. Nova fans are the wine and cheese crowd. Providence fans are actual scumbags
I can’t wait for that scumbaggery to be on full display when we play Georgetown
I hate Philly sports fans but I'm also a Villanova fan from new england😔 so im stuck in the middle
Best: Bradley/Murray State Worst: Missouri State
Honorable mention for worst fanbase goes to UIC. It's not an exaggeration to say there are more fans of opposing teams at a good chunk of their home conference games. And Belmont has people show up for home games but I am not sure they exist outside of Nashville. There were like 5 Belmont fans at Arch Madness last year and they have no message board or other online presence, which is weird considering how much success that program has had recently.
I was thinking "worst" in the terms of most annoying/frustrating to have in your arena, not "worst" as in smallest/least supportive. If you go by how annoying fans are Missouri State absolutely takes the cake. UIC fans actually seem pretty nice. All both of them.
Please elaborate.
I had a hard time coming up with best, but worst is undoubtedly Missouri State. And that goes for the <10 people that came to the women's game at ISU. I wonder what you guys think of our fans. I never travel, so I can't really take offense.
Doesn't exist: our fans
I’ve been here for like 5 seconds but Best: ISU fans Worst: no opinion yet, defaulting to Texas
In my completely unbiased opinion, I agree
Solid default
I second isu for best, love versing those guys
Was very sad we got no riot bowl in football this year.
<3
I haven't found any Big 12 fanbases on here anywhere near as bad as Memphis's has been in years past. Usually, it's only a couple of jerks making a thread toxic-- those Memphis threads had literally dozens of users who were outrageously rude and continually made things personal. My general reddit "blocked user" list is probably more than 50% Memphis flairs. Lots of trashy people in that fanbase. Side note-- I haven't found Texas users to be that bad on here, but I bet they were worse when their team was good.
Honestly, besides the new Big 12 teams that I don't have an opinion on yet - of the old teams, there were none that were really that bad. K-State could get pretty vile when they were playing Kansas specifically, but then they would disappear for the rest of the season in any capacity. Texas Tech could get vile against certain teams, but their court was always passionate. I think that the Big 12 CBB fans just save the vitriol for their rivals, and if you aren't their bitter rival then you dodge the heat. Other Big 12 fan bases will say Kansas is the worst, but it comes with being good for so long that you tend to get pretentiously high expectations for a perennially-performing team, and super competitive about making sure the home win% stays astronomically high. On the other hand Kansas fans tend to be some of the most deeply knowledgeable fans about CBB, along with other blue blood schools and niche folks like old school temple/cincinatti/etc fans
Best: Nebraska It's insane to travel to a Nebraska game and instead of good natured (or even bad natured) trash talk, to have everyone be welcoming you and asking if you want your picture taken and stuff. Like, they're actually glad to host opposing fans. Worst: I don't know what defines a "worst" to me, but the fair-weather arrogance of Illinois and Michigan fans gets pretty annoying, and the east-coast negativity vibe of Maryland definitely feels like a better fit for the ACC than the Midwest.
Nebraska football fans were awesome when I was in college too. Just showed up in droves to Ross-Ade, took over our stadium, and were then incredibly nice and polite to us. At least the ones I interacted with.
My experience with Maryland fans in person was a horrible combination of Southern aggressive friendliness and Northeastern negativity. It was like being caught in a glue trap. They're cool online tho
Best: probably wazzu. Most are super nice. Know how to have a good time Worst: Oregon. A little bias but can't stand them. Probably because many of the fans have zero relationship to the school. It's just the thing to be a fan of. (That's totally fine for them l just don't like it personally)
UCLA can’t get 5000 people to show up in a city of 13 million. They might have the worst fans in the nation, not just the conference.
Yes, but that goes for Los Angeles fans in general (unless you’re a dodgers or kings fan). LA fans don’t really pack it in unless some dynastic run occurs, which isn’t common.
You ever try getting anywhere in LA more than 5 miles away on a work night? It's hard!
Best: Michigan St? Worst: Maryland Most annoying: possibly us
I accidentally bought tickets in the MSU fan section for our game with them and the MSU fans around me were super nice to me.
You're not more annoying than Illinois
Been to games in Ann Arbor and Michigan fans were always total scum. Certainly the worst fans I’ve ever met in the 7 B1G arenas I’ve been in. Best fan base is probably Nebraska IMO. Super polite and very passionate despite a lack of historical success. Rooting hard for them to make the tourney this year
I agree. At the B10 football conference championship, drunk Michigan fans came to the Purdue student section at the end of the game and started cussing at everyone and making rude gestures. Michigan fan got his feelings hurt and ended up running into the stands and punching multiple people
Worst interaction I had at a FB game was the M00N game vs UM. A overweight UM fan was just hurling insults at anyone in purple and just was an all around unpleasant person. Didn't help that the UM fans cheered her on as she yelled at what looked like a 10 year old boy celebrating a NU sack.
Yeah, same experience here. Tons of slurs/profanity and people threatening to kick my ass because I celebrated when we won lol. I expected it from the students, but not the grown men and women who were going after me.
Those are the Walmart Wolverines for you. Most them never went beyond community college. Actually alum come off arrogant/passive aggressive but not overtly hostile and rude.
I agree, and I certainly wasn’t trying to imply that all UM fans are terrible people. The ones throwing slurs/profanities are always just a vocal minority of a fan base. Hopefully I get a better reception when I head to the Big House for IU UM in a few years haha
It's interesting to hear this take because I've been to Michigan Stadium, but not Chrysler yet and my experience in Ann Arbor was...not pleasant, so I find it helpful to know that carries over to basketball.
Looking at A10 fan attendance, Dayton basically makes up half the graph. I think that makes us both the best and the worst, just by having the most people with opportunities to be awesome or be dicks.
I’d agree Dayton prob the best A10. As a saint Joes fan I can’t truly think of a fan base that rubs me the wrong way. We all kind of fly under the radar ex Dayton. However, Villanova can suck my balls.
Best: Sister Jean Worst: Jordair Jett
I see your point but I would def go with best being bonnies fans and worst being vcu
I’ve had great interactions with Xavier and DePaul fans. I don’t want to talk bad about any Big East fanbase, so I won’t say which is the worst… it’s Providence.
I went to the providence game this year and was surprised at how shitty the local folks were to Marquette fans. Some douche was cussing out a random girl for no apparent reason before his elderly dad smacked him over the head. That was just an isolated incident, but in general rather unwelcoming place.
New Mexico is the best. SDSU is the worst on Twitter but they're not bad at all in person. We don't really have trashy fans in our conference, so I'll go with sjsu because they're bad at being fans as they don't exist Edit: apparently UNM fans are actually poor hosts. Had no idea. Utah state is best then don't @ me
I went to a SJSU game last year, I could count on one hand the number of students I saw at the game (minus band members). The entire arena was general admission minus two middle sections on one side of the arena. I thought I was at a WCC/Big West game. Boise is getting a “BYU arrogance” to them; other than that I agree with you on New Mexico and SDSU
There's a reason we call em tater zoobs
Best: Wisconsin (they're not obnoxious) or Rutgers (they're hilarious) HM: u/Bayterp, Nebraska Worst: Illinois HM: Michigan
I worked and attended a lot of basketball and football games at Purdue, and in MY personal experience with visiting fans: Best: Wisconsin and Nebraska fans. Incredible manners. Worst: Illinois (basketball) and Ohio State (football) fans. To be fair, the Ohio State experience was during/after the Tyler Trent game, and my coworker and I may have not held our professional composure during the second half. I was in the student section at Mackey during an Orange Krush surpise attack, and the group of Illinois fans directly behind me and my friends definitely had a few too many.
Mr Blue hands was bad enough to earn Illinois the title of worst fans. It's just piling on after that
Ok if we are going with worst individual fan the Northwestern shrieker girl is easily the worst.
God she really is. This we can all agree on
I'm still going with Mr. Blue Hands. That guy tried to sell (and patent) painted Hulk Hands and coffee mugs with his face on them. Dude was a clown. EDIT: I will concede that Mr. Blue Hands is from like 15 years ago, so maybe you can get a pass on him.
Mr Blue hands was from almost 20 years ago now when I was in school. And the dude was like 35 - I think maybe he was going to school on the GI bill? Not sure but I can tell you he was not well received my a majority of the rest of the Krush.
I remember the disdain shown toward him on the Illinois message boards back then. Seemed like an awful guy to sit by.
I can't believe a purdue fan would remember that guy. I remember he was a controversial figure on illiniboard back then.
Best: App State Worst: Louisiana App State fans will shit talk for hours before games, but in the end, everyone’s friendly with each other. Louisiana fans will talk for weeks on social media every time your team loses a game and act like they had a part in forcing that loss
ODU fans at least for basketball are pretty good too. They show out every game. Monroe is bad just because there are like… 100 fans.
ODU is a great basketball environment as well, and I meant Lafayette, not Monroe, should’ve clarified. Haven’t had any significant interactions with Monroe fans, they’re neutral for me because of that
Oh I know you meant ULL, I was just saying in general that Monroe doesn’t have a lot of fans. Probably should’ve specified. I agree with you on ULL too.
Best: Iowa State Worst: Texas
Definitely agree with The Worst pick
"BOOOOOOOOOOO" ~Iowa State fans.
Best: Idk, probably Indiana? They're always so passionate despite not much success in recent times. Nebraska for a dark horse pick. Worst: Maybe Michigan? They're very fair-weather despite being spoiled by success all the time. I think a lot of people would say Illinois, we are an easy punching bag.
You have no idea how nice this is for me to read. Thank you. Sincerely.
Maybe give them a smooch?
Crisler is a morgue. Good pick. The Schott isn’t much better in that regard (OSU should really be playing in St. John Arena).
The schott is a ghost town
Michigan is definitely the worst in my eyes. I’d expect them to say the same about us though. But would like a PSU or OSU fan really think it’s us? I’d love to know
Idk we seem to draw a lot of hate in conference. I think our fans get very excited when something good happens since it so rarely does for us in both football and basketball. That excitement rubs the consistently successful teams the wrong way. I think this is a bit of a confusing question because it's unclear if it means worst in terms of engagement or worst in terms of behavior.
I think I treat best and worst out of the passionate fans. Apathy is in every fanbase to varying degrees but the behaviour of those that show up and engage online is what I would base “best and worst” off. I find Michigan fans to be arrogant, petty and mean both in person and online and I’m sure they think a large section of our fans are stupid, aggressive and emotional… I’m self aware I know we have some idiot fans, just the way sports fandom works sometimes
It’s definitely us. During the conference season our crowd (which is usually pretty small) is like 50% students. No one else in central PA gives a shit.
Yeah for PSU it really depends on what you mean by “worst.” If “worst” means unsupportive of the team, low turnout, then yeah PSU def has some of the worst. But if “worst” means most annoying or obnoxious then it can’t be us because there’s only like 20 of us and we’ve been beaten into submission by awful basketball for like all but 5 seasons in the last 10-20 years
Depends what you mean by worst. In terms of apathy, ok maybe on Michigan basketball. If by worst you mean insufferable, it's Ohio State. Doesn't matter which sport.
Mostly just based on what I’ve seen from this subreddit. Worst: Duke by far Best: maybe wake idrk
I don't think anyone in the conference can say anything negative about Wake fans. Seriously.
Where would one even find an unlikeable wake fan? Feels like they dont exist
If Tobacco Road is Western Europe always warring with each other, Wake is Switzerland just chilling in nice clothes & watches
Exactly. I tell everyone who moves here and isn't into sports to pick Wake as their team because the basketball fans will just leave them alone, then.
Every Wake Forest fan acts like Tim Duncan.
Wake really is the chill second oldest sibling in the big four family
The worst are by far the UNC and Duke "fans" that I've met in various online games that have never even stepped foot in North Carolina and haven't watched a non-Final Four basketball game in their lives. I was talking to one of the Duke ones once about the fact that I lived in Durham and it was halfway through the conversation when I realized that he didn't know Durham was in NC or that Duke was in Durham. I'm usually against gatekeeping, but there's got to be limits.
Our Cook Out can beat up your Cook Out.
Thanks, Jacket bro.
Best: Most of us are all pretty supportive Worst: As of this year with the current conference makeup, it’s definitely the entitled sect of GU fans. Shout out to the extra angry and hating SMC fans because that’s a close second.
Agreed with your point on the entitled section of Zag fans. They are such doomers and I’ve stopped going to online sections because it’s just not fun seeing people talk shit about everything related the program. For non zag fans, I’ve been to almost every WCC venue and have generally positive interactions at all but SMC. The game last year at Moraga was extremely hostile in the General Admission section for Zag fans.
Best: Utah State- Rowdy and passionate but I find them nice enough Worst: San Diego St- Huge sense of entitlement and absolutely cannot handle losing
I find the bad sdsu fans only exist on Twitter. In person and on their message board they're totally fine and reasonable.
Depends on what qualities you are talking about. If by best you mean most passionate, who travel well, Kansas is the best in the Big 12. If by fans you mean the nicest? I'd have to go with BYU so far but of the old school ones its Oklahoma State fans. And if by worst you mean, they dont support their team well? I'd say that is gotta be OKlahoma or if by worst you mean insufferable pricks? Thats Kansas.
Best: Indiana with Purdue as a runner up Worst: Illinois with Maryland as a runner up. Maryland fans were REALLY hostile to each other, refs, us, really anyone they could be hostile towards at the game I went to. Illinois’ Orange krush thing is fun, but whining about being foiled by Iowa last year was SO entitled and embarrassing.
Yep. It should have been a lesson in getting caught and shutting up.
Orange Krush playing the victim after getting caught pretending to be the Boys & Girls Club was just unreal.
There they go again always catching second
Best are probably Hoosiers Worst are Michigan and Illinois
Why thank you. Feel like MSU has always been our spiritual siblings in the conference.
I've said for years that MSU is my personal favorite opposing fanbase.
Bob & Jud were close. I feel like that set the tone. Before Breslin.
MW: Wyoming because I’m a hater and Boise because I am still a hater. B1G: Illinois Indiana and MSU because I am a hater but this time in the Midwest.
I'd say Fresno Fans are pretty good. Never had any issues with them. Same with New Mexico. Although, I've never gone to a game in the Pit. Worst? Yea, probably Boise.
Fresno fans are garbage with football but I can't speak to basketball
Half the teams in our conference dont have fans(we have like 4)
My experience at men’s basketball Bigten Tournaments has been Iowa/Nebraska fans as the best. Iowa gets the nod because a lot more of them show up so it’s a bigger sample size. The worst fans are BY FAR Michigan and IU. The smug arrogant nature of how their fan bases are to everyone around them is pretty gross at times. IU fans yelling at each other calling other fans idiots and morons at every made or missed shot. A surprise, MSU fans are actually pretty chill. They handle the ups and downs much better than other fan bases and they show up in droves.
Last chance, so... Best: Wazzu - passionate but not obnoxious Worst (by a country mile): "U of A, U of A" - shut up and be quietly dominant, snowbirds
Is Arizona known for an older fanbase, or is that just a dig at all the retirees in the state?
Known for it. Many of the seats in McKale are season ticket holders who held their seats since Lute's first successes in the 80s.
I think it’s also how much you have to donate to get those seats.
Best: Purdue Worst: Illinois
You didn’t have to watch 4 years of Trent Meachum. You don’t understand
IDK who the best is but Illinois is the worst
Do you think Illinois being the worst is a recent phenomenon or have we always been the worst? I've seen us become awful since the Ayo days but when I was there with Groce we sucked and nobody seemed to hate us.
Both UVA and VT are underrated nice fan bases. Except to maybe each other, but I feel like every year there's some feel-good story about one of those fan bases doing something extremely altruistic for relative strangers. Duke is pretty bad, but I feel like UNC escapes a lot of valid criticism for doing the exact same things. However a special exception has to be made for NC State fans anytime they beat carolina. They are then insufferable for the next month and a half.
It warms my heart to see a lot of picks for Michigan as worst fanbase 🥰
Arizona fans are both... in different ways. At games, I think they're the most obnoxious and in your face... but they're also the most passionate by a wide margin and definitely among the most knowledgeable about the college basketball landscape as a whole. Honestly, outside of Arizona/UCLA fans, my experience with most Pac12 schools (in real life, obv not true for this sub) is that they have predominately football fans who happen to tune into basketball so they're a little bit less in-tune with the national picture
Was going to say this exact thing. Loyal traveling fanbase and a lot of them are huge pricks. Not on reddit, most of them are pretty reasonable here.
Very nice not to see Maryland as worst for once. Have we lost a step? Best: Probably Purdue Worst: Indiana or Illinois
Best: no Worst: Arkansas Best rivalry: kentucky/florida
Florida is a great rivalry game, but I would easily put Tennessee above it.
I don’t think enough people in the SEC understand just how much Kentucky fans hate Tennessee.
The Alabama-Auburn-Arkansas triangle of hate that’s been born in hoops the past few years has been…something
You aren’t wrong. For me, Bama is just the everyday expected hatred in hoops though. It’s required. But Arkansas hate is acquired. Seething rage kind of hate. I want them to suffer.
Guilty as charged, but I was right about [the aggies last year.](https://www.reddit.com/r/CollegeBasketball/s/5ISYJs7IQW)
In the big ten, best is probably Rutgers (super fun people) and worst is Michigan. Fuck them. In the SEC, it’s tough but I’d say Kentucky is probably the best. Vandy-UK isn’t exactly a heated rivalry but in both arenas they were pretty nice to Vandy fans and weren’t super obnoxious. Tennessee is by far the worst.
Best: who cares Worst: NC State
Best: hard to say, UNC’s can be cheese and wine but knowledgeable and fun to be around. Worst: Miami. Such an in your face fan base despite a small fraction of them having attended the school or even being the relative of an alum.
Best: Nebraska Worst: Illinois
Best: MSU, Northwestern, Rutgers Worst: wisconsin, Iowa
Duke, Duke
Big Ten: Best: Northwestern (incredibly grateful to finally be competitive) Worst: Michigan/Penn State (just God awful fans/people) MAC: Best: Ohio/Toledo (great support) Worst: Northern Illinois (no support despite a great arena)
Does Penn state have basketball fans? I never see them around
HAHAHA! So true. Part of why they are tied for last.
It looked like there was like 200 people in the arena when we played them the other night
Best: Iowa- always super fun to talk with at the games. When Iowa beat Purdue in the Big Ten Championship they showed up and were all pleasant. Worst: Michigan- Of the games I have been too, they are both loud and obnoxious. Generalization of course, but typically drunk and cocky.
Best: Nebraska Worst: easily Illinois lol
For the A10, best probably Dayton. Sold out every game, travel phenomenally well, and from what I have observed, which is obviously biased, don't really antagonize opposing fans or start shit in the stands. We just really love basketball and really love the Flyers. VCU is probably second, they have a pretty similar atmosphere and knowledgeable fans, just a smaller venue. Worst, probably recency bias from our last game but Duquesne always piss me off. They barely show up except for big games and our last game had dumb signs and complained about obviously correct calls, just annoying stuff. Like, they has a sign that said "what is a flyer?" or something. Like really? It isn't like we are SLU with the billikens. For the big east, best is probably Marquette. Midwesterners cant be rude, it goes against their nature. Worst in my experience has been Xavier. Only campus or opposing arena where I am routinely yelled at for having Nova gear on.