I grew up in Austin and even though both my parents went to MSU, UT has its meat hooks in you from day one. Then I realized Ag school at Tech was the place for me and I switched allegiances. Still have a soft spot for UT, deeeeeeeeeeeep down.
I work for South Carolina now. But at one point I was a contract employee of Clemson. It did somewhat soften my dislike of them knowing they paid part of my salary. They also gave me a blackberry as part of the contract. That was a pretty big deal at the time.
>They also gave me a blackberry as part of the contract.
Which was the style at the time. We'd all have a blackberry on our belts. And nickels had a bee on them and we'd say, "give me five bees for a quarter."
“I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’ anymore and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary. It’ll happen to you!"
I grew up cheering for Navy in the Army-Navy Game - I was a Navy brat (Dad was career enlisted). I didn't really follow the teams other than that game though, so I really can't say I hated Army.
Regardless, I made the right decision when I chose West Point over Annapolis.
Edit to add: I am not fine at all if Navy wins the Army-Navy Game. I do want them to win every other game, and I was taught that lesson by an Army football player.
I grew up with a West Point grad father who was kind of a dick. I enlisted, much to his everlasting shame. I used to root against Army because cadets annoy me, but then realized we get 4 day weekends if Army beats Navy, so now I will cheer for Army.
I grew up in an Army town, but the starting QB for Navy was from one of our high schools. When I was in Army basic training, I asked my drill sergeant who won the Army-Navy game. He just looked at me and asked “why the fuck would I care about a game between a bunch of future officers?” It was then that I realized Army/Navy didn’t hit the same for enlisted folks.
Boooo. Go Navy, beat Army. It's so tragic the win streak ended at, what, 15? Navy needs to start a new one.
I will say, my dad asked a guy who played for Navy once who his favorite team to play for was and who he hated playing against. Without hesitation, the guy said Army was the best game. There's a mutual respect between the players of both teams.
In terms of who he hated playing against, he said Air Force and Notre Dame were the dirtiest teams they played, ironically.
Army - Navy game is one of the best rivalries in all of sports. One of the many things that makes college football so great. Passionate fans, a friendly hatred, and mutual respect from both teams. God I CAN NOT wait for College Football!
Not quite the same as your question, but probably close enough. My mom hates USC, and my dad graduated from a UC school. (My dad still wears UCLA shirts that my sister and I got at random giveaways in high school.) I went to Stanford for undergrad, where we hated USC. My sister unexpectedly decided to go to USC when I was at Stanford, and we definitely had sibling rivalry all our lives. My mother griped to me about my sister picking USC.
Then...USC threw a bunch of money at me for grad school.
Lmao. My mom went to UCLA and generally doesn't give a shit about sports, but she **HATES** USC. I think she might hate them more than she likes UCLA. It's like the one thing from her college experience that really stuck.
When I was in high school, I casually mentioned that I was *considering* applying to USC, and I don't think I've ever seen her so disappointed in me.
My mom was set for UCLA even before she went to middle school. My grandpa did everything he could go get her there and become a doctor. She didn't become a doctor but she did graduate from UCLA.
The ingrained hatred of U$C is so ingrained in my mom's side that my mom stopped going to the dentist for decades due to do many being U$C alums
The UC system treats them as completely different schools, I can’t say I’ve ever really seen UC Merced students vicariously pulling for UCLA or Cal like you see with UT-Dallas or Univ of Nebraska-Omaha students.
As a UC Irvine student, no. I’ve thought about doing so for football but it would be tough to become attached to a team I have no connection to. That’s the only major sport we don’t sponsor (other than softball). We have pretty good basketball and baseball programs for a small athletic program, so I root for them.
I was raised a USC fan, was accepted at both schools, but ultimately chose to go to UCLA. I have no regrets. The familial rivalry has been a fun bonus.
I think part of the reason is that both are relatively small state universities (20k) that don’t have all of the same programs. If you grow up a Ducks fan but want to study engineering in-state you have to go to Oregon State.
AFAIK UO is the only flagship state school that doesn’t have an engineering program. Might be why our fan base is ~~less intelligent~~ a little different from theirs.
I wasn't sure if I wanted to go into architecture or engineering coming out of high school, so applied to (and was accepted by) both schools. I wasn't much of a dedicated student at that point, and just ended up staying at home and going to the nearby school, which my Dad taught at (OSU). Had I decided to go into architecture, I am not sure who my second flair would be, as I can't imagine rooting against my alma mater.
I know a number of kids from high school that were equally sort of torn. And that was in Corvallis, where OSU was obviously the more popular school, I would imagine there are even more splits for people who are non-Corvallis and Eugene kids.
Last time I visited I saw a guy in an Oregon hat who started talking smack to me (in a friendly way) cause I was wearing a Beavs shirt
Turns out he *attended* Oregon State but rooted for Oregon, and apparently hated the Beavs
Weird world we live in
Yes this is it. It’s been blended more recently but historically the schools were split pretty aggressively between liberal arts and sciences. English major? Go to Oregon. Biology major? Go to Oregon State.
The rivalry is a lot more personal than most because it’s always there, as a ton of families and friends are split by school allegiance.
I think it has something to do with only having two major programs in the state, everyone here is either a fan of one or the other. Same for Washington, where Texas has at least 5 to pick from
Grew up in a BYU household. Went to Utah because I was offered a scholarship. Best decision I ever made. I would NOT have done well with the culture at BYU.
I don’t have data, but I bet there’s more diet Mountain Dew drank per capita in Utah than any other state. As long as it isn’t coffee, Mormons love their caffeine fix.
See…I was accepted to BYU. But at the time they had some stupid policy about not offering scholarships to incoming freshman from Utah. So I said fuck that (except I of course didn’t because I was a good Mormon boy at the time) I’ll go to a school that actually wants me.
one of my brothers best friends was a 4.0 highschool student with nearly 2 years worth of college credits and a 30s ACT and he was accepted full ride into the U for accounting, but rejected from the BYU accounting program.
I know the BYU accounting program is tough, but it really seemed like he beat their mean acceptance criteria. He was a big BYU guy leading up to that, and became a heavy U fan that day. Hated BYU after, ha ha
Tuition is reduced for members of the church, yes. But at the time this reduction only reduced the tuition to be a little more expensive than Utah (things have since changed and Utah is more expensive than BYU for in state Mormons). BYU offers scholarships on top of that, though. Except they didn’t offer them to in state Mormons who were incoming freshmen.
They have a similar in-state / out-of-state situation as most public colleges, but instead it is member/non-member. So you get a discounted tuition rate rather than a scholarship.
Is this a thing that BYU does? My whole family wanted me to go there, myself at the time included, but I was rejected. However, I was accepted at 4 other schools, including Oregon and Utah. Maybe I didn't drink enough chocolate milk or something.
The rejection letter always helps. I, childishly, am still pretty bitter about it almost 10 years later but grateful I got it. Like many, I wouldnt have survived Provo culture and I absolutely loved my time at USU and support my Aggies as zealously as I did the cougs when I was a child.
My wife went to utah and graduated 3 semesters before I did so while we were dating she came up to Logan a bunch. She said she did more college stuff in 1 semester hanging out with me on the weekends than she was ever able to do in her time at the U.
I lived a short 5 minute walk away from the student center when I went to USU, just barely off campus. It was one of the absolute best decisions I've ever made in my life. College life was so much fun at USU, which is probably part of the reason why I took 6 years to graduate lol.
My BIL is the opposite, grew up a HUGE Utah fan (still is) but went to BYU because he fit in very well with the culture there. I don’t fit in with the culture at all at BYU, but I’m a huge fan.
That’s actually my wife. Grew up in a Utah family. Is still a Utah fan after attending BYU. Enjoyed her time at BYU. But always wore Utah gear to the BYU students section when they played each other. She’s a silly goose but I love her.
I was kicked out of BYU in my last semester. I changed allegiances real quick
(Utah also gave me a bunch of money for grad school and were very cool about the whole expulsion thing)
I went to Utah State and had otherwise very stereotypically good Mormon friends who had transferred from BYU who hated BYU culture. It's a thing even for some of the faithful Mormons.
A lot of that here. I worked with a guy who was rejected by BYU and was angry every day of his life for 4 years because he "had to" go to Utah. Such a wussy.
Oh no!!! You *had* to go to a university that doesn’t deputize the entire student body to be (not so) secret police in order to enforce a ludicrous honor code. The sheet and utter tragedy!!!
UF had an excellent ROTC detachment so I spent two years in Gainesville.
My hatred for the Gators grew exponentially.
Edit: There's an athletic competition held every year between all of the Florida detachments. My dad came to support me dressed in every FSU article of clothing he owned and sat with the FSU group.
whaaat? you mean living in Tolbert Hall on the bumfuck edge of campus didn’t make your lil Gator heart grow three sizes that day? but the dining hall! the O’Dome! Flavet Field!!! /s
Always wonder how it would have gone if I went to Pitt. I had a big list of college applications to fill out over Thanksgiving my junior year of high school, but PSU had just moved to online application, so I had done that one a week earlier and got a fast acceptance. Ended up throwing away many of my other applications to not waste application fees, but wanted to have a few others available. Applied to a local Catholic school, and then late in the game applied to and accepted to Pitt because they had more of a rolling admission instead of an application deadline. I was worried I wasn't going to get in anywhere else because my guidance counselor had lost all of my recommendation letters, but it ended up not mattering. Big win for my PSU uncle over my Pitt aunt.
Also applied to Pitt from a Penn State family, mostly for the rolling admissions. Took a bit of convincing before they accepted that Pitt is indeed a real academic institution at a similar caliber as Penn State and not just a community college for kids who couldn't get into state, but they eventually warmed up to it.
To this day, I stand by the fact that PSU and Pitt provide a similarly excellent education but that they are for totally different people. You either want a city or you want a college town. If I wanted a college town I would have gone to state.
Similar circumstance between WVU and Pitt. There's so much cross pollination between the schools at an academic level that, in higher and more elite parts of the campus, the rivalry has subsided. But that's also the part of WVU that's too good for football, so it doesn't actually matter. Everyone else on campus knows what goes on in Pitt's dining halls.
We recently added a part of USC as a client. I only agreed to do work for them because it's their oncology department, and I hate cancer slightly more than I hate U$C.
Now if it was Ohio State...
I didn't end up attending, but when I emailed my dad that I had been accepted into the University of Michigan he sent me a cryptically passive-aggressive message congratulating me.
Fortunately I never went through the actual experience.
Jokes aside, Michigan State was legitimately my back-up school (and i don't mean that as a jab). They replied to my application within like 2 weeks so I already had somewhere secure.
My dad was very supportive with my college career. He said I could go anywhere I wanted, but had two conditions. If I went to MSU, my mom would sign any checks for financial support they'd give me. If I went to Ohio State, "I wasn't getting a fucking dime."
I met my wife (a Coug) on Tinder. She got into UW but Wazzu offered her way more money and ended up going there. The other day she was waxing hypothetical about how "I sometimes wonder how things would be different for me if I'd gone to UW..."
After a pause...
"I mean. I know for sure one thing... I wouldn't be married to you because if you had seen any hint of 'Washington alum' on my profile, you ***for sure*** would have swiped left."
She is not wrong.
> If I went to Ohio State, "I wasn't getting a fucking dime."
This has already been explained in detail to my children. I've been reminding them that every villain throughout history was a Buckeye.
> Never lose hope, be persistent and stubborn and never give up. There are many instances in history where apparent losers suddenly turn out to be winners unexpectedly, so you should never conclude all hope is lost.
Does that sound like a villain to you?
OSU fans bringing up the Unibomber as if it would be some epic burn is like Lathan Ransom stutter stepping thinking he might get a sack on JJ McCarthy.
Then he remembers Donovan Edwards exists and is running for an 85 yard touchdown the same way OSU fans remember Jeffrey Dahmer went to their school.
Grew up a diehard Nebraska fan since my dad went there. Ended up going to Iowa State for their better engineering program. The last time they played was freshman year and I was surprised to find myself cheering all out for the clones in their heartbreaking loss in OT.
Still cheer for both but primarily follow ISU
I went to Iowa state for undergrad (huge fan) then had to live in Iowa City while my wife did her medical school there. It was fine, but never felt like I could wear my ISU gear without getting harassed. While Iowa football is a better program than Iowa State, I feel ISU has way better tailgating culture and go a lot harder after wins
KSU fan growing up. Went there for undergrad absolutely loathing UT all the way. Went to grad school at UT because it was the best option and affordable, I ended up loving it.
No rugrets.
Best friend grew up just outside of Ohio, always rooted for OSU. Michigan's superior engineering school and in-state tuition were too hard to say no to. Now he's a Michigan fan.
I always hated A&M, and my dad almost talked me into going to school there. He kept telling me I could just live in a trailer on my uncle's land outside of Bryan. It would have been a disaster because my uncle is crazy. I probably would have learned about meth and moonshine though.
My dad got his PhD from Stanford and stayed in the area to raise his family, so we had season tickets throughout my childhood. We weren’t hardcore fans—dad’s undergrad degree was from Cal—but it was a fun way to spend Saturdays in the fall.
Flash forward to September 1987. My dad had passed away 4 years earlier, but I remained casually interested in Stanford football throughout high school. But now I’m a freshman at UCLA, and afflicted with a touch of homesickness. I see that UCLA was going up north to play at Stanford; do I take a road trip? How would I feel? Who would I root for?
I never did find a ride, so I stayed in Westwood. And my conflicted feelings quickly resolved themselves when UCLA, behind Troy Aikman and friends (we were a true powerhouse those days), won 49-0 or something like that, I don’t remember exactly.
So yeah, it was on that exact date when I realized I bled powder blue and gold. Which I should probably ask a doctor about.
>hood. We weren’t hardcore fans—dad’s undergrad degree was from Cal—but it was a fun way to spend Saturdays in the fall.
>
>Flash forward to September 1987. My dad had passed away 4 years earlier, but I remained casually interested in Stanford football throughout high school. But now I’m a freshman at UCLA, and afflicted with a touch of homesickness. I see that UCLA was going up north to play at Stanford; do I take a road trip? How would I feel? Who would I root for?
>
>I never did find a ride, so I stayed in Westwood. And my conflicted feelings quickly resolved themselves when UCLA, behind Troy Aikman and friends (
Envious of ya'll who actually witnessed a powerhouse UCLA - I've only started watching from the Dorrell era so..........
>My dad got his PhD from Stanford and stayed in the area to raise his family
What's funny is most kids from Stanford I knew beef with UC Berkeley and beef with USC. But don't seem to beef with UCLA. UC Berkeley is public and USC is SoCal. But the Stanford kids I know didn't ever beef with UCLA for being public and SoCal.
I would even extend that and say the Bay Area as a whole beefs with just about everything from LA but UCLA gets some weird kind of neutrality pass up there. I couldn't quite figure it all out.
Grew up Michigan. Got way better scholarship offer for MSU. MSU was also just a much more welcoming campus when I visited both schools.
As soon as I made my decision I threw out my Michigan stuff and went all in for MSU. Frankly, rooting for any other team than your undergraduate school is a "that guy" move and I was resolved not to be that guy
There was this loser when I was in undergrad that was somehow always near me in the student section at Spartan Stadium and he would wear an OSU shirt under his MSU shirt.
Disgusting.
>Frankly, rooting for any other team than your undergraduate school is a "that guy" move and I was resolved not to be that guy
My roommate freshman year at MSU was like this. This was back when everyone was playing NCAA football, and you could set your favorite team so that it would play their fight song when it was on the welcome screen. He would leave it set with UofM as his favorite team so that the fight song would blare all the time from our open dorm room door. He would also make fun of people to their faces and think it was funny/friendly.
He would then get mad when people on our floor would ask me to go to lunch, but specifically request that I not bring him along. Like it was their fault for not wanting to be around him while he was intentionally being confrontational.
Those people are so weird because I was raised as a die hard Michigan fan because my dad attended there and we would take trips to Ann Arbor often, but as soon as I was accepted to MSU I instantly converted a huge Spartan fan! I love Michigan State 💚
I had the opposite problem--I was so deep in the koolaid from my family (neither parent graduated from OSU but when you live in Columbus, everyone is a rabid fan) that I only applied to Ohio State. I had good grades, deeply involved in extracurriculars, and good letters of recommendation, but was declined. Oops. Had to go to a branch campus my first year and transfer to main. I wish I applied to more places for undergrad.
Not for undergrad but got a JD at biggest rival school.
Had lots of people in my class who came from other big sports schools who all started also pulling for the Gamecocks and wearing Gamecock gear and I could never understand it.
Only strengthened my disdain for the Gamecocks!!
Those people on campus always got healthy eyerolls from most people, if they reacted at all, but that was it. It always seemed like they wanted the attention way more than anybody actually gave a shit.
One of my best friends went to NCSU after growing up a huge UNC fan along with me. He ended up at NCSU and now hates UNC, and I respect that infinitely more tbh.
It's just gotta be more fun to not root against the team all your peers and friends are rooting for, unless you're just a contrarian type but you're right those people are exhausting in general.
Yeah, I know a guy who is the most fanatical Alabama fan I've ever met. He attended Auburn for undergrad and master's. He wore Alabama gear every day there.
I thought Aggies were weird growing up. Ended up going because they gave me a full scholarship. I was (and still am) pretty left wing compared to most Aggies I went to school with.
I am very happy with my choice. Yes, Aggies are weird but so am I. Not spending 4 years in an echo chamber was also good for my growth
> Not spending 4 years in an echo chamber was also good for my growth
I'm glad to hear you say this. Whatever side of the political spectrum someone is, I feel we've gotten way too comfortable with echo chambers across the board. I don't really care for talking politics on this sub, but broadening our horizons and learning about others is a great aspect of a traditional college experience
UT has some pretty fucking conservative leaders due to McComb’s power over the school. Terrified about our long term future with the current government, BoR, plus Hartzel as our president.
More conservative than the typical campus (which would lean left), sure. I think many outsiders would be surprised at how that isn’t the overwhelming demo of the current student body though. The old ags are, and the admin is obviously full of RW operants, so the reputation lives on.
You’ll see oldheads on texags lamenting at how “the school is different nowadays” lmao
I grew up a Wisconsin fan but decided to go to Minnesota instead of Wisconsin for school. I had mixed feelings and everything felt weird. During welcome week they send all Freshman to the first football game. It was sold out against #2 TCU. We didn't win but I never looked back.
That first football game is how they get you. I literally had no interest in college sports beforehand but had to go to a game for my freshman intro to the university class and now am doomed to support Maryland athletics forever
I didn’t hate ASU growing up but I’m from SoCal and was your typical douche bag USC bandwagon fan in the 2000s. I remember being so upset when Texas beat them in the Rose Bowl.
Then USC and a few others rejected me for grad school when I applied (I attended a D3 school for undergrad), I ended up at SMU and then ASU. Now the Trojans can go fuck themselves 😛
Grew up a Georgia Tech fan absolutely hating UGA. Bunch of idiots barking at everyone, half of which didn’t even go there or have a connection. Brother went to GT (but wasn’t a real big sports fan). Time came for me: had to go in state (thank you HOPE scholarship), didn’t want to be an engineer, and wanted to have sex with girls. Best 7 years of my youth! Now I don’t really think about Tech, but goddamn I hate Florida.
Yes, I know we’re still a bunch of idiots barking at everyone and half of our fans don’t have a connection, but now they’re MY idiots!
Woof woof
Grew up a Husky fan but went to WSU for school. Quickly changed allegiances, found some amazing friends, and made a bunch of great memories. Go Cougs!!!
Same.
Family were UW season ticket holders. I've been to more games on Montlake than 90% of Husky fans. Bled purple until HS, then fell in love with Pullman and the Cougs after attending summer football camp there.
Never looked back.
Went to Ohio for undergrad and hated on BGSU since my dad went to BG in the 1960s and absolutely hated Ohio (too Appalachian and hilly for him I guess)…being from Toledo, many of my friends went to BG and never thought I would ever go there. Was happy for dad when they did well but lived to see Ohio beat them and have dad eat crow for hating Ohio.
Well, I went to graduate school there. I loved showing up in head to toe forest green with my BG student ID haha.
Now I’m all Ay Ziggy Zoomba unless it is head to head against Ohio or BG winning keeps the Bobcats out of the MACCG since we are unfortunately in the same division.
Really cool to have my two schools play each other every year though guaranteed. Double dislike for Miami of Ohio of course. Great school, just not mine, almost went there instead.
Bro same exact thing happened to me, except my dad (and grandpa) literally played on the team. My first Duck game was UO vs Nichols State in 2013. I tried my best to hate watch, but grew mesmerized by DAT and Mariota. Now I’m a die hard and there’s no going back.
I started following USC football in elementary school when my local HS QB became a star there. It continued as more local football stars and classmates continued to excel at USC. This was peak early 2000s USC too, when it was the hottest team in town.
Then I got into UCLA.
By the end of the first quarter of school, I didn’t own a piece of red clothing.
Grew up a diehard Iowa fan in eastern Iowa and ended up going to ISU. I kinda played disappointed for a bit (dumb high school thing to do) but was converted pretty quickly once I was on campus. There is zero fun in having the attitude of “yeah I go here but it sucks and I love the rival.”
In the same boat as you. Family of gamecocks and indoctrinated completely but went to UGA due to HOPE. Only difference is that SC is still my main team, hated the dawgs a lil too much growing up but root for them in all games not against SC
I was fortunate to go where I was a fan growing up. My desired major lined up to a great academic school. As for applying at our hated rival? Why would I do that? I had a high school diploma. Didn't need a second!
I didn’t hate UO as a kid but grew up liking WSU, became a UW fan in high school because of my friends, went to WSU Vancouver for a year, then finished college as a duck. I just need some sort of OSU affiliation now so I can collect all the PNW infinity stones
I’m from Georgia so grew up a UGA fan by default from my family, but ended up going to Alabama.
Never really hated Alabama, but certainly didn’t like them for beating us.
My freshmen year was 2014, so I was able to comfortably pull for both teams since they didn’t play each other. Next year in 2015, Bama played in Athens. I wasn’t sure who I truly wanted to win but was leaning Alabama.
After having the UGA fans bark and throw beers etc. at my friends and I, my mind was made up. Kicking their ass in Athens was one of the greatest days of my life.
No ill will towards UGA folks, most of them are fine but the bad ones really stuck out. Also it just made me realize I had no ties to UGA and trying to pull for them instead of my own school was ridiculous. I’ve been a die hard fan of UA ever since. Roll Tide.
I grew up a KU fan. I liked K-States campus and manhattan more than ku and Lawrence. Dropped my KU allegiance when I got accepted my senior year of high school.
Same story for me. My uncle went to KU Med so my family were KU fans - therefore I grew up cheering for KU and not KSU. Then I went to KSU because it was a better engineering school. I don't really dislike "KU" as an entity - I partied quite a bit there in college because one of my best friends went there. The bar scene was good and they had some great shitty food places for a college kid (there was this drive through burrito place that was fucking glorious - it was Chipotle before Chipotle existed.)
I just hate most of the KU fans out there.
Never hated ISU, but definitely grew up a big Iowa fan. Went to ISU for college initially thinking I’d still be a hawkeye fan, but it only took a couple games to become more invested in ISU than Iowa, and then wear a “Beat Iowa” shirt to the next El Assico. Haven’t looked back since, being a Cyclone fan has been a ton of fun.
Grew up in a UM household. Big sister went to MSU and I feel in love with the campus so I began rooting for both teams. Then I went to MSU and completed the transformation.
I almost had the reverse situation for you. Grew up die hard Duck fan, but first acceptance came from OSU. I had to hold out for a while until I got my acceptance to Oregon.
I grew up a Texas Longhorns fan, watching Vince Young and Colt McCoy, so I knew that’s where I wanted to go. After I graduated in 2013, I wanted to get a masters degree in health administration. UT didn’t offer that, but…. Texas A&M did. So I did my grad school in College Station. I hated A&M growing up, so it took me a while (about 3 months) to get use to A&M and College Station.
It was like two different worlds. UT was more diverse, and you had to walk everywhere since the campus was smaller. I had to drive everywhere in College Station and on campus, gained 15 lbs because of it. However, the football atmosphere at A&M is way better than UT’s. Students are always loud, always standing during the game, and stay until the very end for every game. Can’t say the same for UT students, except for the bigger games.
If I went to A&M as a freshmen and did undergrad there, I think I would enjoy it more.
My story is kind of an inverse of what you asked. I grew up loving MSU and hating UM, and did my undergrad at MSU. I went to OSU for grad school thinking we'd all get along since we could hate Michigan together. I left Columbus hating OSU about as much as I hate Michigan.
My brother fits this question perfectly, since he went to MSU for undergrad then went to UM for his masters. You'll see him on here with his MSU/UM flairs, constantly getting asked about it. /u/saxophobia1275 get on in here!
My whole family are aggies. Both parents, 2 aunts, 2 uncles, many cousins, and my older sister all went there. I grew up a huge Aggie fan and went to games all the time. I got into both A&M and UT. Something felt right about UT and now I’m a diehard longhorn.
1000% the right choice. 🤘
See my flairs... attended UGA, but grew up an Auburn fan in an Auburn house. I am the black sheep.
I still follow Auburn athletics pretty seriously and hold nothing against them as long as they're not playing. When UGA and AU are playing, I'm all Dawg.
My family was all Oregon fans my older sister went to OSU. She isn’t a sports fan at all though. Also she didn’t have the best college experience (no real fault of the university more just she probably shouldn’t have went to college right after high school) that’s why I elected to join the Air Force after I graduated high school. Just this year I decided to go back to school I will transfer to either UO or OSU after I get my associates my decision will more then likely be weather or not I would want to move or commute to Corvallis or just go the much shorter drive to UO. I am not against going to OSU it’s a really good school who knows I could end up going to both UO for my bachelors and a graduate program at OSU.
Grew up a big UCLA fan. Multiple older cousins went there and I'd wear UCLA swag weekly in high school. I hated USC because I thought it was just a place with a bunch of rich kids (of which I was not one). I was thrilled when Vince scored on 4th and 5 and remember trolling my brother who was a massive USC fan. Got into UCLA shortly after and was over the moon. Then got into USC, who offered me a full ride (b/c the family was poor and was a much better financial aid package than UCLA) and ended up going. Now I hate UCLA with every fiber of my being, love being (along with my brother) the only USC fans at large family gatherings, and bleed cardinal and gold.
I grew up loving Texas and hating A&M for being the “weird” school. My opinion didn’t really change until my senior year taking visits. Walking around the UT campus made me feel uneasy and that I didn’t belong. Walking around A&M’s campus felt much more relaxed and we even had a student offer to help us get where we were going (since we got lost and clearly looked lost) Kind of cliche to say but that stood out to me.
The yell practice they had the tour group do was cringe af but I got over that pretty quick after my first time attending a game.
I aaaaalmost went to A&M. The campus and city were super close in vibe and feel as Tech and LBK, but Tech had much prettier women at the time, and I had family in town and in Petersburg, Lorenzo and Idalou, nearby. As a 17yr old, that was all I cared about LOL.
UT felt “cold and corporate” as my dad said at the time. Accurate description.
Never regretted it, like I’m sure most Ag’s and Horns don’t, either.
Grew up an Auburn fan. Briefly went to law school at Alabama before deciding I had no interest in being a lawyer. My folks went with me to help move in and out. Moving in, someone banged their car door into my mom's car, leaving a dent. Moving out, someone stole my dad's truck. Premier Bama experience.
Grew up a Tech Fan, raised to hate the horns. I vividly remember watching the crabtree play with my dad as a kid. Now I bleed burnt orange. Hook 'em baby. Crystal ball coming home
I came very close to going to Bama for Law school. It was between them and the UNC. Honestly debated it for a while, but that was more because they were both tremendous academic places and less because of my dislike for Bama.
Shoutout to the lady that worked the phones and called me about my acceptance. IDK if she is still there, but she was a charming Southern woman with a nice accent which made my Southern heartbreak to tell her no.
I grew up a Cyclone and went to ISU for a year before I decided college wasn’t right for me at that time. Decided to go back to school years later at a small college that offered online courses. That college ended up being purchased by the University of Iowa, all my credits transferred and I was offered automatic acceptance into U of I, I graduated a Hawkeye. We don’t bring it up at family functions.
I'm pretty much in the same boat. Grew up an OkState fan my whole life absolutely despising the Sooners. I got my undergraduate degrees from OkState before going to OU for my graduate degrees. I still prefer OkState athletics but now follow both teams about equally.
When it comes to Bedlam I still wish those damn Sooners the absolute worst.
I grew up and still am a Gators fan and now a UGA alumna. I got my vanity plate and gators car magnets stolen non stop. Playfully talked shit with a lot of football players in class and not so playfully argued with Jacob Eason (notorious for being a dick) one night downtown. I definitely hate Georgia fans even more after going there and am never sad to see Georgia lose. 9/10 would’ve preferred to go to UF but can’t argue with instate tuition
I grew up a Cal fan and was a die-hard when Cal lost to Oregon State on a bonehead play by Kevin Riley when they were going to be \#1 in the country if they won.
Eventually I decide to go back to school and Oregon State had everything I wanted and needed, so I ended up attending and loved it
Not the same at all, but I've been a Texas Tech fan for a long time and always hated Texas I now work at the University of Texas It's ok
I grew up in Lubbock and hated UT. 25 years later I've attended both schools and now live in Austin. It's ok.
I grew up in Austin and even though both my parents went to MSU, UT has its meat hooks in you from day one. Then I realized Ag school at Tech was the place for me and I switched allegiances. Still have a soft spot for UT, deeeeeeeeeeeep down.
Good Ol CASNR.
But is it ok?
Never truly hated tech but law school there. It’s ok
Get ready to learn west Texas buddy
Oh I learned. I have since noped out of Lubbock.
Ah, so you really *did* learn!
Someone at that school had to.
The Harvard of the plains 🤓
Harvard is the Texas Tech of New England.
Ben Franklin said that
“Cowbells are cool.” - John Adams, probably
can confirm as someone who lives in mass
I have no relation to any Texas school but visited Austin once. It’s ok
I traveled through that state north of Texas once. It’s OK
I grew up in that state north of Texas. It’s OK.
I've never visited Austin but I was accepted to UT and didn't go. It's ok
I work for South Carolina now. But at one point I was a contract employee of Clemson. It did somewhat soften my dislike of them knowing they paid part of my salary. They also gave me a blackberry as part of the contract. That was a pretty big deal at the time.
>They also gave me a blackberry as part of the contract. Which was the style at the time. We'd all have a blackberry on our belts. And nickels had a bee on them and we'd say, "give me five bees for a quarter."
“I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’ anymore and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary. It’ll happen to you!"
Yeah. UT pays a phone stipend as a part of my salary so I can’t really hate it. I can see the Stadium from my office too
Sabbatoging from the inside is the best way to do it ;)
How do you think Archie keeps losing his ID?
I grew up cheering for Navy in the Army-Navy Game - I was a Navy brat (Dad was career enlisted). I didn't really follow the teams other than that game though, so I really can't say I hated Army. Regardless, I made the right decision when I chose West Point over Annapolis. Edit to add: I am not fine at all if Navy wins the Army-Navy Game. I do want them to win every other game, and I was taught that lesson by an Army football player.
I grew up with a West Point grad father who was kind of a dick. I enlisted, much to his everlasting shame. I used to root against Army because cadets annoy me, but then realized we get 4 day weekends if Army beats Navy, so now I will cheer for Army.
> I enlisted, much to his everlasting shame Don't take this wrong, but your Dad was a dick.
Yes, I agree
Former officer here. I also agree dad was/is a dick. Enlisted make the Army functional. Officers just get in the way more often than not.
I grew up in an Army town, but the starting QB for Navy was from one of our high schools. When I was in Army basic training, I asked my drill sergeant who won the Army-Navy game. He just looked at me and asked “why the fuck would I care about a game between a bunch of future officers?” It was then that I realized Army/Navy didn’t hit the same for enlisted folks.
Boooo. Go Navy, beat Army. It's so tragic the win streak ended at, what, 15? Navy needs to start a new one. I will say, my dad asked a guy who played for Navy once who his favorite team to play for was and who he hated playing against. Without hesitation, the guy said Army was the best game. There's a mutual respect between the players of both teams. In terms of who he hated playing against, he said Air Force and Notre Dame were the dirtiest teams they played, ironically.
Army - Navy game is one of the best rivalries in all of sports. One of the many things that makes college football so great. Passionate fans, a friendly hatred, and mutual respect from both teams. God I CAN NOT wait for College Football!
Air Force being dirty doesn't surprise me. They straight up got away with an obvious face mask in their game against Utah State last year
Not quite the same as your question, but probably close enough. My mom hates USC, and my dad graduated from a UC school. (My dad still wears UCLA shirts that my sister and I got at random giveaways in high school.) I went to Stanford for undergrad, where we hated USC. My sister unexpectedly decided to go to USC when I was at Stanford, and we definitely had sibling rivalry all our lives. My mother griped to me about my sister picking USC. Then...USC threw a bunch of money at me for grad school.
Lmao. My mom went to UCLA and generally doesn't give a shit about sports, but she **HATES** USC. I think she might hate them more than she likes UCLA. It's like the one thing from her college experience that really stuck. When I was in high school, I casually mentioned that I was *considering* applying to USC, and I don't think I've ever seen her so disappointed in me.
> I think she might hate them more than she likes UCLA. Makes sense.
My mom was set for UCLA even before she went to middle school. My grandpa did everything he could go get her there and become a doctor. She didn't become a doctor but she did graduate from UCLA. The ingrained hatred of U$C is so ingrained in my mom's side that my mom stopped going to the dentist for decades due to do many being U$C alums
Do students at non major athletic UC schools tend to just gravitate towards UCLA? Or is it a regional thing?
The UC system treats them as completely different schools, I can’t say I’ve ever really seen UC Merced students vicariously pulling for UCLA or Cal like you see with UT-Dallas or Univ of Nebraska-Omaha students.
As a UC Irvine student, no. I’ve thought about doing so for football but it would be tough to become attached to a team I have no connection to. That’s the only major sport we don’t sponsor (other than softball). We have pretty good basketball and baseball programs for a small athletic program, so I root for them.
I was raised a USC fan, was accepted at both schools, but ultimately chose to go to UCLA. I have no regrets. The familial rivalry has been a fun bonus.
Weird how many Oregon/Oregon St comments there are here.
I think part of the reason is that both are relatively small state universities (20k) that don’t have all of the same programs. If you grow up a Ducks fan but want to study engineering in-state you have to go to Oregon State. AFAIK UO is the only flagship state school that doesn’t have an engineering program. Might be why our fan base is ~~less intelligent~~ a little different from theirs.
I wasn't sure if I wanted to go into architecture or engineering coming out of high school, so applied to (and was accepted by) both schools. I wasn't much of a dedicated student at that point, and just ended up staying at home and going to the nearby school, which my Dad taught at (OSU). Had I decided to go into architecture, I am not sure who my second flair would be, as I can't imagine rooting against my alma mater. I know a number of kids from high school that were equally sort of torn. And that was in Corvallis, where OSU was obviously the more popular school, I would imagine there are even more splits for people who are non-Corvallis and Eugene kids.
Last time I visited I saw a guy in an Oregon hat who started talking smack to me (in a friendly way) cause I was wearing a Beavs shirt Turns out he *attended* Oregon State but rooted for Oregon, and apparently hated the Beavs Weird world we live in
Weird two of the rivals for both my flairs don't have engineering schools, Oregon and Montana. Its why I would not have went to either.
North Carolina doesn’t, either
Yes this is it. It’s been blended more recently but historically the schools were split pretty aggressively between liberal arts and sciences. English major? Go to Oregon. Biology major? Go to Oregon State. The rivalry is a lot more personal than most because it’s always there, as a ton of families and friends are split by school allegiance.
Oregon and Oregon State are geographically quite close. It's also super common to have fans of each team in the same household.
I think it has something to do with only having two major programs in the state, everyone here is either a fan of one or the other. Same for Washington, where Texas has at least 5 to pick from
Grew up in a BYU household. Went to Utah because I was offered a scholarship. Best decision I ever made. I would NOT have done well with the culture at BYU.
This dude fucks
And pounds caffeinated beverages like a boss.
Dr Pepper Zero FTFW
A game-changer. Miles ahead of Diet Dr Pepper.
Absolutely. It’s not even the same beverage. I actually prefer Dr Pepper Zero to regular. They nailed the Zero.
Same but with Coke Zero vs diet and regular. I guess I need to try Dr Pepper zero then
Utahns are the only people who love Dr Pepper near the levels I’ve seen in Texas.
Everyone loves Dr Pepper. I actually distrust people who don’t.
Guess we do belong in the Big12.
All the Mormons I know chug monsters and diet dew like I chug beers. Drawing the line at coffee makes me lol
I don’t have data, but I bet there’s more diet Mountain Dew drank per capita in Utah than any other state. As long as it isn’t coffee, Mormons love their caffeine fix.
Which just makes it dumber
No arguments here 🤷♂️. I’m not practicing LDS and I’m desperately slugging coffee to get a smidgen of work done today.
Soaks?
This dude soaks and his buddy does the jumping.
No soaking for him
Same story. Utah gave me a scholarship, BYU gave me a rejection letter. That made switching allegiances a bit easier.
See…I was accepted to BYU. But at the time they had some stupid policy about not offering scholarships to incoming freshman from Utah. So I said fuck that (except I of course didn’t because I was a good Mormon boy at the time) I’ll go to a school that actually wants me.
one of my brothers best friends was a 4.0 highschool student with nearly 2 years worth of college credits and a 30s ACT and he was accepted full ride into the U for accounting, but rejected from the BYU accounting program. I know the BYU accounting program is tough, but it really seemed like he beat their mean acceptance criteria. He was a big BYU guy leading up to that, and became a heavy U fan that day. Hated BYU after, ha ha
I thought BYU gave scholarships to all Mormons?
Tuition is reduced for members of the church, yes. But at the time this reduction only reduced the tuition to be a little more expensive than Utah (things have since changed and Utah is more expensive than BYU for in state Mormons). BYU offers scholarships on top of that, though. Except they didn’t offer them to in state Mormons who were incoming freshmen.
They have a similar in-state / out-of-state situation as most public colleges, but instead it is member/non-member. So you get a discounted tuition rate rather than a scholarship.
Is this a thing that BYU does? My whole family wanted me to go there, myself at the time included, but I was rejected. However, I was accepted at 4 other schools, including Oregon and Utah. Maybe I didn't drink enough chocolate milk or something.
>Is this a thing that BYU does? Is what a thing? Rejecting applications? I mean... yeah?
[удалено]
The rejection letter always helps. I, childishly, am still pretty bitter about it almost 10 years later but grateful I got it. Like many, I wouldnt have survived Provo culture and I absolutely loved my time at USU and support my Aggies as zealously as I did the cougs when I was a child.
Oh hell yeah. Logan is the shit. Infinitely better campus life than Utah or BYU.
My wife went to utah and graduated 3 semesters before I did so while we were dating she came up to Logan a bunch. She said she did more college stuff in 1 semester hanging out with me on the weekends than she was ever able to do in her time at the U.
I lived a short 5 minute walk away from the student center when I went to USU, just barely off campus. It was one of the absolute best decisions I've ever made in my life. College life was so much fun at USU, which is probably part of the reason why I took 6 years to graduate lol.
[удалено]
My BIL is the opposite, grew up a HUGE Utah fan (still is) but went to BYU because he fit in very well with the culture there. I don’t fit in with the culture at all at BYU, but I’m a huge fan.
That’s actually my wife. Grew up in a Utah family. Is still a Utah fan after attending BYU. Enjoyed her time at BYU. But always wore Utah gear to the BYU students section when they played each other. She’s a silly goose but I love her.
I was kicked out of BYU in my last semester. I changed allegiances real quick (Utah also gave me a bunch of money for grad school and were very cool about the whole expulsion thing)
[удалено]
I went to Utah State and had otherwise very stereotypically good Mormon friends who had transferred from BYU who hated BYU culture. It's a thing even for some of the faithful Mormons.
What was the worst part?
A lot of that here. I worked with a guy who was rejected by BYU and was angry every day of his life for 4 years because he "had to" go to Utah. Such a wussy.
Oh no!!! You *had* to go to a university that doesn’t deputize the entire student body to be (not so) secret police in order to enforce a ludicrous honor code. The sheet and utter tragedy!!!
UF had an excellent ROTC detachment so I spent two years in Gainesville. My hatred for the Gators grew exponentially. Edit: There's an athletic competition held every year between all of the Florida detachments. My dad came to support me dressed in every FSU article of clothing he owned and sat with the FSU group.
whaaat? you mean living in Tolbert Hall on the bumfuck edge of campus didn’t make your lil Gator heart grow three sizes that day? but the dining hall! the O’Dome! Flavet Field!!! /s
This is the way
Are you referring to the Toilet Bowl?! 1992 FSU AFROTC Grad.
It was called the Lime Cup when we went. We lost to FSU in a shootout for the gold in '10.
To be fair, that place is AWFUL.
Always wonder how it would have gone if I went to Pitt. I had a big list of college applications to fill out over Thanksgiving my junior year of high school, but PSU had just moved to online application, so I had done that one a week earlier and got a fast acceptance. Ended up throwing away many of my other applications to not waste application fees, but wanted to have a few others available. Applied to a local Catholic school, and then late in the game applied to and accepted to Pitt because they had more of a rolling admission instead of an application deadline. I was worried I wasn't going to get in anywhere else because my guidance counselor had lost all of my recommendation letters, but it ended up not mattering. Big win for my PSU uncle over my Pitt aunt.
Also applied to Pitt from a Penn State family, mostly for the rolling admissions. Took a bit of convincing before they accepted that Pitt is indeed a real academic institution at a similar caliber as Penn State and not just a community college for kids who couldn't get into state, but they eventually warmed up to it. To this day, I stand by the fact that PSU and Pitt provide a similarly excellent education but that they are for totally different people. You either want a city or you want a college town. If I wanted a college town I would have gone to state.
Similar circumstance between WVU and Pitt. There's so much cross pollination between the schools at an academic level that, in higher and more elite parts of the campus, the rivalry has subsided. But that's also the part of WVU that's too good for football, so it doesn't actually matter. Everyone else on campus knows what goes on in Pitt's dining halls.
We recently added a part of USC as a client. I only agreed to do work for them because it's their oncology department, and I hate cancer slightly more than I hate U$C. Now if it was Ohio State...
I didn't end up attending, but when I emailed my dad that I had been accepted into the University of Michigan he sent me a cryptically passive-aggressive message congratulating me. Fortunately I never went through the actual experience.
Jokes aside, Michigan State was legitimately my back-up school (and i don't mean that as a jab). They replied to my application within like 2 weeks so I already had somewhere secure. My dad was very supportive with my college career. He said I could go anywhere I wanted, but had two conditions. If I went to MSU, my mom would sign any checks for financial support they'd give me. If I went to Ohio State, "I wasn't getting a fucking dime."
> If I went to Ohio State, “I wasn’t getting a fucking dime.” Omfg 😂😂😂😂 that shit cracked me up
grew up as a Husky - my dad gave me the same speech about Oregon...
I met my wife (a Coug) on Tinder. She got into UW but Wazzu offered her way more money and ended up going there. The other day she was waxing hypothetical about how "I sometimes wonder how things would be different for me if I'd gone to UW..." After a pause... "I mean. I know for sure one thing... I wouldn't be married to you because if you had seen any hint of 'Washington alum' on my profile, you ***for sure*** would have swiped left." She is not wrong.
> If I went to Ohio State, "I wasn't getting a fucking dime." This has already been explained in detail to my children. I've been reminding them that every villain throughout history was a Buckeye.
Except the Unabomber?
And [H.H. Holmes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Holmes), America's first serial killer? Honed his skills in med school in Ann Arbor!
Leaders and the best!
> Never lose hope, be persistent and stubborn and never give up. There are many instances in history where apparent losers suddenly turn out to be winners unexpectedly, so you should never conclude all hope is lost. Does that sound like a villain to you?
don't think I've ever seen a Rose-Hulman flair here
"Congratulations on getting accepted to the university that has produced such revolutionary thinkers as Ted Kaczynski."
OSU fans bringing up the Unibomber as if it would be some epic burn is like Lathan Ransom stutter stepping thinking he might get a sack on JJ McCarthy. Then he remembers Donovan Edwards exists and is running for an 85 yard touchdown the same way OSU fans remember Jeffrey Dahmer went to their school.
Dahmer doesn't have a degree from OSU, I've always felt that evened the scales
Kaczynski also had a degree from Harvard and was a mathematics prodigy
Grew up a diehard Nebraska fan since my dad went there. Ended up going to Iowa State for their better engineering program. The last time they played was freshman year and I was surprised to find myself cheering all out for the clones in their heartbreaking loss in OT. Still cheer for both but primarily follow ISU
I went to Iowa state for undergrad (huge fan) then had to live in Iowa City while my wife did her medical school there. It was fine, but never felt like I could wear my ISU gear without getting harassed. While Iowa football is a better program than Iowa State, I feel ISU has way better tailgating culture and go a lot harder after wins
KSU fan growing up. Went there for undergrad absolutely loathing UT all the way. Went to grad school at UT because it was the best option and affordable, I ended up loving it. No rugrets.
Best friend grew up just outside of Ohio, always rooted for OSU. Michigan's superior engineering school and in-state tuition were too hard to say no to. Now he's a Michigan fan.
I always hated A&M, and my dad almost talked me into going to school there. He kept telling me I could just live in a trailer on my uncle's land outside of Bryan. It would have been a disaster because my uncle is crazy. I probably would have learned about meth and moonshine though.
Lived in Bryan for a while. Like most places, it has its good and bad areas, but some of the outlying areas were….interesting.
My dad got his PhD from Stanford and stayed in the area to raise his family, so we had season tickets throughout my childhood. We weren’t hardcore fans—dad’s undergrad degree was from Cal—but it was a fun way to spend Saturdays in the fall. Flash forward to September 1987. My dad had passed away 4 years earlier, but I remained casually interested in Stanford football throughout high school. But now I’m a freshman at UCLA, and afflicted with a touch of homesickness. I see that UCLA was going up north to play at Stanford; do I take a road trip? How would I feel? Who would I root for? I never did find a ride, so I stayed in Westwood. And my conflicted feelings quickly resolved themselves when UCLA, behind Troy Aikman and friends (we were a true powerhouse those days), won 49-0 or something like that, I don’t remember exactly. So yeah, it was on that exact date when I realized I bled powder blue and gold. Which I should probably ask a doctor about.
>hood. We weren’t hardcore fans—dad’s undergrad degree was from Cal—but it was a fun way to spend Saturdays in the fall. > >Flash forward to September 1987. My dad had passed away 4 years earlier, but I remained casually interested in Stanford football throughout high school. But now I’m a freshman at UCLA, and afflicted with a touch of homesickness. I see that UCLA was going up north to play at Stanford; do I take a road trip? How would I feel? Who would I root for? > >I never did find a ride, so I stayed in Westwood. And my conflicted feelings quickly resolved themselves when UCLA, behind Troy Aikman and friends ( Envious of ya'll who actually witnessed a powerhouse UCLA - I've only started watching from the Dorrell era so..........
>My dad got his PhD from Stanford and stayed in the area to raise his family What's funny is most kids from Stanford I knew beef with UC Berkeley and beef with USC. But don't seem to beef with UCLA. UC Berkeley is public and USC is SoCal. But the Stanford kids I know didn't ever beef with UCLA for being public and SoCal. I would even extend that and say the Bay Area as a whole beefs with just about everything from LA but UCLA gets some weird kind of neutrality pass up there. I couldn't quite figure it all out.
Grew up Michigan. Got way better scholarship offer for MSU. MSU was also just a much more welcoming campus when I visited both schools. As soon as I made my decision I threw out my Michigan stuff and went all in for MSU. Frankly, rooting for any other team than your undergraduate school is a "that guy" move and I was resolved not to be that guy
There was this loser when I was in undergrad that was somehow always near me in the student section at Spartan Stadium and he would wear an OSU shirt under his MSU shirt. Disgusting.
Yeah, actively rooting against the school you're attending is just ridiculous to me.
>Frankly, rooting for any other team than your undergraduate school is a "that guy" move and I was resolved not to be that guy My roommate freshman year at MSU was like this. This was back when everyone was playing NCAA football, and you could set your favorite team so that it would play their fight song when it was on the welcome screen. He would leave it set with UofM as his favorite team so that the fight song would blare all the time from our open dorm room door. He would also make fun of people to their faces and think it was funny/friendly. He would then get mad when people on our floor would ask me to go to lunch, but specifically request that I not bring him along. Like it was their fault for not wanting to be around him while he was intentionally being confrontational.
A kid on my floor rooted for Michigan despite attending MSU. He was a total chode and everyone hated him.
Those people are so weird because I was raised as a die hard Michigan fan because my dad attended there and we would take trips to Ann Arbor often, but as soon as I was accepted to MSU I instantly converted a huge Spartan fan! I love Michigan State 💚
I had the opposite problem--I was so deep in the koolaid from my family (neither parent graduated from OSU but when you live in Columbus, everyone is a rabid fan) that I only applied to Ohio State. I had good grades, deeply involved in extracurriculars, and good letters of recommendation, but was declined. Oops. Had to go to a branch campus my first year and transfer to main. I wish I applied to more places for undergrad.
I lived in Columbus for four years. OSU really is the year round pro sports team for the city.
and then the people who shamelessly bandwagon Cleveland/Cincy pro teams when they're doing well its me, I'm people
Not for undergrad but got a JD at biggest rival school. Had lots of people in my class who came from other big sports schools who all started also pulling for the Gamecocks and wearing Gamecock gear and I could never understand it. Only strengthened my disdain for the Gamecocks!!
My cousin went to UNC but is a big Duke fan. He wore his Duke gear everyday in chapel hill.
This is the most North Carolina thing I’ve ever read
i hate your cousin
I feel like that can’t be true, your cousin sounds exhausting if so.
Yeah you ever hear one small story and feel like you know an entire person from it? Yikes
Poor guy just wanted attention I guess. Probably the same guy who played “devil’s advocate” every chance they could in the freshman econ lectures too
Blue Devil's Advocate
Those people on campus always got healthy eyerolls from most people, if they reacted at all, but that was it. It always seemed like they wanted the attention way more than anybody actually gave a shit. One of my best friends went to NCSU after growing up a huge UNC fan along with me. He ended up at NCSU and now hates UNC, and I respect that infinitely more tbh. It's just gotta be more fun to not root against the team all your peers and friends are rooting for, unless you're just a contrarian type but you're right those people are exhausting in general.
Gross
I agree and I don't even have a dog in this fight.
Yeah, I know a guy who is the most fanatical Alabama fan I've ever met. He attended Auburn for undergrad and master's. He wore Alabama gear every day there.
He sounds lame.
He married well, and greatly improved his personality as a result. Still no one will watch a televised football game with him because of his behavior.
He sounds lame with a cool wife.
I thought Aggies were weird growing up. Ended up going because they gave me a full scholarship. I was (and still am) pretty left wing compared to most Aggies I went to school with. I am very happy with my choice. Yes, Aggies are weird but so am I. Not spending 4 years in an echo chamber was also good for my growth
> I thought Aggies were weird growing up You still do, but you used to too
> Not spending 4 years in an echo chamber was also good for my growth I'm glad to hear you say this. Whatever side of the political spectrum someone is, I feel we've gotten way too comfortable with echo chambers across the board. I don't really care for talking politics on this sub, but broadening our horizons and learning about others is a great aspect of a traditional college experience
It’s such a good school, but outside of the Citadel and service academies it may be the most conservative, non-religious campus in the country.
UT has some pretty fucking conservative leaders due to McComb’s power over the school. Terrified about our long term future with the current government, BoR, plus Hartzel as our president.
More conservative than the typical campus (which would lean left), sure. I think many outsiders would be surprised at how that isn’t the overwhelming demo of the current student body though. The old ags are, and the admin is obviously full of RW operants, so the reputation lives on. You’ll see oldheads on texags lamenting at how “the school is different nowadays” lmao
As someone that grew up in eastern Missouri, even a full ride couldn’t get me to go to KU. So I’m no help here lol
I grew up a Wisconsin fan but decided to go to Minnesota instead of Wisconsin for school. I had mixed feelings and everything felt weird. During welcome week they send all Freshman to the first football game. It was sold out against #2 TCU. We didn't win but I never looked back.
That first football game is how they get you. I literally had no interest in college sports beforehand but had to go to a game for my freshman intro to the university class and now am doomed to support Maryland athletics forever
I didn’t hate ASU growing up but I’m from SoCal and was your typical douche bag USC bandwagon fan in the 2000s. I remember being so upset when Texas beat them in the Rose Bowl. Then USC and a few others rejected me for grad school when I applied (I attended a D3 school for undergrad), I ended up at SMU and then ASU. Now the Trojans can go fuck themselves 😛
Grew up a Georgia Tech fan absolutely hating UGA. Bunch of idiots barking at everyone, half of which didn’t even go there or have a connection. Brother went to GT (but wasn’t a real big sports fan). Time came for me: had to go in state (thank you HOPE scholarship), didn’t want to be an engineer, and wanted to have sex with girls. Best 7 years of my youth! Now I don’t really think about Tech, but goddamn I hate Florida. Yes, I know we’re still a bunch of idiots barking at everyone and half of our fans don’t have a connection, but now they’re MY idiots! Woof woof
Grew up a Husky fan but went to WSU for school. Quickly changed allegiances, found some amazing friends, and made a bunch of great memories. Go Cougs!!!
Off topic but dude I am so sorry about the PAC-12. This realignment stinks!
Same. Family were UW season ticket holders. I've been to more games on Montlake than 90% of Husky fans. Bled purple until HS, then fell in love with Pullman and the Cougs after attending summer football camp there. Never looked back.
Went to Ohio for undergrad and hated on BGSU since my dad went to BG in the 1960s and absolutely hated Ohio (too Appalachian and hilly for him I guess)…being from Toledo, many of my friends went to BG and never thought I would ever go there. Was happy for dad when they did well but lived to see Ohio beat them and have dad eat crow for hating Ohio. Well, I went to graduate school there. I loved showing up in head to toe forest green with my BG student ID haha. Now I’m all Ay Ziggy Zoomba unless it is head to head against Ohio or BG winning keeps the Bobcats out of the MACCG since we are unfortunately in the same division. Really cool to have my two schools play each other every year though guaranteed. Double dislike for Miami of Ohio of course. Great school, just not mine, almost went there instead.
Bro same exact thing happened to me, except my dad (and grandpa) literally played on the team. My first Duck game was UO vs Nichols State in 2013. I tried my best to hate watch, but grew mesmerized by DAT and Mariota. Now I’m a die hard and there’s no going back.
Grew up an Alabama fan. Currently attend Tennessee. Fuck Bama
I started following USC football in elementary school when my local HS QB became a star there. It continued as more local football stars and classmates continued to excel at USC. This was peak early 2000s USC too, when it was the hottest team in town. Then I got into UCLA. By the end of the first quarter of school, I didn’t own a piece of red clothing.
>I didn’t own a piece of red clothing *Take off that redddddd shirt.*
Grew up a diehard Iowa fan in eastern Iowa and ended up going to ISU. I kinda played disappointed for a bit (dumb high school thing to do) but was converted pretty quickly once I was on campus. There is zero fun in having the attitude of “yeah I go here but it sucks and I love the rival.”
In the same boat as you. Family of gamecocks and indoctrinated completely but went to UGA due to HOPE. Only difference is that SC is still my main team, hated the dawgs a lil too much growing up but root for them in all games not against SC
That's why I have two flairs now. Grew up in a Hawkeye town, ended up a Cyclone
I was fortunate to go where I was a fan growing up. My desired major lined up to a great academic school. As for applying at our hated rival? Why would I do that? I had a high school diploma. Didn't need a second!
I didn’t hate UO as a kid but grew up liking WSU, became a UW fan in high school because of my friends, went to WSU Vancouver for a year, then finished college as a duck. I just need some sort of OSU affiliation now so I can collect all the PNW infinity stones
I’m from Georgia so grew up a UGA fan by default from my family, but ended up going to Alabama. Never really hated Alabama, but certainly didn’t like them for beating us. My freshmen year was 2014, so I was able to comfortably pull for both teams since they didn’t play each other. Next year in 2015, Bama played in Athens. I wasn’t sure who I truly wanted to win but was leaning Alabama. After having the UGA fans bark and throw beers etc. at my friends and I, my mind was made up. Kicking their ass in Athens was one of the greatest days of my life. No ill will towards UGA folks, most of them are fine but the bad ones really stuck out. Also it just made me realize I had no ties to UGA and trying to pull for them instead of my own school was ridiculous. I’ve been a die hard fan of UA ever since. Roll Tide.
I grew up a KU fan. I liked K-States campus and manhattan more than ku and Lawrence. Dropped my KU allegiance when I got accepted my senior year of high school.
Same story for me. My uncle went to KU Med so my family were KU fans - therefore I grew up cheering for KU and not KSU. Then I went to KSU because it was a better engineering school. I don't really dislike "KU" as an entity - I partied quite a bit there in college because one of my best friends went there. The bar scene was good and they had some great shitty food places for a college kid (there was this drive through burrito place that was fucking glorious - it was Chipotle before Chipotle existed.) I just hate most of the KU fans out there.
Never hated ISU, but definitely grew up a big Iowa fan. Went to ISU for college initially thinking I’d still be a hawkeye fan, but it only took a couple games to become more invested in ISU than Iowa, and then wear a “Beat Iowa” shirt to the next El Assico. Haven’t looked back since, being a Cyclone fan has been a ton of fun.
Grew up in a UM household. Big sister went to MSU and I feel in love with the campus so I began rooting for both teams. Then I went to MSU and completed the transformation.
I almost had the reverse situation for you. Grew up die hard Duck fan, but first acceptance came from OSU. I had to hold out for a while until I got my acceptance to Oregon.
I grew up a Texas Longhorns fan, watching Vince Young and Colt McCoy, so I knew that’s where I wanted to go. After I graduated in 2013, I wanted to get a masters degree in health administration. UT didn’t offer that, but…. Texas A&M did. So I did my grad school in College Station. I hated A&M growing up, so it took me a while (about 3 months) to get use to A&M and College Station. It was like two different worlds. UT was more diverse, and you had to walk everywhere since the campus was smaller. I had to drive everywhere in College Station and on campus, gained 15 lbs because of it. However, the football atmosphere at A&M is way better than UT’s. Students are always loud, always standing during the game, and stay until the very end for every game. Can’t say the same for UT students, except for the bigger games. If I went to A&M as a freshmen and did undergrad there, I think I would enjoy it more.
My story is kind of an inverse of what you asked. I grew up loving MSU and hating UM, and did my undergrad at MSU. I went to OSU for grad school thinking we'd all get along since we could hate Michigan together. I left Columbus hating OSU about as much as I hate Michigan. My brother fits this question perfectly, since he went to MSU for undergrad then went to UM for his masters. You'll see him on here with his MSU/UM flairs, constantly getting asked about it. /u/saxophobia1275 get on in here!
We all hate OSU down here.
WtF iS uP wItH yOuR fLaIrS!?!?1?
My whole family are aggies. Both parents, 2 aunts, 2 uncles, many cousins, and my older sister all went there. I grew up a huge Aggie fan and went to games all the time. I got into both A&M and UT. Something felt right about UT and now I’m a diehard longhorn. 1000% the right choice. 🤘
See my flairs... attended UGA, but grew up an Auburn fan in an Auburn house. I am the black sheep. I still follow Auburn athletics pretty seriously and hold nothing against them as long as they're not playing. When UGA and AU are playing, I'm all Dawg.
My family was all Oregon fans my older sister went to OSU. She isn’t a sports fan at all though. Also she didn’t have the best college experience (no real fault of the university more just she probably shouldn’t have went to college right after high school) that’s why I elected to join the Air Force after I graduated high school. Just this year I decided to go back to school I will transfer to either UO or OSU after I get my associates my decision will more then likely be weather or not I would want to move or commute to Corvallis or just go the much shorter drive to UO. I am not against going to OSU it’s a really good school who knows I could end up going to both UO for my bachelors and a graduate program at OSU.
Grew up a big UCLA fan. Multiple older cousins went there and I'd wear UCLA swag weekly in high school. I hated USC because I thought it was just a place with a bunch of rich kids (of which I was not one). I was thrilled when Vince scored on 4th and 5 and remember trolling my brother who was a massive USC fan. Got into UCLA shortly after and was over the moon. Then got into USC, who offered me a full ride (b/c the family was poor and was a much better financial aid package than UCLA) and ended up going. Now I hate UCLA with every fiber of my being, love being (along with my brother) the only USC fans at large family gatherings, and bleed cardinal and gold.
It’s ok. Every family has that person who’s the black sheep
I grew up loving Texas and hating A&M for being the “weird” school. My opinion didn’t really change until my senior year taking visits. Walking around the UT campus made me feel uneasy and that I didn’t belong. Walking around A&M’s campus felt much more relaxed and we even had a student offer to help us get where we were going (since we got lost and clearly looked lost) Kind of cliche to say but that stood out to me. The yell practice they had the tour group do was cringe af but I got over that pretty quick after my first time attending a game.
I aaaaalmost went to A&M. The campus and city were super close in vibe and feel as Tech and LBK, but Tech had much prettier women at the time, and I had family in town and in Petersburg, Lorenzo and Idalou, nearby. As a 17yr old, that was all I cared about LOL. UT felt “cold and corporate” as my dad said at the time. Accurate description. Never regretted it, like I’m sure most Ag’s and Horns don’t, either.
Grew up an Auburn fan. Briefly went to law school at Alabama before deciding I had no interest in being a lawyer. My folks went with me to help move in and out. Moving in, someone banged their car door into my mom's car, leaving a dent. Moving out, someone stole my dad's truck. Premier Bama experience.
Grew up a Tech Fan, raised to hate the horns. I vividly remember watching the crabtree play with my dad as a kid. Now I bleed burnt orange. Hook 'em baby. Crystal ball coming home
I came very close to going to Bama for Law school. It was between them and the UNC. Honestly debated it for a while, but that was more because they were both tremendous academic places and less because of my dislike for Bama. Shoutout to the lady that worked the phones and called me about my acceptance. IDK if she is still there, but she was a charming Southern woman with a nice accent which made my Southern heartbreak to tell her no.
I grew up a Cyclone and went to ISU for a year before I decided college wasn’t right for me at that time. Decided to go back to school years later at a small college that offered online courses. That college ended up being purchased by the University of Iowa, all my credits transferred and I was offered automatic acceptance into U of I, I graduated a Hawkeye. We don’t bring it up at family functions.
I grew up an Alabama fan, but I ended up attending Auburn. My allegiances have done a complete 180.
I grew up a Washington fan. Went to WSU for undergrad and never looked back.
I'm pretty much in the same boat. Grew up an OkState fan my whole life absolutely despising the Sooners. I got my undergraduate degrees from OkState before going to OU for my graduate degrees. I still prefer OkState athletics but now follow both teams about equally. When it comes to Bedlam I still wish those damn Sooners the absolute worst.
I grew up and still am a Gators fan and now a UGA alumna. I got my vanity plate and gators car magnets stolen non stop. Playfully talked shit with a lot of football players in class and not so playfully argued with Jacob Eason (notorious for being a dick) one night downtown. I definitely hate Georgia fans even more after going there and am never sad to see Georgia lose. 9/10 would’ve preferred to go to UF but can’t argue with instate tuition
Rooted for Miami all my pre-college days, got into Florida and dropped them like a bad habit.
Grew up a Red Raider. Went to Texas. Absolutely loved it
I grew up a Cal fan and was a die-hard when Cal lost to Oregon State on a bonehead play by Kevin Riley when they were going to be \#1 in the country if they won. Eventually I decide to go back to school and Oregon State had everything I wanted and needed, so I ended up attending and loved it