Posted by: @tjinman1987

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During the summer "sports dead zone" I occasionally watch old college football games or documentaries. I came across a "Saturdays in the South" documentary series on the history of the SEC and it was actually pretty well done. Watching it got me thinking: who is your favorite non-IU team to watch currently? (which program do you admire and enjoy how they play) Second, going back into any era, what program/team did you love watching?

I'll start the discussion by answering:

1. I live about 20 minutes from Clemson and admire how Dabo Swinney runs his program so Clemson is one for me. The second choice is Kansas State...Avery Johnson is exciting and I admire the consistency of the KSU program. Third, I actually enjoy watch Army and Navy. I know many think the style is boring but I consider it unique, difficult to prepare for and when they have a QB capable of executing it at a high level, really enjoyable to watch.

2. The first non-IU program I really remember becoming infatuated with was Steve Spurrier's Florida Gators. I remember when he was hired and the revelation his first couple of teams were and then I remember getting close through the early and mid-90s and how unstoppable they seemed if they had a good QB. Spurrier seemed totally different than every other coach and it was a blast to listen to his honesty. 

Admittedly, this is a "nerdy" CFB topic but that's what you're going to get from me!

I love the Greenville / Greer area. Haven't been able to get back there in a few years, but one of the most underrated areas of the country. I want to go to a game at Death Valley one day.

Grew up 30mi. from So. Bend, & watched a lot of ND FB. Once I entered IU, I became an unabashed, Indiana Hoosier fan

@jdb We love it here. I miss being close to IU, no doubt about that. But people have a saying here (in Clemson/Greenville): "there's something special in those hills" and I am biased, but I have to agree. It's a really special place. Death Valley is incredible. I highly, highly recommend it. The campus is really cool as well. I don't think any place quite matches Indiana's campus (again, admittedly biased) but Clemson is the second best one I've frequented. 

Thanks for coming over to Hoosier Huddle!

Got my Masters from Ole Miss during the pandemic for a number of non-football related reasons (cost, fully remote, highly rated program) and made a trip down to Oxford while a student and loved it. I find it funny now seeing how often Indiana and Ole Miss are often in the mix for the same types of recruits, have had players transfer to/from (Louis Moore in an extreme case), or even faced off against one another in the bowl game a few years ago! Kiffin has fun offenses and is an entertaining Twitter follow as well, which is a bonus.

I am a IU grad, wife went to Purdue and U of I so we don’t root for each other schools. Youngest goes to ASU so we all have a team now we can all root for. Yes last fall was the best season ever except for my wife. 

I honestly don't care much about other schools, but I will watch schools that I have a connection with, like Indiana State, BGSU, Toledo. Also have a soft spot for Western Kentucky, even though I've only spent a single weekend on the campus.

Don’t really have any other favorites. I’ll watch about anyone though.

@packtherock Visited Rocky Top Peyton's senior year.  A friend of mine's family had season tickets and invited me.  Crazy place on gameday.

@esalum86 - I would root for both teams to lose or end with a 0 - 0 tie.  Can't stand either. Kentucky is right there as well.  My only other team besides IU to pull for would be Troy.  I got my masters from there when I was on active duty. 

Pitt.. Thought they would give me a decent football team chance when I went there for grad school. They occasionally do/did and an occasional bonus of a basketball team. Plus I needed something to divert my attention from Steelers fans. 

@iu-fan-1989 Very cool...my oldest son (he is now 12 and inherited my interest for sports while my younger son and daughter don't appear to care about them at all ha) have an annual "CFB Road Trip" that we do with my dad. At least, we hope it's going to be annual. Last year, we went to Troy to see them play Texas State on a Thursday night and then saw Kennesaw State lose to Jacksonville State on a Friday night. We were going to be going to Georgia Tech on Saturday but Hurricane Helene cleanup cut our trip short and I needed to be back home to fix things around the property and neighborhood. Anyway, Troy was really cool and it was a nice atmosphere and stadium for the Sun Belt (even though they were worse than they typically are).

Don't flog me, and while this technically fits the definition of "reversible jacket fan", mine is Notre Dame.

Hear me out.

Much like someone above talked about, for most of my life growing up in the 70s and 80s, even though I am an IU fan through and through, the football team gave me nothing to cheer for.  So, while I still suffered with every dog-crap Hoosier football season, I always admired the tradition of ND, the fact that they weren't really a rival as we never crossed paths (unlike true rivals like Purdue), and they stood out in terms of likeability on the national contender scene as opposed to dirty programs like "The U" and Oklahoma among others that reigned during that era.  Many of their alums are among the NFL players I've ended up admiring most, such as Montana, Tim Brown, and Bettis.  I honestly have never had a problem with their fans, either, and I've known a ton over the years.  I've been to several games up in SB, and the environment is a blast.  It sucked that we drew them in the playoffs, but there was no doubt I was pulling for IU, and was pissed beyond belief at how poorly we showed against an Irish team that I still believe we were as good as or better than.  But after that game, faced with a choice of ND versus an SEC team like Georgia, Penn State, and then Ohio State, there's no doubt I was siding with the Irish.  And, I don't apologize.

Also, in reference above to a favorite team being "anyone who plays Purdue other than Notre Dame", mine is simply "anyone who plays Purdue".  I THOROUGHLY enjoyed ND kicking their ass a few weeks before IU then kicked their ass even worse themselves.  I look forward to more success under Cig, and will still root for ND against everyone else.

Posted by: @hoosier-hacker

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Don't flog me, and while this technically fits the definition of "reversible jacket fan", mine is Notre Dame.

Hear me out.

Much like someone above talked about, for most of my life growing up in the 70s and 80s, even though I am an IU fan through and through, the football team gave me nothing to cheer for.  So, while I still suffered with every dog-crap Hoosier football season, I always admired the tradition of ND, the fact that they weren't really a rival as we never crossed paths (unlike true rivals like Purdue), and they stood out in terms of likeability on the national contender scene as opposed to dirty programs like "The U" and Oklahoma among others that reigned during that era.  Many of their alums are among the NFL players I've ended up admiring most, such as Montana, Tim Brown, and Bettis.  I honestly have never had a problem with their fans, either, and I've known a ton over the years.  I've been to several games up in SB, and the environment is a blast.  It sucked that we drew them in the playoffs, but there was no doubt I was pulling for IU, and was pissed beyond belief at how poorly we showed against an Irish team that I still believe we were as good as or better than.  But after that game, faced with a choice of ND versus an SEC team like Georgia, Penn State, and then Ohio State, there's no doubt I was siding with the Irish.  And, I don't apologize.

Also, in reference above to a favorite team being "anyone who plays Purdue other than Notre Dame", mine is simply "anyone who plays Purdue".  I THOROUGHLY enjoyed ND kicking their ass a few weeks before IU then kicked their ass even worse themselves.  I look forward to more success under Cig, and will still root for ND against everyone else.

Blocked and reported. 

I don't have a 2nd team I hunt out and watch.  There are players that I'll watch though if they're playing.  

Sellers at South Carolina is one of my favorites to watch, and if he actually turned down that amount of money to stay, found a real fan in me.

@boogie You talking about the rumored $8 million offer? I don't know the veracity of it but I know a few connected Gamecocks fans and some HS coaches in the Upstate area and no one believes that to be remotely accurate. Nonetheless, Sellers is a legit dude. I don't think the weapons around him are good enough for South Carolina to contend for the top of the SEC but admittedly, a might be biased against them and anything that has to do with Columbia.