Georgia: Who Is The Most Popular College Football Team In The State?

The southern region of the country has ruled college football for the past decade. In fact, the Georgia Bulldogs have won the national championship the past two years. Here, we will look at the question of what is Georgia's most popular college football team this season?

It is fair to say that there is no serious debate here. However, one would assume the Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket fanbase is not straying. Even despite losing a close game to open the season vs. Louisville. The Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets will settle this their way when they face off on November 25 (the last game of the regular season).

There are two different ways to approach this question of who is the more popular college football team in Georgia this year. One method identifies an in-state team that fans continuously gravitate towards. The other looks at the entire landscape of college football to determine which team nationally is drawing the most interest.

Although the Bulldogs did lose many of their star players from the past two seasons to the NFL draft, they are still ranked number one. And they still have one of the best coaches, Kirby Smart, running the show. Nonetheless, let's look at what both CBS Sports and USA Today found in their research.

CBS Sports took a look at college football teams in each state and selected the most powerful one. They examined key metrics such as their 2022 record and the school’s projected future success. Furthermore, they weighed the importance of the new rules and regulations in NCAA college football today, saying, “now with the introduction of not just the transfer portal but the one-time transfer exemption and the proliferation of name, image and likeness rights.”

This analysis leads you to believe it was Georgia by a landslide here, pointing out they are looking to be the first team to three-peat since Minnesota did it back in the 1930's.

USA Today‘s recent feature examines the ten most searched-for college football teams to identify the most popular in each state. They analyzed Google trends since 2017 and in the south, each state is aligned to big-name schools from within their borders.

What is interesting to note about USA Today's feature is that they rank Georgia as the third most popular team in all of college football this season. However, the state of Georgia is the only place in the country where the Bulldogs are the most popular. That is not the case for rivals Alabama, Ohio State or Clemson; each of these teams are the most popular outside of their home states.

This past weekend, I spent many hours with youth football players that range from age 10 - 12 years old. My son is a youth player, and  I noticed at least six different NFL jerseys being worn by him and his teammates. This led me to wonder, who are kids' favorite NFL quarterbacks today?

I was reminiscing about which athletes kids looked up to when I was 10 years-old. It was simple. Your favorite player was typically one of the stars on your favorite (usually hometown) team. Occasionally, a universal big name like Joe Montana would jump into the mix. However, many of the big Montana fans I knew growing up in New Jersey were then San Francisco 49ers fans. This was usually due to their admiration of Montana. I don't see that to frequently be the case today.

It is not uncommon for kids to gravitate more towards specific players now as opposed to an overall team. There are two main reasons why I find this to be the modern way of fandom for youth today.

First is fantasy football. In fantasy football, you cheer for individual players. The team winning or losing doesn't matter, the player on your team putting up big numbers does. It's great for the NFL to have kids intently invested with so many games per week.

Second, players are digitally accessible. Meaning, you can engage differently with a player much more in our social media universe. Players share a glimpse into their lives and who they are off the field. The NFL as a league leaned into this a partnered with TikTok back in 2019 to give fans even more content.

It's a question with many answers. 30 years ago I would have said, "I love Phil Simms because he is the New York Giants' fearless leader." I asked 30 local youth athletes this as a follow-up question upon them naming their favorite NFL quarterback. Often the answer was related to the Quarterback's persona. Their style of play, their personality, and even their jersey number was mentioned.

So tallying up the 30 youth football players I asked, here are the kids' favorite NFL quarterbacks that are active today.

Hurts received 10% of the votes. A year ago, I don't believe his name would have been mentioned. However, Hurts skyrocketed last year and brought the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl. He showcased a fast style of play where he could run just as well as he throws. Kids love someone who takes the media world by storm. Furthermore, Hurts wears #1, and this has become an increasingly popular jersey number.

Being on the cover of Madden certainly helps. Allen's quaterback style is similar to Hurts' in that he too can use his legs. Seven kids named Allen (who is not a huge force on social media) their favorite because of his character. He plays ever game like it's his last. My neighbor said, "It feels like every game the is the Super Bowl when Allen is leading the Bills offense on a drive down the field." It's a fair point. Allen dives and scraps for every single yard, and the kids are seeing it and reacting to that.

"Joe Cool" is not his nickname, but it should be. Here's a great example of TikTok and shorts influencing youth player today. My son still watches the clip of Burrow throwing a spinning 50-yard, no-look pass perfectly down the sideline, from warmup last season. Burrow has an edge. He has confidence. Furthermore, he's as good as they come. Burrow is the modern quarterback who has the skill set of a historical, prototypical QB. His black, orange, and white jersey is also pretty Joe "cool." He received eight votes.

#15 got the most votes with 12, and is the clear #1 among the group of kids that I spoke to. Mahomes is a brand unto himself. He has his own style of play. He is innovative and his coach Andy Reid allows him to implement plays that people have never seen run before. "Mahomes is just in another league," my son said. "And he wins." His two Super Bowl rings also sit beside his two MVP awards. "We see that what Mahomes does, actually works," another youth player said. He has a valid point.