Fuhbaw's Instant Alma Mater Showdown!

While pro football is this site's main focus, Fuhbaw has a lot of love for the college game. It's fun, it's emotional, it's rife with controversy, it's a bedlam of obsessive behavior.

And, though I may not agree with all the ways the NCAA goes about its business, I cannot fault the players on the field gutting it for our enjoyment, some with pro dreams, some simply raging against the dying light.

What Fuhbaw doesn't have is a rooting interest at the collegiate level.

I attended a Division III private institution whose greatest gridiron accomplishments came before the second World War and who left the Big Ten in 1946 because they balked at giving scholarships for non-academic reasons. Athletes on my campus were the weirdos, the outsiders. Go Maroons!

I grew up in Wisconsin but cared little for the Badgers. Madison seemed so cosmopolitan and remote from my tiny town in the northern part of the state. And when I had the chance to go to UW, I bypassed it completely. I spurned them once... and I think for all.

My grandfather was a Notre Dame man and plied me with Fighting Irish paraphernalia throughout my childhood. I remember watching Tony Rice, Tim Brown, Chris Zorich, and Jerome Bettis, but feeling little of the emotional connection I did with the feast-or-famine Packers teams of the same time period. And again I spurned ND already, not even applying despite considerable familial pressure.

I don't want to jump on anyone's bandwagon, picking perennial powerhouses is too easy. No Gators, no Trojans. No Tigers or Sooners.

And latching onto teams with rich histories like the Crimson Tide or the Wolverines is pointless. There are teams out there who desperately need bandwagon fans. I am here to help.

That's why I'm deciding to put my allegiance up for grabs. And I'm giving the power to you, dear readers, to choose just who I should cheer on Saturdays.

Fuhbaw's Instant Alma Mater Showdown poll is on upper right of the page. I narrowed the choices down to five schools. It is up to you to decide whose fight song I learn by heart.

But before you cast your vote, first read my reasons for the selections below. The voting remains open until midnight of next Friday at which point I will reveal my new team.

In the intervening days, I plan on tracking down alumni - bloggers and former players - and asking for reasons why I should become a passionate fan of their alma mater. I will post here any compelling arguments for your consideration.

Help me democratize my loyalty! Here are the candidates, one for every major conference (almost):

ACC: Wake Forest Demon Deacons

Wake Forest is a bit of an anomaly in the ACC. Boasting Virginia Tech, Clemson, Boston College, Miami, and Florida State, the Conference resembles a retirement community for old decorated powerhouses. Wake is tiny like Duke... but of course Duke has that basketball team I can't root for in good conscious.

Despite the tiny enrollment, the Demon Deacons are on the rise after being a conference bottom feeder for years. I'm willing to overlook (or not look at all at) minor controversies like naked quarterback pictures making their rounds through the internet.

Plus, Chris Paul was a Deacon.

Big East: South Florida Bulls

Just over ten years ago, there were no South Florida Bulls. There was essentially a commuter college in Tampa with a fairly large endowment but little in the way of campus life. But Jim Leavitt built the program from scratch from a 1-AA afterthought into a potential BCS Bowl contender. The lack of history is perfect. Can one be a bandwagon fan if they just built the wagon?

I also have some ties to Florida, born near Fort Lauderdale and living there until age six. The team itself is built around a tough, athletic defense and a spread offense tailored to their undersized players. In a conference supposed to be dominated by Mountaineers and Panthers, Orangemen and Cardinals, the Bulls are proving deep lines of boosters aren't necessary to put together a winner.

Can you tell I'm kinda taken with these South Florida Bulls?

Big 10: None

As mentioned above, I grew up in Wisconsin but never became a Badgers fan. That doesn't mean I still didn't develop almost by osmosis an enmity for the other Big Ten teams. Teams bordering Wisconsin are non-negotiable. No Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, or Michigan. Northwestern I cannot consider because of the ongoing academic rivalry in the Chicago area between it and my real alma mater, the University of Chicago.

The respect I have for Penn State's accomplishments while considerable make it ineligible in this competition. Both Indiana schools, UI and Purdue, are problematic. Indiana is a basketball school and I cannot imagine cheering the Hoosiers on hardwood. And Purdue, while I've enjoyed drinking boilermakers, I've been to West Lafayette and that's a no-go.

Finally, Ohio State... ah, the Buckeyes. I just can't not in any way shape or form, be a Buckeye. No offense. No, actually, offense. I just can't forgive the crumbling on the national stage over the past several years.

Sorry, Big Ten, I may have been raised in your bosom, but you are unrepresented in this competition.

Big 12: None

The Big Twelve is home to powerhouses like Texas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. But also some interesting upstarts, like Missouri and Kansas. Kansas is a team I like to watch in their current incarnation. But the prospect of having to root for the Jayhawks in basketball flies in the face of what I'm trying to do here. Mizzou is a hot team, but they do boast a considerable history even if only a resurgence in recent history. I have no ties to the state of Missouri, though, and was mildly befuddled by Columbia my one time visiting.

Perennial basement dwellers Iowa State and Baylor hold potential. Iowa State however is in Iowa and rooting for a Wisconsin bordering state runs contrary to my intentions (see Big 10 discussion above). Baylor's small enrollment as the little fish in a big pond entices. But I'm not a Baptist nor comfortable cheering a team with a bear for a mascot.

The remaining Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas teams are out based on unfavorable geography. And Colorado's multiple past sex scandals are grounds for instant disqualification. So the Big Twelve is unrepresented in the Showdown.

Pac-10: Washington State Cougars

I played my high school ball on a perennial loser. Our school lacked rah-rah spirit and our team always trotted out the smallest roster on Friday nights. I have an affection for the losing cause and the little guy.

The Cougars play in the smallest Pac-10 stadium. Despite a couple of Rose Bowl appearances in the last decade - both losses - they've been little better than mediocre in recent history. Plus, they play second fiddle in their state to the Huskies and reside near the uncool eastern border.

Add that their moment of greatest triumph, a claimed 1915 national championship is disputed and currently not recognized. That's some heartache, folks. The Cougars might need a hug from me. (Ow! No claws! No claws!)

SEC: Vanderbilt Commodores

Speaking of lost causes, there's Vandy, the stepchild of the powerful SEC. The Commodores are more known for their smarts than football accomplishments. Like my real alma mater, Vandy was successful in college football's earliest days, but, since then... well, I'll let Wikipedia explain:

However, Vanderbilt football has not won a conference championship since the founding of the Southeastern Conference in 1932, and its last winning season was in 1982 under coach George MacIntyre. In its entire history, Vanderbilt has only competed in three bowl games... with a combined all-time post-season record of 1-1-1.

The gridiron might not boast a more un-bandwagon-able team. Should I become a Commodore?

Other/Independent: San Diego State Aztecs

While Notre Dame is out based on my already chilly feelings toward the program, I might consider one of the service schools, but I don't think they'll have me. Without a Big Ten or Big Twelve representative, I scour the mid-major conferences. Boise State, Marshall, and Hawaii are all attractive options given recent success (or my weird fascination with West Virginia).

But something about San Diego State appeals. The cradle from which Don Coryell raised his Air Coryell offense. The alma mater of Herm Edwards, the zen master of football non-logic. Marshall Faulk's playground.

But I'm not going to lie to you. The prospect of making a pilgrimage to San Diego to see the Aztecs is what entices most. The forecast for the next five days reads: 76, 75, 75, 72, 73.

So who should I adopt as my college football team? Again, the poll is on the upper right of this page.

Stop back to Fuhbaw over the coming days for more arguments and updates on the Showdown and regularly updated football experiments and thought pieces.