Hokies Fans Rank an Impressive No. 13 in the Country

Tech fan counts off an extra point.

My friend Tom Cain, who is just about to worry himself into a dither-fit about the impending college athletic conference realignment, sent me this piece that analyzes who the most attractive teams are for those wanting new members.

The number that jumped right off the page at me is that Virginia Tech is No. 13 in the country in fan base. That's ahead of--among many others--LSU, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina and Arkansas in the SEC; Miami, North Carolina, Boston College, Virginia and Florida State in the ACC; Iowa, Nebraska and Michigan in the Big Whateveritis; Oklahoma and Missouri in the Big 12; everybody in the PAC12 (that includes USC, UCLA, Stanford, Oregon, etc.); everybody in the Big East and everybody else nationally except for Notre Dame (4th).

Frankly, when the talk began about a Tech-SEC affiliation, I laughed out loud. I'm not laughing any more. 

Tech's base is 1.3 million fans. Ohio State leads the nation with 3.1 million and is followed in order by Michigan, Penn State, Notre Dame, Texas, Texas A&M (which is why the SEC wanted it), Auburn, Alabama, Florida and Clemson. Tennessee, which has a 104,000-seat stadium, which it regularly fills, is back at 21, which stuns me. I would have thought the Vols--who draw 75,000 people for a band concert before a home game--would be in the top two or three. But, hey, them Hokies is rabid.

(Photo from MySpace: Brookes_Mommy)