Now that the dog days of summer are upon us, the 2016 college football season is right around the corner. The first game of the season is set to take place between Hawaii and California on August 26 in Sydney, Australia, while the first games on American soil are slated for Thursday, September 1.
Though countless teams are supported by huge fanbases, we decided to do a little digging to figure out what the 20 most popular teams were. The list provided is based on ticket sales data from the TicketNetwork Online Exchange for the 2016 season.
For the most part, the results weren’t too surprising, with 14 of the 20 teams members of either the Southeastern Conference or the Big Ten Conference. While a few unexpected schools made the list, the most remarkable observation was the absence of some big-name college football programs such as the Clemson Tigers, Oregon Ducks, and South Carolina Gamecocks. Take a look at the 20 most popular football teams below:
| Rank (From Least Popular to Most Popular) | Team | Conference |
| 20. | Arizona Wildcats | Pac-12 |
| 19. | Pittsburgh Panthers | ACC |
| 18. | Auburn Tigers | SEC |
| 17. | Florida State Seminoles | ACC |
| 16. | Michigan State Spartans | Big Ten |
| 15. | LSU Tigers | SEC |
| 14. | Florida Gators | SEC |
| 13. | Penn State Nittany Lions | Big Ten |
| 12. | Oklahoma Sooners | Big 12 |
| 11. | Michigan Wolverines | Big Ten |
| 10. | Georgia Bulldogs | SEC |
| 9. | Mississippi Rebels | SEC |
| 8. | Nebraska Cornhuskers | Big Ten |
| 7. | Ohio State Buckeyes | Big Ten |
| 6. | Texas A&M Aggies | SEC |
| 5. | Alabama Crimson Tide | SEC |
| 4. | Tennessee Volunteers | SEC |
| 3. | Wisconsin Badgers | Big Ten |
| 2. | Texas Longhorns | Big 12 |
| 1. | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | Independent |
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