Can SEC Football Fans Have ‘Other’ Teams?

Published October 25, 2011 - 9:54am

NEW: Discuss this topic in the Google+ community for SEC fans.

Have you ever had one of those days? You know the kind I’m talking about, where LSU beats your alma mater by 35-points. We’ve all been there, right? And it’s on days like that when you sort of wish you could hedge your bets. You wish there was something positive that could balance out the emotional deficit a loss to your SEC team produces. Because I’m assuming if you are on this site, reading this article, an SEC team dominates your weekends in the fall. And some of those weekends, well, some are just better than others. So is there something out there, something else we can cheer for, that could help take the sting out of a defeat to our favorite SEC team?

Keep in mind for one of these hedges to actually work you will need to be emotionally invested. You’ll need to actually care. Take for instance the Michigan State – Wisconsin game this weekend. Incredible game, with an amazing ending, but it didn’t help me get over Auburn’s loss to LSU. In fact, if you were to offer me a free lunch in return for my memory of the MSU Hail Mary, I’d probably take it, because that game really didn’t mean anything to me. All of this being said, here are some of the things you can try to hedge your SEC bets…

Rivals

A lot of us cheer against our rivals. Judging by bumper stickers, there are a lot of people in my county who cheer for Auburn, and whoever is playing Alabama. I assume the same is true on the other side of the state. The problem with balancing your emotions by cheering for your rival’s demise is the days when LSU trounces you, and your rival blasts Tennessee. Days like that are why I do not recommend this method.

A Second Team

Maybe you grew up a Kentucky fan but attended college at Georgia Tech. I suppose this is okay, but you’ll need to document your attachment to both teams and send it to the NCAA Department of Fan Accountability (PO Box 35223, Indianapolis, IN), because this a not a method we want abused.

NFL

I’ve tried this once, with the Miami Dolphins, and realized I just can’t make myself care. I, like many SEC fans, just keep up with players from my school, and players on my fantasy team.

Fantasy Team

If a fantasy team helps you get over your SEC team losing, why not just pretend your SEC team didn’t lose. Heck, pretend you quarterbacked them to a come-from-behind win while being chased by supermodels.

Baseball

Your team is going to have to be pretty good to still be playing during college football season. And since most SEC fans will be pulling for the Braves, I do not recommend this method. It can only lead to depression.

Basketball

If you have a friend that is counting on the NBA to offset his college football losses this season, you might want to remove all the sharp objects from their house. I suppose you could try college hoops, but a win in the Great Alaskan Shootout in November isn’t really going to take the sting of losing the Egg Bowl is it?

Soccer

I’m a Manchester City fan and on Sunday, City annihilated their biggest rival, Manchester United, 6-1. It was a great win, and I truly enjoyed watching it a couple days ago, but my problem is, I don’t know any other Man City fans. At least not any that live close to me, and a victory is much more fun when you can enjoy it with others. Plus, there were no Man U fans at church I could talk smack to. Although some estimates have United with 3.5 billion fans worldwide, so odds are there were ten or eleven of them at church yesterday, weeping in their hymnals.

So what about you? Who are your ‘other’ teams?