What college football program has the most NCAA national championships (12) in the poll era, plus the second-most ever (15)? Here's a hint: it's the same program with 916 wins by the end of the 2019 season, which ties Texas for the third-most in CFB history. Still struggling? This team produced the two greatest head coaches the game has ever seen.
There's only one University of Alabama Crimson Tide, and the foundation built by the football program makes Tuscaloosa, Alabama the greatest small city football town in America.
WalletHub compared 245 cities across America. All of these selections had at least one professional NFL team or a college football team, and they were rated based on 21 key metrics including performance, ticket sales, stadium capacity and accessibility, and fan engagement. Each metric was weighted based on factors like population and longevity of the franchise/program to determine the best and worst football cities in America.
When it comes to "small cities" that have a population under 100,000 people, Tuscaloosa came away as America's best.
America's Best Football Cities (Small City)
1. Tuscaloosa, Alabama
2. Clemson, South Carolina
3. State College, Pennsylvania
4. Fayette, Mississippi
5. Boone, North Carolina
6. Hanover, New Hampshire
7. West Point, New York
8. Stanford, California
9. Hamilton, New York
10. Statesboro, Georgia
When it came to "midsize cities" with a population between 100,000 and 300,000, fans of the Green Bay Packers absolutely ran away with the category up in Wisconsin.
America's Best Football Cities (Midsize City)
1. Green Bay, Wisconsin
2. Buffalo, New York
3. Glendale, Arizona
4. Fargo, North Dakota
5. Tallahassee, Florida
6. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
7. Norman, Oklahoma
8. Athens, Georgia
9. Boise, Idaho
10. Provo, Utah
As for the big cities with a population over 300,000? Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — affectionately nicknamed 'The City of Champions' — ranked No. 1 in this category, as well as WalletHub's top overall football city in the country for the second year in a row.
America's Best Football Cities (Large City)
1. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
2. Boston, Massachusetts
3. Dallas, Texas
4. New York, New York
5. New Orleans, Louisiana
6. Miami, Florida
7. San Francisco, California
8. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
9. Oakland, California
10. Indianapolis, Indiana
And of course, we can't congratulate the best football cities in America without ranking the worst to the not-worst-but-still-pretty-bad football cities in WalletHub's rankings regardless of size.
Worst Cities for Football Fans
245. Brookville, New York
244. Valparaiso, Indiana
243. Providence, Rhode Island
242. Davidson, North Carolina
241. Ithaca, New York
240. Columbia, South Carolina
239. New Britain, Connecticut
238. Louisville, Kentucky
237. Lawrence, Kansas
236. El Paso, Texas
Chin up all you football fans at Long Island University. Brookville might be the worst football city in America, but at least y'all were once the wealthiest town in America, right?
This article was originally published January 27, 2020.
