No. 15 Notre Dame
Speaking of national college football fanbases, few programs, if any, have a stronger national fanbase than the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
From South Bend, Indiana, the Irish are basically the home team to Chicago too as the area doesn’t really have its own major team, although Illinois is close by, the Irish have always been more popular.
And with all the national championships and the tradition of winning, which was rekindled under Brian Kelly, you can see why.
Yet, even when the Irish don’t win, there is interest. There is a reason why Notre Dame has its own TV deal and why it has never joined a conference in football. The Irish have the fanbase to be its own brand and it has done that successfully for decades.
The Stadium was only at capacity a couple of times this season, which dropped the Irish a little, but even with some fluctuations, Notre Dame is an elite college football fanbase.