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The best and worst of college football’s 2022 attendance trends

By John Scimeca

ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - OCTOBER 26: General view of fans during a college football game between the Michigan Wolverines and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Michigan Stadium on October 26, 2019 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN - OCTOBER 26: General view of fans during a college football game between the Michigan Wolverines and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Michigan Stadium on October 26, 2019 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. (Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images) /
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LINCOLN, NE – APRIL 22: Cheerleaders of the Nebraska Cornhuskers celebrate a score at Memorial Stadium on April 22, 2023 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
LINCOLN, NE – APRIL 22: Cheerleaders of the Nebraska Cornhuskers celebrate a score at Memorial Stadium on April 22, 2023 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images) /

Nebraska has the most loyal fans

It’s not even close when measuring the largest home crowds that come out and support a losing team. There have been six straight years of futility under now-fired head coach Scott Frost (replaced by Mickey Joseph after three games last season). The Huskers haven’t had a winning season since 2016.

Nebraska ranks No. 113 among all FBS programs in terms of combined wins and losses (19 wins, 37 losses). Only three Power 5 schools have lost more games — Kansas, Rutgers, and Arizona. Nebraska, however, manages to still draw fans to their seats for home games, with an average of 88,911 spectators over the past five seasons. That number ranks No. 10 among all college football programs and is better than Florida, Oklahoma, Clemson, and Notre Dame.

The famous sellout streak since 1962 has barely survived all the losing, and new head coach Matt Rhule will hope to reverse that trend after he comes to the Cornhusker State after a stint with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers.

It’s an impressive statistic no matter how you slice it. The fan base is strong after the stellar success of past generations (as recently as the 1990s) and there’s no pro team nearby to detract attention from the Huskers.

dark. Next. Ranking College Football's top 25 fanbases

Although Texas A&M and Auburn fans deserve recognition for showing up in large numbers for mediocre football, these two teams have experienced a degree of success in the past few years that Nebraska has clearly not.

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