ThatFan.com — Are You That Fan?

With an entire summer of research and comparison behind us, ThatFan.com unveils its inaugural ranking of the Top-25 College Fan Bases. Independent of the traditional rankings, this poll determines who the top fan bases are around the nation and there will be a 8-base playoff at the end of the season. This poll is not a ranking of the overall tradition and strength of the fan base, but a reflection on which fan bases are having the best season.

Fan Bases are ranked upon the following factors: In-game cheering/chanting, color-outs, overall attendance, memorable acts made in relation to support of a team, and fan traditions still used today.

This poll will be released every Tuesday. Interviews with head pollster Ben Meyers may be arraigned through: E-mail or via phone 518-928-7292.

Rank, Team, Record, Comment, Pvs. Rank

1. Boise State, 0-0, Has the passion of a HS fan base , N/A
2. Ohio State, 0-0, Buckeye fans are everywhere, N/A
3. Nebraska, 0-0, Stadium is 3rd largest city in state when full, N/A
4. TCU, 0-0, Endured bowl loss with strong return, N/A
5. Virginia Tech, 0-0, Consistency counts, N/A
6. LSU, 0-0, 209-58-4 at night at home vs. 21-26-3 during day, N/A
7. USC, 0-0, Sellouts still expected with no bowl, N/A
8. Georgia, 0-0, Buoyed by the Peanut Butter Kid, N/A
9. Florida, 0-0, The Chomp is the Imperial March, N/A
10. Washington, 0-0, Filled the Stadium when 0-12, N/A
11. Texas A&M, 0-0, “The 12th Man,” N/A
12. Alabama, 0-0, Maybe a little full of themselves, N/A
13. Tennessee, 0-0, Everyone knows the fight song, N/A
14. Florida St., 0-0, The chant has been copied by many, N/A
15. Texas, 0-0, Go to everything, not just football, N/A
16. Oklahoma, 0-0, Smart about football, N/A
17. Wisconsin, 0-0, Oldest Stadium in the Nation, N/A
18. Michigan, 0-0, Largest Stadium in the Nation, N/A
19. Mississippi, 0-0, “The Grove,” N/A
20. Oregon, 0-0, Best cheerleaders in the nation, N/A
21. West Virginia, 0-0, The best Big East base, N/A
22. Penn State, 0-0, The best color-out, N/A
23. Notre Dame, 0-0, Tradition breaks them in, N/A
24. Cincinnati, 0-0, Riding on the Reds Bandwagon, N/A
25. North Carolina, 0-0, More of a hoops base, N/A

Others Receiving Votes: Iowa, Pittsburgh, BYU, Stanford, Missouri, Utah, South Carolina, Army, Navy, Air Force

After going through e-mails this morning I saw that the Sporting News just released a new set-up and after clicking through it I found it to be pretty good.

That, dangerously, got the ball rolling on today’s adventure.

With the football season coming up, ThatFan.com took it upon ourselves to click through the Internet and rank the best sites out there when it comes to getting sports news, scantily clad women (the reason why the Internet was invented), hilarious photos and videos, fantasy updates, and good reading (games, columns and features).

To give the others like Deadspin, SI, and ESPN a chance, we took ourselves out of the running.

The Top 20

20. Sportstrekker.com: Traveling across the country to different stadiums and giving the travel information and experiences that comes with each site. A newer site that answers questions like, “I wonder what Qwest field is like to get to?” or “Is Notre Dame Stadium as great as it is hyped to be?”

19. Foolish Fans: Now, the question is, “Why put a competing site on your list, ThatFan.com?” Well, these guys basically just put up photos and videos of fans being stupid. They don’t do everything that we do (Fan Laws, Interviews, Erin Andrews Photos, Megan Gardler Photos). They are more of a one-trick pony, but it is one hell of a trick.

18.  Busted Coverage: The “Busted” part is the real trigger on this site. Once in a while they’ll talk about football, but c’mon, who really cares? Now, pictures of athletes with really good looking bathing-suited girls…there is your wining combination.

17. Sports Hernia: This satirical site is a gut buster. When you have Teen Wolf in your banner then you know you are sitting on a gold mine. Also, breaking the story about the Kiper hair piece on NFL Draft day a few years back is genius.

16. Sports Fan Coalition: This is basically becoming the sports fan’s lobby in Washington D.C. I’m not sure how effective they are going to be in the future (they are pretty new on the scene), but the credentials of the people writing for the site are really serious and it looks like they have the best interest of sports fans at heart.

15. NBA/NHL/NFL/MLB.com: All of the leagues have crazy money that they can use to make websites, but they are lucky that they are even on the list. MLB.com doesn’t let their highlights be used outside of their site (read that as F you MLB that Mark Buhrle play should be everywhere) and there are so many ads on all of these that I might as well just watch the game on TV. Thanks for the stats.

14. CBSsportsline.com: The first of the major media outlets to show up and one of the biggest things holding them back is that extra “s” in their name that really screws with my browsers memory. Watching the NCAA Hoops tourney online is fantastic and has improved every year since they started, but their fantasy sports (especially baseball) is really hard to navigate.

13. DRF.com: What is DRF.com? It is the website for the Daily Racing Form (yes, they still race horses in this country.) This is basically the hub of the industry though and since they updated the site to make it easier to navigate it has improved quite a bit. The charts and Past Performances that they produce are unparalleled in the World. Th only drawback…you have to pay for some of it.

12. Fanhouse.com:  Best Part – They are maybe the most underrated place for scores, news, updates and navigation of website. Worst part – They have Jay Mariotti. Jay I’m just not going to say anything about you or your self-promotion.

11. Huffington Post Sports: One of the few sources on the internet that has the combination of word, photo, and video figured out. A perpetual leader in the clubhouse when it comes to covering the pop culture of sports. The only problem is that they are for the casual fan more than the hardcore stat-head or jersey-backer.

10. ESPN/Foxsports: What blasphemy! The giants of the industry barely break the Top-10? Other than Page 2, ESPN doesn’t give you anything new on their site. Sorry Mickey, but your sports network is starting to just rest on the laurels of being at everything and they aren’t actually saying anything new (other than Colin Cowherd) to rock the boat. As for Fox, you guys are a little bit edgier, but your site is dry and boring with a “Page 2″ feel to it and the “Yardbarker” blog set up is clunky on its best day.

8. Sportingnews: The writing on this site is usually some of the best out there. Now that they have a new look they may move up soon, but they are stuck for right now.

7. Newspaper websites: The New York Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Orlando Sentinel, and Washington Post are some of the best out there and they have embraced what the Internet is all about. Some like the L.A. Times are OK, but the font they use burns the retinas. Some like USA Today are too bright and gaudy and don’t back it up with anything that great.

6. Sports by Brooks: One of the originators of the sports blogosphere and still brings a good amount of heat and opinion. Site kind of needs a face lift from the 2001 design, but this is on the Sports Blog Mt. Rushmore.

5. Yahoo Sports: Going around and hiring the best in he business has paid off. Some of the best game coverage integrated with fantasy sports updates and photos is a model for others to follow. A ton of opinions here as well.

4. SBNation: For those who don’t know this one then shame on you. A collection of 274 individual blogs that cover everything from BYU Football to the New York Yankees in blog form this is the idea that everyone had when the Internet came out and no would could harness. We couldn’t help but notice that they don’t have a blog about sports fans, yet. How about something like “The Fans Voice Awards?”

3. The Big Lead: Another stalwart in the history of internet sports. There was something that kind of hurt when Batman took his mask off, but all good anonymous things come to an end. The annual pop culture tournament during the NCAA tourney is priceless every year.

2. Deadspin: Everything that a blog should be and SO much more. The perfect combination of smack, skin, script, and song. If you are featured on Deadspin then you have made it…and your 15 minutes is ticking. Perhaps they don’t cover games, but they push the envelope that is in the Internet contract for every site out there.

1. Sportsillustrated.com: From column writing, to feature writing, to blog writing, to fantasy updates, to the hottest women on the planet in next to nothing, to rounding up the best of the Internet a few times a day with Extra Mustard, this IS the best sports website out there. There is no better way to put it. This is the complete package.

Did I miss your site? Well, Send Dr. Venkman an e-mail!