College football in the South is basically a religion.
It makes sense since most of the programs are located in cities that aren't even close to a pro football team, but I swear some of these fanbases care more about their SEC squad than members of their own family.
That's not me trying to speak from a place of moral superiority either, because I definitely fall somewhere in that category being a diehard Florida Gators fan.
One USA Today writer found this out the hard way when she posed a simple question on X: "Would most South Carolina fans trade three women's basketball national championships for one football national title?"
The question was part of a larger article from Lauren Beasley that argued the merits of the Gamecocks' women's basketball team, and you can read it yourself if you have the time, but the responses to her question are what fascinated me more than anything.
It didn't surprise me, and I really hope she wasn't expecting anything different, but the nearly universal consensus was that, yes, most Gamecock fans would dismantle every non-revenue sport to even sniff a national championship in football.
Here's the thing, too: they aren't wrong.
I've had discussions with other Gator fans, and maybe it's because I'm a fan who never went to the University of Florida, but I would trade just about any other sport to see Florida win another natty in my lifetime.
Baseball, softball, those are no-brainers, but it goes even further beyond that.
There are times during mid-November over the past few years when the Gators are once again in danger of missing a bowl game when I would gladly make a deal with the Devil and trade any success all four of my pro sports franchises have experienced and ever will experience for my college football team to be relevant again.
I've witnessed two World Series (Marlins), three NBA Championships (Heat) and, most recently, back-to-back Stanley Cups (Panthers), and although the latter would be tough to give up, I'd sell them all for another Gators national championship.
I'm not a unique case, and I'm probably not even the most diehard college football fan, though I'd like to think I'm up there.
Hell, a Bama fan poisoned a bunch of trees and went to jail just because his bitter rivals won a championship, you don't think he'd tell Nate Oats to kick rocks if it meant he could witness one more Crimson Tide championship (if he were still around, that is. RIP Harvey Updyke)?
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I'm sure many people from the Northeast probably think I'm a loon, but when people say "it just means more" to SEC fans, this is what they're referring to.
I'm convinced Beasley knew exactly what she was doing when she asked this question, and she knew what the overwhelming responses would be.
Ask any SEC football fan, and you're bound to get a similar response.
They don't even need to be the Harvey Updykes of the world. They just need to love their team.
It's not a knock on women's basketball either, it just shows how much these football programs mean to these fans.
The religion of college football is strong in the South, and everything else just plays second fiddle.
