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Saddest College Football Fan Bases After Week 1
While Dabo Swinney didn't have a nice Week 1, neither did many Clemson fans. (Stephen Lew-Imagn Images) IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Saddest College Football Fan Bases After Week 1

Originally posted on CFB-HQ on SI  |  By Joe Cox  |  Last updated Sep 6, 2026 10:50 AM ET
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The college footabll pre-season is the time for hope. Unfortunately for some fans, Week 1 often brings a harsh smack of reality to the proceedings. Those big dreams can meet the harsh light of reality in a hurry and leave the fans who spent months waiting on college football to wonder if it's time to think about basketball or the NFL or much of anything else. From shocking Week 1 losses to ugly wins that made fans sad, here's some disspirited Week 1 fan bases.

Rutgers

Sure, the Scarlet Knights aren't one of the top programs in the Big Ten. But if anything, their Thursday night 37-21 home loss to UMass (Rutgers was favored by more than four touchdowns) proved that the Scarlet Knights have their backers. Or maybe had, because they're fleeing now like Titanic passengers when the boat hit the iceberg.

Baylor

A Week 1 battle with Auburn was just as competitive as expected, but the Bears summoned up all their courage and went for a game-winning two point conversion with nine seconds remaining only to be stopped inches shy of the victory. The Bears were an underdog in the game, but losing by literally inches certainly put a little extra sting in the defeat for Baylor fans.

Vanderbilt

After an impressive run with QB Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt got a taste of life without him in an ugly 28-9 win over FCS Austin Peay. Yes, they won, but Vandy fans left Week 1 realizing that the whirling dervish that was Pavia probably had a bigger hand in their surprising 17 wins over the last two seasons than Clark Lea or anybody else still in Nashville. Plenty of Commodore fans were also cranky about seeing the Dores struggle with five-star QB Jared Curtis mostly sitting and watching.

Michigan

In many ways, the Wolverines were the story of the night. They needed a deeply controversial (or more accurately, deeply errant) timing call to extend the game and allow them to outlast Western Michigan 13-12 on a Hail Mary. Wolverine fans stormed the field, which just allowed another chance to observe that while some were ecstatic, others were just sad it came to this in Week 1.

Clemson

Sure, LSU on the road stood to be a tough game. But after a long offseason, seeing the team that went 7-6 last year lose 51-10. Well, that proved to be a pretty disspiriting evening for Clemson backers.


This article first appeared on CFB-HQ on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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