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#1: West Virginia Mountaineer Fans Always on Fire

41 Comments

We finally have reached the zenith of poor fan behavior in college football after our two-week countdown. In celebration of their spot atop this list, Mountaineers fans might set Morgantown ablaze.

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CFB’s Top 10 Most Unruly Fanbases

#10: Wisconsin

#9: Alabama

#8: Tennessee

#7: Miami (FL)

#6: Texas Tech

#5: Oregon

#4: Florida

#3: Ohio State

#2: LSU

1. West Virginia

West Virginia sports fans are equal-opportunity offenders – they will hurl insults at anyone while attending any sport. As such, 34.9% of opposing fans in a 2009 Sports Illustrated survey peg those in Morgantown as the Big East’s rudest. Athletic director Oliver Luck has received complaints about the atmosphere at football games, and basketball coach Bob Huggins – a WVU alum – has been on the public address system more than once in recent years to tell fans to stop throwing objects on the court. In fact, a Pittsburgh assistant was once hit in the face with a quarter.

But Mountaineers fans don’t just treat their “backyard” neighbors poorly. They’ve been known to hurl obscenities at any opponent, referee or opposing fan. WVU fans have been scolded by Morgantown’s mayor for being so profane at basketball games that their blue language can be heard during national television broadcasts.

But that’s all child’s play compared to what the Mountaineer faithful are best at – setting things on fire. According to GQ – which described West Virginia football fans as “Mad Arsonists” and ranked them the third worst sports fans in America behind only Philadelphia Eagles and Philadelphia Phillies fans – WVU fans set 1,120 blazes from 1997-2003. The magazine said there were 120 ignited to celebrate a football win over Virginia Tech in 2003 and 60 more in 2005 after an NCAA tournament win. They even torched couches after the death of Osama bin Laden. Imagine if they actually win a national championship.

Well, we know what will happen. There will be fire and beer in abundance. WVU allows used to allow reentry to football games when fans left the stadium to continue tailgating at halftime. Why? There were no beer sales inside the stadium. Luck is planning to change that, reportedly saying that allowing beer sales in the stadium will curb binge drinking since they now have alcohol on demand.

The collective reaction of those who know what the Mountaineer faithful are capable of with more alcohol? A groan, sigh and then pang of fear.

Only in West Virginia.

2:01 PM on 6/17/2011
  • Fact Checker

    Please try and do more thorough research before writing articles:

    The fires were for the advance to the elite 8, not the second round of the tournament. Second, several Universities across the country lit fires while celebrating the death of Bin Laden. Lastly, WVU no longer allows re-entry to the stadium.

  • T.O.

    Well, you can certainly tell the editor attended college in a town where Zingerman’s is located! Are you kidding me? The Big House is the ONLY fan base that took a wonderful traditional UM cheer and made it a VERY rude disrespectful jeer to the opposing team. I’ve been in Michigan stadium for over 4 decades and have been in many other stadiums includiing LSU, West Virginia, Florida and Tennessee and COMBINED those fans don’t touch the incredible hubris, arrogance and flat-out bad sportsmanship displayed at the tailgates before the game and in the stadium during the game. They have the greatest fight song of all time and the greatest helments in college football and great traditions that are goose bump creating wonderful. Because I love all that, I put up with BY FAR the worse fans in College football. I thought NOBODY could have worse, more crass fans than Florida,,,but they have an excuse…they are victims of the Florida school system….but these educated “Michigan Men” are much worse…MUCH worse! Actually, it is a shame. By the way, the best fans we have encountered…every time we have gone to Happy Valley and Austin.

  • COUNTRY ROADS

    YOU MUST IGNITE THIS COUCH!!!

  • Steve in DC

    Someone is going to have to explain to me why lighting a couch on fire offends people so much? The obscenities and drunkeness I get, lighting furniture on fire, who cares?

  • Steve

    we’re #1, we’re #1, we’re #1. Honestly though today’s crowed fails to compare to the days of Old. The Student section is often to busy texting to pay attention and they took out the rowdiest section to add the Touchdown Terrace.

  • Sam

    Reason is it’s a big deal burning stuff is more important fire’s might b going on. So your taking firefighters away from doing their job instead of dealing with dumb kids burning a couch over a football game. WVU fans will never get it.

  • WVUJunior

    Wow, as a WVU student myself, I really don’t think we’re that bad. It all adds to the intimidation factor. You’re scared when you come to play us are you not? We leave everyone wondering how far we will take it and what we will do next. People can call us the worst fans, the most unruly fans, but we really don’t give a damn. We get drunk, we get loud, and we yell obscenties. Now, go home and cry to your mothers while we continue to light things on fire. We have fun doing it too!

    • Redfan

      We have a winner moron.

  • haha

    So what if there are other fires going on? Then the firemen can go deal with some real issues and leave us couch burning kids alone to drink beer and watch it go up in flames. Im sure it will be out by the time they return.

  • surprise surprise

    wvu fans are getting their due attention. I look forward to the improved fan behavior now that beer sales have been approved in the stadium.

    In all seriousness, this is why VT will no longer schedule games with wvu. VT fans didn’t appreciate the way they were treated. Look for the Marshall series to follow suit and not schedule anymore games as their fans are passing on the short drive to Morgantown due to the wvu fans behavior.

  • Mad Mountie

    Did this article interrupt your wine and cheese party, surprise?

  • WV Joe

    Marshall is not afraid of WVU. WVU is afraid of the “DAY of RECKONING RAPTURE” when the world stops rotating on it’s axis revolving around Morgan-hole. The coal mines beneath cities in West Virginia will subside in one thunderous collapse and the blue&gold faithful will never be the same. The all mighty EERs will have lost a football game to Marshall. If I was a die-hard Blue&Gold fan, I would be far more embarrassed by the loss to U-Conn or how Rich Rod got richer (going to U-Michigan) when questionable offensive play calls were made all night long against Pitt to blow the national campionship game. At least this year when Marshall puts another scare in you or even wins, you will have your beer in the stadium to start crying into when the WEST VIRGINIA RAPTURE occurs. The series will $top when WVU thinks they are to close to facing the great Rapture of WVU. Beer $ale$ in the stadium=Marshall full house packed stadium+TV contract with ESPN annually+team payoff for the contract. That is right, Ollie Luck will sell beer rather than play Marshall. When Marshall gets dropped for fear of the WV-Rapture I hope you enjoy the replacement team-U-Buffalo; Western Michigan; another NCAA Div-AA team. I am sure Ollie will get the beer distributor and the United Bank to buy the empty seats for half price, so the WV Rapture does not occur too.

  • WVU Mountain-tears

    WVU does these things because they’ve never been there before.

    I was in Morgantown for the VT burning. It was a regular season game, and not even their big rival game (Pitt) and they acted like they won the BCS, Final Four and Super Bowl all in one day.

    When the only team at your school’s that has even won a national title is the rifle team you burn couches when you win regular season games. When you feel your team needs an extra boost because they aren’t normally good enough, that’s when you do the things they do at WVU and take pride in.

    Going through life fat, drunk and stupid are nothing to be proud of, unless you’ve gone to or live in WV.

  • CouchOnFire

    Does anyone know there is a legitimate reason for couches being burned? It’s a tradition for good reason!

  • jakson

    Lol @ Marshall beating WVU. We stopped scheduling your p*** poor school because beating a team in the bottom of the GMAC, or whatever conference Marshall is in, does absolutely nothing for WVU’s rankings.

  • Craig

    Ohio State fans are the worst I’ve ever dealt with. I saw them throw beer at old ladies, shove kids and try to start fights with every opposing fan that wandered by. Luckily you could spot the worst ones from a ways away and go around them. They all wore cheesy jerseys, had Eminem haircuts and gangsta’ attitudes. Classy bunch OSU.

  • dave from psu

    I have seen 8 of your top ten teams fans in action, and WVU fans far and away are the craziest. Constantly wanting to drink and brawl. LSU fans tend to drink and party, but I found them pretty fun even though our team beat them (they were gone by the end of the game). Tennessee should be the number two here ( I am thinking your mixing apples and oranges in this poll). Certainly a bunch of drunken brawlers, just less aggressive, probably due to being drunker and stupider. OSU fans are just poor losers, nothing special. Alabama fans were great, we pounded them badly one year on their home turf and we still mingled with the locals and had fun. Wisconsin ? very confused here, I think their coach is a DH but fans were ok. Florida fans are bad winners, but not nearly as brash and drunk as WVU. Never had a problem with Miami fans either probably a bad rap because teams police roster all star squad.

  • Randy J.

    Where is South Carolina on this list!

  • bal4ga

    Having been to half the stadiums on the list, I agree will all, but would put Ohio State at the top of the list. I have never seen such unruly fans en masse. I saw individuals and small groups acting out at the other stadiums but was surrounded by bad behavior driving to, parking, tailgating, entering the stadium and throughout the game. During the skulling races on the river, the OSU fans line the bridges and urinate on and drop bags of urine and feces on the boats rowed by the opposing school, especially if it is michigan apparently. I am from Georgia and have neen to LSU, Bama, Fla, Tenn, Auburn, Clemson etc and have a lot ot compare to. By the way, Michigan was polar opposite. Visited for the Notre Dame game and saw none of it.

  • Just TIm

    I really don’t know how Colorado got left off this list. Drunken coeds is not new, but Colorado fans are well known for throwing things…heavy…potentially dangerous things…on the field at opposing team players. Once, during a Nebraska game, the officials stopped play and waited while the student section was thrown out of the stadium…the game resumed with a couple of huge sections of the stadium sitting empty….and that is just one example…there are hundreds of cases in which Buff fans acted poorly…dare I say….carried out criminal behavior at games. But why should the fans be any different from the players?

  • Tom D

    Well it’s painfully obvious that the people doing this study failed to look at Oklahoma. The O. U. fans remind me of the Dodger fans that beat the Giants fan. The O. U. fan base is the worst I’ve ever seen anywhere at any sport at any level. All they do is cry when someone beats them and gloat when they win, never saw poor winners before moving here. From the Dean at O. U. to the coach they are cry babies teaching bad sportsmanship. I guess that’s what happens when you don’t have anything else in your state.

  • VTHOKIES32

    Wow Miami has enough fans to be unruly who knew?

  • Timmy

    Rednecks

  • BAMA FAN

    I think the list is rediculous. As a Bama fan, and as most i have met or been around, the cockiness comes from defending a team we love from other fans. Usually Ohio St fans. I, like most of us, will simply throw some stats out there so people understand the great success. Most fans don’t realize how much the football program has accomplished. I believe the historical knowledge Bama fans have, is misused as cockiness. Most people don’t even know how many NC, or conference championships, their team has. I’m not saying there aren’t some rediculous people out there, but I think the Updyke story is being held against the Bama fans as a whole.

    One last thing, the whole statement about not being an alumni is just plain stupid. I hear that a lot about college football. I mean, do I really have to be an alumni to be a huge fan? What about the millions of fans of professional teams? I’m pretty sure there’s a smaller percentage of them actually playing for that team or having anything to do with the organization. So call us out on not being an alumni and maybe you’ll have a season this year so you can root for a team that you never played for.

  • Steven

    Went to Maryland -WVU game last year. Never saw so many people with missing teeth. Also, it is hard to see the game at times from the fat WVU fans blocking the view. Living fat, toothless and drunk in a double-wide, life is good.

    • WVU 1977

      I agree.The dental health of most Maryland fans is atrocious. Probably comes from grinding their teeth in frustration- can’t be WVU, or much of anybody, on a football field, can they?

  • Reedboat

    T O: I’ve been to the Big House twice as a Penn State fan and I can tell you that in all my life I’ve never been treated better ANYWHERE than at Ann Arbor! I’ve stated many times that you have the most friendly and hospitable fans around. I couldn’t walk 10 feet without being offered a beer or a sandwich or both. I can’t believe that you think otherwise. It can’t be them; it must be you.

    Ohio State fans are fine, as long as the game isn’t at the ‘Shoe. And Penn State tailgating is the best, but I’ve seen PSU fans being rude to opponents too.

    Go PSU! And thank you Blue fans for wonderful times.

  • bud

    Only one minor correction……LSU (1a) WVU (1b). But you were close. The rest of the teams you listed are so far behind, it’s almost irrelevant to even bring them up. WAR EAGLE

  • Gus

    While it me be true that LSU and WVU fans are often drunk and Michigan fans are arrogant (although they have a right to be), how can there be any question that the worst fans in the world, by far, are from Ohio State?? If the NCAA punished schools for having obnoxious, stupid, and dangerous fans, OSU football would be out of business. I once saw a Buckeye fan snatch an Illini cap from a little girl’s head and then kick her after she fell down. Outside Ohio Stadium I’ve witnessed fans from other schools get beer and hot dogs (what a waste!) thrown at them and called names a Marine sergeant wouldn’t use. I once saw OSU fans attack the Michigan band and damage their instruments! What’s wrong with these cretins?? I admire and respect Ohio State’s football teams for their prowess (except for all the player-cheats they seem to have every year!), but that school’s fans are from Mars and should all be put on a space ship and sent back before they infect the rest of the world. By the way, I’ve found that the most courteous fans are from Notre Dame.

  • Col Duke

    I know people are going to think I’m a WVU fan, but I’m not. I’m just a college football fan who’s been to hundreds of games over the past forty-plus years. Far and away, the worst fans are those at WVU’s in-state rival, Marshall. Totally and utterly classless, most of them have more fingers than teeth. Marshall’s fans got them banned from the Motor City Bowl as a result of their behavior in games against BYU and Cincinnati. I was at the BYU game and was appalled. I heard several drunk Marshall fans screaming anti-Mormon comments, including one dirtbag yelling at an elderly LDS gentleman, “Hey, can I f*** your other wives?”.

    I’ve been to both OSU and LSU, OSU fans are much worse. Remember, these are the same fans who ran Kirk Herbstreit out of Columbus for fear for the saftey of his family. OSU also pre-emptively had to ask its fans to show some class when Navy came to play there a few years ago. I never found the LSU fans offensive, just loud, drunk, and crazy!

    Best fans?? Bar none…….Nebraska.

  • Green Pelican

    Insane. Who wants to go to a game anymore anyway? Just watch the idiots, players and fans, on the tube and fast forward thru the ads. Even the common- tators and ads are idiotic. Sports in the USA??? Ha. Good luck….
    Moms, don’t let your kids to grow up to be idiots – mant that make the big money spend it just a foolishly as they act in college and end up in some kind of trouble. I know – sour grapes – but this is all true.

  • jt

    I’ve been to games at more than one college (Ky, Ohio St, Notre Dame, Louisville, Indiana) and haven’t seen any of the kind of things mentioned here. I’m sure it happens as drunk people do things they normally don’t have the courage or ignorance to do. A friend who is a Louisville native and fan told me after attending a game against Ohio State (a close OSU win) that the Buckeye fan were the friendliest and nicest fans he’d met at any of the games he’d attended.
    As I said I’m sure there’s a certain amount of fans that constitute a “negative” element but i really believe the vast majority of fans are good sports to visitors. Articles like this are typical is putting a negative light on this and way over blowing the situation. I’ve seen and heard of much worse from “adults” at professional sports venues.

  • 4strjb72wvu

    That Pitt coach was overpaid. He wasnt worth a dime, much less a quarter.

  • Anonymous

    I cant believe that a W.V. fan through a half of years salary at a coach from Pitt.

  • Gordon Reise

    Ever been to a Texas game?

  • etdj

    how in the world could uga not be in the top 5, let alone top 10?

  • Ron

    Where is Cal and Arizona State? At Cal a friend of mine was knocked out by flying fruit. ASU lives up to the devil mascot in many ways.

  • Husker for life

    At Nebraska if fan get unruly we just take them out to the north 40 and shoot them. Easy solution.

  • MarkFL

    Most of my experience with college football fans (I went to Florida) is a bit dated, so that might skew my perceptions, but I never had bad experiences with the two fanbases at the top of your list.

    I was at the Peach Bowl against WVU in 1981, and the fans we saw were no better or worse than any other fans. After the game, our car got stuck in the mud, and some passing WVU fans helped push us out, and didn’t even got nasty when the tires spun mud on them.

    I also was at LSU in 1983, and the fans there weren’t particularly bad, even though we won the game.

    The only other group on this list I have any experience with is Miami — twice at the Orange Bowl (1981 and 1985), and they were so badly outnumbered by Gator fans it was impossible to rate them. Worst groups I’ve encountered have been Georgia — although their fans and ours are surely both at their worst at that game — and Notre Dame, after the 1992 Sugar Bowl (at least the ones in the hotel I stayed at).

    I’ll add that the Nebraska fans I saw at the Fiesta Bowl after the 1995 season were first-rate. During the couple of days before the game, several invited me to have lunch with them, and after the game they were all politely exuberant. (And for what it’s worth, THEY said that the Florida fans were better than the Miami and FSU fans they met the two years prior.)

  • Shawn

    I am sorry, but I am sick of the bad name West Virginia Fans get. There are CRAZY FANS and CRAZY PEOPLE at any college football game. I love the atmosphere at West Virginia games. The fans are passionate, and are some of the most loyal college sports fans in the country. They love their Mountaineers. The stadium is loud and hard to play in for the opposing teams. I had season tickets to WVU games for 10 years, and in those 10 years, there were just a hand full of bad things that happened with the fans. A hand full in a 10 year stretch. This list is a joke. On any given Saturday, one dumb a** fan can ruin it for everyone else. This can happen at ANY COLLEGE STADIUM, and it does happen any where from time to time. Again, give me a freakin’ break. I LOVE most of my fellow Mountaineer fans! THIS LIST IS A JOKE

  • PILOT1A

    UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA FANS ARE SORE WINNERS! YES, THEY BEAT ASU ALOT, BUT AFTERWARDS (AND BEFORE THE GAMES) THEY ARE INSULTING AND MEAN. GOING DOWN TO TUCSON YOU BETTER NOT HAVE A OPPONENT’S T-SHIRT ON OR ANOTHER TEAM’S BUMPER STICKER ON YOUR CAR!
    IN THEIR STADIUM THEY INSULT AND THREATEN VISITORS AND IN THE PARKING LOTS, BEWARE THE U OF A FANS!
    WORD.

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