Syracuse football: Study ranks Orange as 14th largest CFB fanbase

The Syracuse Orange football results haven’t been where fans want over the past couple of years, but that apparently hasn’t stopped people supporting Syracuse. Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger made waves on Twitter when he showcased some findings from a fanbase size study done by Tony Altimore. The full study Altimore did can be found here, but we’re interested in one key stat that had plenty of people talking.

Yup. If you look closer at the graphic showing the top 16 fanbases in college football, Syracuse checks in at 14th. If you look closer, you’ll also see that Syracuse has the largest fanbase in the ACC. The study does technically count Notre Dame as an ACC school, but this is football. We know the Irish are independent.

The Orange clock in at 3.45 million fans according to the study. The top five in the ACC breaks down like this

• Syracuse: 3.45 million fans
• Miami: 2.99 million fans
• Florida State: 2.79 million fans
• North Carolina: 2.74 million fans
• Clemson: 2.33 million fans

The study does note that the collection of data used is fairly recent, so the recent “down” years of Florida State and Miami may have contributed to a smaller number. It also mentions that Clemson may be limited due to “regional considerations.”

So, what does this mean? I’m interested to hear what some of you think, as promoting a number and stat like this might be something Syracuse wants to do in order to keep up with the top of the talent in the ACC. Sound off in the comments below.