A look at notable fans in the Big 12
The only thing worse than being a man short is being 80,000-plus men short. The Big 12 conference has some of the best fans, the worst fans and the down right ugliest fans that you will ever see on a college football Saturday.
The Good: Texas A&M’s “Twelfth Man” (College Station, Texas)
Texas A&M stumbled out of the gate to start the 2008 season with an early loss to Arkansas State under new head coach Mike Sherman. With that, ESPN gurus have projected them to be in the cellar of the Big 12 conference alongside Baylor and Iowa State as the season unfolds.
Now all you have to do is tell that to someone in College Station that cares. Kyle Field, home to “The Twelfth Man,” still attracts to opposing teams like a sea of razor blades.
Buffs’ senior center Daniel Sanders said the experience is more than just your typical road game.
“It’s intense going in there,” Sanders said. “They are loud, they have set-up chants and they really know how to get into your head.”
Like being protested against – except the cops are on their side too. And even if you have not played in College Station, the rumors of the “Twelfth Man” can still tattoo your brain with fear.
Sophomore running back Demetrius Sumler, who has never played under the 80,000-plus strong of Kyle Field, said the “Twelfth Man” rumors do not just stop with the upperclassmen.
“I have never played there – it’s my second year,” Sumler said. “But I hear the Twelfth Man is a bunch of nuts fans that never sit- for anything. I hear it’s intimidating.”
The Colorado Buffaloes will head to College Station to face the Aggies on Nov. 1, for the first time in four years.
The last time ended with the “Twelfth Man” and the Aggies prevailing to a 29-26 overtime win.
The Bad: The Bad News Baylor Bears (Waco, Texas)
If you like long, quiet walks to take your mind off of things, the place to be is Floyd Casey Stadium, home to the sparsest fans in the Big 12, the Baylor Bear fans of Waco Texas.
“When we go play Baylor, it’s not too bad because there are not a lot of people in the stands,” Sanders said. “We usually don’t have trouble there.”
The Baylor Bears have posted a 13-43 record since the inauguration year of the Big 12 in 1994. They have beaten only one ranked team (in 2005 against Texas A&M) during the 14 years of the Big 12, and their best Big 12 record was in 2006, when they went 3-5.
To put it frankly, Buffs’ punter Matt DiLallo said, they are bad, and their fans know it.
“We never see too much of an atmosphere there,” DiLallo said. “It doesn’t even feel like a road game.”
The Buffaloes will not face Baylor in the 2008 season.
The Ugly: The Cornhuskers of Nebraska (Lincoln, Nebraska)
The swarm of red that fills Memorial Stadium up to its full capacity of 81,000 every Saturday have been called some of the best fans in all of sports. Their sportsman-like attitude as “gracious hosts” has been revered across the nation for decades.
But it is the other side of their face that makes Nebraska the ugly fans of the Big 12 conference.
DiLallo said the last time he played in Lincoln, the phrase “gracious hosts” never found true meaning.
“Let’s just say they had security escort me onto the field,” DiLallo said. “They don’t like (Colorado), and they make sure we know it.”
However, Buffs’ defensive end George Hypolite recalls the experience much differently. He said the Nebraska fans served nothing but class in the game he played in Lincoln.
“They are great fans,” Hypolite said. “If you beat them, they show you a little lovin’, and if not, they applaud your effort.”
Hypolite and DiLallo both have only played in Lincoln once – during the same game in 2006 where the Huskers dominated the Buffs 37-14.
The same game, which saw two different types of fans.
The Buffs face the red swarm and the rest of the Cornhuskers in their Big 12 Finale on Nov. 28.
As the Buffs get closer to their 2008 Big 12 campaign, there seems to be nothing worse than being 80,000-plus men short-unless you send them home early.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Brent New at brent.new@colorado.edu.
