Sept. 3, 2004
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The ESPN Sports Poll, a service of TNS Sport, asked college sports fans aged 12 and over from January through December 2003 to name their favorite college football team. As the start of the NCAA Football season commences, following are the top 20 favorite college teams of respondents of the U.S., as well as from four different regions of the country. For the second year, Notre Dame was the only school to finish in the top ten among all regions (ESPN Sports Poll).
FAVORITE COLLEGE FOOTBALL TEAMSRK TEAM %1) Notre Dame 6.1%2) Ohio State 5.3%3) Penn State 3.9%4) Michigan 3.8%5) Miami (Florida) 3.1%6) Texas 2.9%7) Nebraska 2.7%8) Wisconsin 2.5%9) Florida State 2.5%10) Tennessee 2.5%11) Florida 2.5%12) Oklahoma 2.4%13) Georgia 2.0%14) UCLA 1.9%15) USC 1.9%16) North Carolina 1.6%17) Alabama 1.4%18) LSU 1.4%19) Texas A&M 1.2%*No selection 12.5%REGIONS OF THE COUNTRYNORTHEASTRK TEAM %1) Penn State 20.7%2) Notre Dame 11.5%3) Syracuse 6.2%4) Boston College 4.1%5) Miami (Florida) 3.7%6) Pittsburgh 3.4%7) Michigan 2.8%8) Ohio State 2.4%9) North Carolina 1.6%*No selection 19.4%NORTH CENTRALRK TEAM %1) Ohio State 17.3%2) Wisconsin 9.1%3) Michigan 9.1%4) Notre Dame 7.3%5) Nebraska 6.5%6) Minnesota 3.6%7) Michigan State 3.4%8) Iowa 3.1%9) Missouri 3.1%*No selection 9.6%SOUTHRK TEAM %1) Texas 6.3%2) Tennessee 5.2%3) Georgia 4.8%4) Florida 4.7%5) Florida State 4.5%6) Miami (Florida) 4.2%7) Oklahoma 4.0%8) Notre Dame 3.5%9) Alabama 3.2%*No selection 11.0%WESTRK TEAM %1) UCLA 8.5%2) USC 8.2%3) Notre Dame 5.9%4) Washington 5.3%5) Oregon 4.2%6) Colorado 3.7%7) Oregon State 3.1%8) Nebraska 2.8%9) Michigan 2.7%*No selection 13.5%