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%