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ESPN ranks Utes fan base as the ‘happiest’ in Utah over BYU, Utah State

Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune Utah fans cheer on the team as they battle the Michigan Wolverines in game action at Rice Eccles Stadium on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015.

  | Aug. 22, 2017, 4:37 p.m.
| Updated: 7:53 p.m.

College football fans should be happy this time of year for the simple reality that games will be back on television and teams back on the field. 

After the usual long summer, elation is creeping in with the impending autumn slate of Utah, BYU and Utah State games — starting Saturday as BYU takes on Portland State. 

However, the Utes fanbase is the happiest of the happy in Utah according to ESPN, followed by BYU and Utah State. 

Utah has the 32nd happiest fans in the country, followed by BYU at No. 51 and Utah State at No. 102 out of 128 FBS teams. The rankings were based on categories of program power, rivalry dominance, coaching stability, recruiting trend, revenue growth and Twitter buzz on a scale from 1 to 100. 

Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune Brigham Young fans storm the field as BYU upsets Boise State on two touchdowns in the last minute of play to beat the Broncos 35-24, in college football action, BYU vs. Boise State at Lavell Edwards Stadium, Saturday, September 12, 2015.

The Utes fanbase is described as “content” and ranked highest in recruiting trend (87) and Twitter buzz (72) with a low score in revenue growth (16). Utah was the seventh rated Pac-12 squad on the list behind No. 7 Stanford, No. 11 Washington, No. 13 Washington State, No. 24 UCLA, No. 27 Oregon and No. 31 USC. 

BYU fans are rated as “skeptical,” but the team is the highest ranked Independent program on the happiness index, beating out traditional power Notre Dame. The Cougars received high marks in revenue growth (94) and coaching stability (89), but were rated low in recruiting trend (12). 

The Aggies lagged behind at No. 102 overall, rated as the lowest team on the list from the Mountain West with “distraught” fans. Utah State scored highest in recruiting trend (56), but scored no higher than 35 on any of the other categories.

Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune USU fans tease Boise State during first half play. Utah State led Boise State 45-10 at the half, Friday, October 15, 2015.

The top 10 happiest fan bases according to the rankings are Ohio State’s, Florida State’s, Alabama’s, Louisville’s, Kansas State’s, Oklahoma’s, Stanford’s, Clemson’s, Northwestern’s and Appalachian State’s. The top 10 least happy fan bases are Bowling Green’s, Georgia Southern’s, Buffalo’s, Kansas’, North Texas’, Kent State’s, Rice’s, UConn’s, Idaho’s and Texas State’s. 

Check out the whole rankings here.