Key takeaways
- Colorado State University fans are the most vulgar, with 49 profane words per 1,000 subscribers.
- Middle Tennessee State University fans are the most supportive, with 139 supportive words per 1,000 subscribers.
- Schools in the Mountain West Conference have the most vulgar fans, using 118 offensive words per 1,000 subscribers.
- Mountain West schools also have the most supportive words per 1,000 subscribers (237).
Salty language in the fan zone
Being a die-hard fan of a college sports team is a highly emotional experience. The thrill of victory is exhilarating, but the agony of defeat can leave you feeling disappointed, frustrated, and, in some cases, angry.
We were curious about which college fans were most likely to use profanity to express their feelings about their team, so we went deep down a Reddit rabbit hole to gather information. In this article, we'll examine our findings to reveal which school's fans are the most vulgar when discussing their team's fortunes.
Is your college's vocabulary more explicit or encouraging?
Some fans are more likely to see the glass as half-empty, while others can always seem to find optimism and hope despite their team's struggles. In this first section, let's examine which school's fans are most supportive and most critical.
To find this information, we used a list of vulgar words alongside a list of positive words and counted how many times each word appeared in subreddit posts and comments for specific colleges. Generally speaking, our research suggests that college sports fans are more likely to support their team than talk smack about them online.
Colorado State University fans were the most vulgar, averaging 49 profane words per 1,000 subscribers. While Middle Tennessee State University was a distant second with 33 offensive words, they were also the most positive fanbase, with an average of 139 supportive words per 1,000 subscribers. Interestingly, eight other schools were also on both top 20 lists, including:
- Central Michigan University
- Colorado State University
- Mississippi State University
- New Mexico State University
- Rutgers University
- Sam Houston State University
- University of Nevada
- University of New Mexico
Kansas State University was the only other school to average more than 30 profane words per 1,000 subscribers. Pittsburgh came close but ultimately fell short with an average of 29 vulgar words. However, Kansas State also ranked third on the list of supportive words with 65 per 1,000 subscribers, while Pittsburgh didn't rank. In other words, when Panther fans log onto Reddit, they're typically there to express their frustration.
Crude college fans
Now you know which college fans are more likely to use colorful language, but can you guess which words they prefer?
Before we dig into our findings, it's important to point out that this chart only shows word usage for the top 20 most profane colleges. That being said, "h*ll" was by far the most frequently used curse word, making up nearly 40% of all profanity usage on subreddit feeds. "S**t" and "f**k" were also popular choices among angry fans, with each word making up over 20% of the instances of vulgarity we saw.
"A**hole" was the most popular curse word for Colorado State University and Kansas State University fans, representing two of the top three most vulgar colleges on our list. Fans of our second-place school, Middle Tennessee State University, preferred the word "dumb***" when expressing their feelings, using it almost 360% more often than average.
By now, you may think that all college sports fans are angry and aggressive, but let's remember that some fans are better at seeing the silver lining in the clouds.
The kinder side of fandom
College student-athletes work hard to balance excellence in the classroom and on the field. These college sports fans are the most likely to show their support and appreciation online.
There's no faster way to bring on warm fuzzy feelings than someone telling you that they appreciate you. We discovered that "thanks" was the most common supportive word," used in 46% of all college teams' subreddit feeds. It was especially common in posts and comments by Kansas State fans, who expressed their thanks 247% more often than average. Ohio University fans were also "grateful" for their teams' efforts, mentioning their gratitude 172% more than the overall average.
"Appreciation" was the next most common supportive word on the list, representing one out of every five positive words. The University of Nevada and Florida International University fans were the most likely to talk about "appreciation" for their teams on their Reddit feeds. Words like "support," "helpful," and "respectful" also made the list of the most popular kind words.
College conference showdown
We've spent most of our time so far talking about specific schools and the language their fans use. Let's take a quick look at the most vulgar conferences before we wrap up.
Fans of schools in the Mountain West Conference were both the most vulgar and the most supportive. They used 118 curse words per 1,000 subscribers, but they also used 237 supportive words. Big 10 fans were also active on Reddit, using around 105 vulgar and 128 supportive words per 1,000 subscribers. As you can see, Mountain West fans leaned toward being more supportive, while the Big 10 was only slightly nicer than they were naughty.
Conference USA fans were also more likely to speak highly of their teams on Reddit, using over 200 positive words per 1,000 subscribers compared to only 44 vulgar ones. Meanwhile, no schools used vulgar words more often than supportive words, but the Big West came close at only two more positive than profane words per 1,000 subscribers.
College fans, cursing, and sportsmanship
After exploring our findings, you now know more than you probably thought you ever would about college fans and cursing. It was interesting to dig into the data to help you identify which fans to avoid pissing off the next time you're cheering your team on. And remember, a little appreciation can go a long way, especially for those college kids fulfilling the role of star student and athlete at the same time.
Methodology
We scraped 133 college sports subreddits to determine which fan bases are the most vulgar and which are the most positive/supportive. To do this, we created a list of vulgar and supportive words and looked at the frequency of each, to see which schools had the most posts and comments mentioning each. Reddit posts and comments from June 2022-2023 were used for analysis, and only college subreddits with at least 1,000 subscribers were considered.
About College Rover
College Rover exists to make the process of learning about higher education a little more awesome. They offer a large database of information about different colleges, universities, and degree programs.
Fair use statement
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