Do College Football Fans Believe In Superstition?

by Mo Johnson
(Montclair, VA )

This week's Discover Card Fan Loyalty Poll results show that most college football fans are not very superstitious. In fact, only 12% believe their gameday rituals or superstitions actually affect the outcome of the game. However, the poll didn't ask the follow-on question which is, regardless whether your rituals "work" -- do you still do them?

I think most intelligent people know that gameday rituals and superstitions do not actually have any effect on the outcome of the game. HOWEVER, I also think most people still do those type of things. Most fans have a favorite shirt, or drink, or food, or flag or whatever that they are superstitious about. Maybe it was the Jersey they wore when their team won "the big one" or whatever.

Most people probably just feel more comfortable not tempting fate. Besides it's fun and .. well... maybe, better to play it safe. :)

SEC fans are a bit less superstitious than the average with only 10% of SEC fans "believing." I was slightly surprised by that because it seems to me SEC fans are more passionate than most fans and might be more likely than most to really believe in their rituals and superstitions. Then again, we know we don't need to be superstitious -- our teams are the best anyway.

Which brings me to the second part of the Discover fan poll for the week. It still has Alabama ranked #1 by the fans, Florida #2 and LSU #6.

Attached is the info graphic explaining all this.

You can find our commentary about the prior week's Discover Card fan loyalty polls at

SEC in Discover Card Fan Loyalty Poll and

College Football Fans Would Rather Watch the Game at Home.

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See you next week with another interesting fan poll from Discover Card.