Need a rooting interest in Super Bowl LI? Other than the fact that you could root for a longsuffering fan base to get its first-ever title by beating a sinister dynasty, there’s also the college angle. Do the Falcons or Patriots have more players from your alma mater?
Super Bowl 2017 rosters by college: Bama, Stanford, Rutgers (!) lead Patriots-Falcons
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Below are the totals for each team (including injured reserved and practice squads, because those players helped their teams get here and are in line to get rings), plus the game’s overall score. If you’re an LSU or Washington fan, you’re definitely going Atlanta (unless you’re also a Saints fan, I guess). Fans of Arizona State, Rutgers, and Stanford have New England assignments. And so forth.
Colleges care about this stuff even more than fans do. Take a look at your school’s social media accounts over the next two weeks (and maybe even already), and you’ll see graphics congratulating each alum who’s headed to Houston. Schools want to land recruits who want to eventually play in Super Bowls, so schools play this stuff up a whole lot.
(Also, there’s a reason poor Rutgers ranks so highly among these more traditional powers: Bill Belichick loves the hell out of Rutgers.)
| Falcons | Patriots | Total | |||
| LSU | 3 | Rutgers | 4 | Alabama | 5 |
| Washington | 3 | Alabama | 3 | Rutgers | 5 |
| Alabama | 2 | Arizona State | 3 | Stanford | 5 |
| Auburn | 2 | Stanford | 3 | Auburn | 4 |
| Baylor | 2 | Auburn | 2 | LSU | 4 |
| Boston College | 2 | Georgia | 2 | Arizona State | 3 |
| Clemson | 2 | Houston | 2 | Georgia | 3 |
| Florida | 2 | Michigan | 2 | Virginia | 3 |
| Iowa | 2 | NC State | 2 | Washington | 3 |
| Minnesota | 2 | Ohio State | 2 | Arizona | 2 |
| Oregon State | 2 | Ole Miss | 2 | Baylor | 2 |
| San Jose State | 2 | Oregon | 2 | Boston College | 2 |
| South Dakota | 2 | Pitt | 2 | Clemson | 2 |
| Stanford | 2 | Texas Tech | 2 | Florida | 2 |
| UConn | 2 | Arizona | 1 | Florida State | 2 |
| Virginia | 2 | Arkansas | 1 | Georgia Tech | 2 |
| Abilene Christian | 1 | Boise State | 1 | Houston | 2 |
| Air Force | 1 | Brown | 1 | Iowa | 2 |
| Arizona | 1 | BYU | 1 | Maryland | 2 |
| Arkansas State | 1 | Colorado | 1 | Memphis | 2 |
| Bethune-Cookman | 1 | Eastern Illinois | 1 | Michigan | 2 |
| California | 1 | Eastern Kentucky | 1 | Minnesota | 2 |
| California (PA) | 1 | Florida State | 1 | NC State | 2 |
| Delaware | 1 | Georgia Tech | 1 | Ohio State | 2 |
| East Carolina | 1 | Illinois | 1 | Oklahoma | 2 |
| Florida Atlantic | 1 | Kansas State | 1 | Ole Miss | 2 |
| Florida State | 1 | Kent State | 1 | Oregon | 2 |
| Georgia | 1 | Louisiana Tech | 1 | Oregon State | 2 |
| Georgia Tech | 1 | Louisville | 1 | Pitt | 2 |
| Indiana | 1 | LSU | 1 | Purdue | 2 |
| Iowa State | 1 | Maine | 1 | San Jose State | 2 |
| Kentucky | 1 | Maryland | 1 | South Dakota | 2 |
| Maryland | 1 | Memphis | 1 | Tennessee | 2 |
| Memphis | 1 | Monmouth (N.J.) | 1 | Texas A&M | 2 |
| Miami | 1 | Navy | 1 | Texas Tech | 2 |
| Middle Tennessee | 1 | Nebraska | 1 | UCLA | 2 |
| Missouri | 1 | Nevada | 1 | UConn | 2 |
| New Mexico | 1 | Notre Dame | 1 | Utah | 2 |
| North Carolina A&T | 1 | Oklahoma | 1 | Abilene Christian | 1 |
| Oklahoma | 1 | Purdue | 1 | Air Force | 1 |
| Purdue | 1 | TCU | 1 | Arkansas | 1 |
| Rutgers | 1 | Tennessee | 1 | Arkansas State | 1 |
| SMU | 1 | Texas | 1 | Bethune-Cookman | 1 |
| South Carolina | 1 | Texas A&M | 1 | Boise State | 1 |
| Southeastern Louisiana | 1 | UCLA | 1 | Brown | 1 |
| Syracuse | 1 | Utah | 1 | BYU | 1 |
| Tennessee | 1 | Virginia | 1 | California | 1 |
| Texas A&M | 1 | West Alabama | 1 | California (PA) | 1 |
| UCF | 1 | Wisconsin | 1 | Colorado | 1 |
| UCLA | 1 | Delaware | 1 | ||
| USC | 1 | East Carolina | 1 | ||
| USF | 1 | Eastern Illinois | 1 | ||
| Utah | 1 | Eastern Kentucky | 1 | ||
| Utah State | 1 | Florida Atlantic | 1 | ||
| Valdosta State | 1 | Illinois | 1 | ||
| Alabama | Indiana | 1 | |||
| Auburn | Iowa State | 1 | |||
| Baylor | Kansas State | 1 | |||
| Boston College | Kent State | 1 | |||
| Clemson | Kentucky | 1 | |||
| Florida | Louisiana Tech | 1 | |||
| Iowa | Louisville | 1 | |||
| LSU | Maine | 1 | |||
| LSU | Miami | 1 | |||
| Minnesota | Middle Tennessee | 1 | |||
| Oregon State | Missouri | 1 | |||
| San Jose State | Monmouth (N.J.) | 1 | |||
| South Dakota | Navy | 1 | |||
| Stanford | Nebraska | 1 | |||
| UConn | Nevada | 1 | |||
| Virginia | New Mexico | 1 | |||
| Washington | North Carolina A&T | 1 | |||
| Washington | Notre Dame | 1 | |||
| SMU | 1 | ||||
| South Carolina | 1 | ||||
| Southeastern Louisiana | 1 | ||||
| Syracuse | 1 | ||||
| TCU | 1 | ||||
| Texas | 1 | ||||
| UCF | 1 | ||||
| USC | 1 | ||||
| USF | 1 | ||||
| Utah State | 1 | ||||
| Valdosta State | 1 | ||||
| West Alabama | 1 | ||||
| Wisconsin | 1 | ||||
The last four Super Bowls were led by Ohio State, Wisconsin, Tennessee, and Miami.
Elsewhere!
Oregon’s chasing its strength coach suspension by firing a new co-OC after a DUI.
Behold, the 2.2-million-square-mile Five-Star Desert, or the massive part of the country without a consensus 2017 five-star recruit.
The long list of 103 players leaving early for the NFL.
Auburn finally hires the OC Gus Malzahn wanted all along, Arizona State’s Chip Lindsey.
The weekend’s biggest commits, all four-stars: No. 1 JUCO linebacker Gary Johnson picks Texas, safety Hamsah Nasirildeen flips to FSU from South Carolina, and linebacker Dylan Rivers flips to Virginia Tech from Penn State.
A WVU commit who’d joked about based his signing on which team won the Russell Athletic Bowl has now decommitted from Russell Athletic Bowl loser WVU and is expected to commit to Russell Athletic Bowl winner Miami.
Also potentially flipping to Miami: four-star offensive lineman Kai-Leon Herbert, formerly committed to Michigan.
Former blue-chip Michigan QB Shane Morris lands at CMU.
Michigan might practice in Rome, because people would talk about it.
That’s a streak of Michigan stuff. It’s like that sometimes.
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