See, there's where Alabama and Texas differ. It's more of a religion in Texas than it is in Alabama. How many college football programs (FBS and FCS) are there in Alabama? How many programs are there in Texas?
Answer:
Alabama has 4 FBS programs (University of Alabama, Auburn University, Troy University, and University of Alabama at Birmingham)
Texas has 10 FBS programs (Baylor University, University of Houston, University of North Texas, Rice University, Southern Methodist University, Texas Christian University, University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, and University of Texas at El Paso)
Alabama has 5 FCS programs (Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Jacksonville State, Samford, and South Alabama)
Texas has 6 FCS programs (Lamar, Prairie View A&M, Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin, Texas Southern, and Texas State)
So, Texas has more FBS programs than Alabama has in combined FBS and FCS schools.
Now yeah, I understand that it's mostly a simple population density issue, but all of the above Texas University football programs are routinely filled with the top talent from our state and rarely have to look outside our own borders to fill a decent roster. Now, obviously a program like the University of Texas has the luxury of being able to recruit from all over the country, but if needed they could easily fill their roster with top talent from this state alone.
It all gets down to how hardcore the high school football programs are in your state. The quantity of collegiate programs in your state typically reflect just how much talent is coming out of the state's high schools.
So, while Alabam may have a pretty hardcore group of college football faithful, trust me, it pales in comparison to the sheer mass of fans generated by Texas football programs.
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely respect all of the fans of college football no matter what state they're in, but I find it a bit humorous when someone makes a comment that their state's obsession with football is like a religion. In my mind, only Florida and California are really at all close to the same level of football "religion" as Texas is.
