Iowa Hawkeyes fan base is 22nd best university in Fandom 250

The Iowa Hawkeyes finally made FanSided’s Fandom 250 list after being left off the past two years. They clocked in at 226 overall.

On the heels of The Wave, the Iowa Hawkeyes fan base is finally recognized by FanSided for something that we’ve known all along, Iowa Hawkeyes fans rock. We may not be the biggest fanbase in the nation (hello Notre Dame) nor are we consistently competing for national titles (like that university in Tuscaloosa), but that’s what makes us so incredible. Even when we get blown out by Michigan State, I wake up the next morning happy to be a Hawkeye fan.

We live and breath black and gold through the heartaches and the triumphs. Moreover, it’s a community, and a tight-knit one at that. So many average Joes wear gear supporting the University of North Carolina Tar Heels (ranked 32nd overall and 7th for universities) or the Duke Blue Devils (ranked 24th overall and 5th for universities) or even the Kentucky Wildcats (23rd overall and 4th for universities) that don’t actually care about the school the way an Iowa Hawkeye fan does.

Heck, when I see another person rocking the Tigerhawk on a shirt or hat, I always yell “Go Hawks!”. 99% of the time, I get a smile and an enthusiastic “Yeah!”. That’s because if you’re representing the Iowa Hawkeyes, it’s because you love the university. You’ve either experience the magic that is Kinnick at night or you’ve had a chance to chat out the Iowa City Ped Mall or you’ve tailgated in the library parking lot with a bunch of people who graduated forty years ago (but can still out drink you). That’s true, dedicated Fandom right there.

What really makes the Iowa Hawkeyes fan base so special is that camaraderie and kindness of our fans. Just look at The Wave.

The Wave is arguably one of the most incredible traditions that has spawned in the last several years, and it has even spawned traditions at other schools. It’s an opportunity during ever home game at Kinnick Stadium at the end of the 1st quarter to recognize that this is just a game and that there are people who are battling things so much more difficult than what some of us can imagine.

FanSided noted that The Wave was big proponent of the Iowa Hawkeyes 2018 Fandom score and rightfully so. Here is what they had to say:

"The Iowa wave is what makes the fandom so special. Last year was the first year of this tradition and with most traditions, they can morph and change over the course of time. It’s still so new so there’s time for this to take on a new life. But one new twist to the Iowa wave happened when Iowa senior Dalton Ferguson waved to the hospital where his newborn twins were born and being cared for after being born five weeks premature."

Iowa’s fandom score of 58 gave puts us in 226th place in the nation and 22nd among all universities. As most of you can imagine, there was quite the representation of Big Ten schools on this list too. Ohio State (110th), Nebraska (103rd), Wisconsin (72nd), Penn State (61st), and Michigan (15th) all clocked in on the list and ahead of the Iowa Hawkeyes who likely lost a few points in the Buzz and Magnitude sections of the grading system that can be found here.

Although I would love to be higher, I am ultimately just happy that the Iowa Hawkeyes fan base is being recognized for how truly incredible we are. Keep it up Hawkeye nation!