I would like to, while apropos of almost nothing, comment on the "SEC has the most fans" take, which IMO is like a PFT Commenter level take.
SEC schools are, more than maybe any other conference, frequently in the middle of fucking nowhere. In some cases there is literally nothing else to do besides go see that college's teams play games.
A lot of those people also just don't leave their hometown or home state. This, of course, in comparison to USC or UCLA not being able to draw fans is partially explained by the fact that there's a billion other things to do in LA, and it's a very transient metro area in comparison.
Let us look at these team by team. I will rank from most cosmopolitan to least, based entirely on my own understanding of these dumps. Specifically, outside of a couple exceptions, these places don't have any significant OTHER sports to obsess over or games to attend.
There's a lot of other stuff to do if ur IQ is over 75
These schools are in or in nearby proximity of actual cities, except for LSU because BR is a long hovercraft ride from New Orleans.
Nashville TN (Vanderbilt) - this is an obvious winner in this category. Even if Vandy was consistently mediocre as fuck (like half the SEC) I don't think there'd be a ton of people at these games. I have to imagine that a degree from Vandy also grants you some economic flexibility to leave town that a degree from (spins lotto ball cage) Missouri doesn't, so they don't have a great alumni built in fan base.
Athens GA (Georgia) - only here because of 90 minute proximity to Atlanta. I'm going to take a wild guess and assume that most Bulldog home games aren't attended by people that live near Athens but rather people in the orbit of Atlanta.
Not bad especially if you're a full blown alcoholic or you think getting on a plane is cosmopolitan lefty elitist behavior so you never left
I assume that these mid-sized cities accidentally have alternate attractions to attending football games, but I'm ready to be challenged on this assumption!
Lexington KY (Kentucky) - Lexington is kinda fun. Keeneland is decent. Big enough to have a few museums or decent restaurants not in strip malls.
Knoxville TN (Tennessee) - Smokey mountains and shit, hunting raccoons, hanging with BIG SMO. Seems like there's some OK options besides throwing French's mustard bottles at cheerleaders.
Baton Rouge LA (LSU) - Again, this benefits from proximity to New Orleans, which is indeed a real city and a fun place to be murdered at a stop light. However the allure of LSU is such that I'm not sure BR has a whole lot else going on that would detract you from habitually going to Death Valley to watch yet another horrible QB fire worm burners into the turf and get repeatedly sacked while you chug corndogs
Probably fun if you're 22 but comical to think there's actual culture for real adults
College towns where there's stuff to do if you can't get a ticket to the game
Gainesville FL (Florida) - This is a huge state school so if you're in college or like date rape, mosquitoes, and Bud Light emerging product test markets, Gainesville is probably a gas.
Oxford MS (OLD MISS) - It's called Oxford so I'm going to make a sweeping assumption that it's not a total dump and is a fun college town but I'm guessing LANE TRAIN is the primary entertainment and that you can pay for tickets with EBT cards.
Auburn AL (Allbarn) - ditto Oxford minus Lane
Need Sherman to ride again
Nobody would know these towns even exist without their football and/or basketball teams, and they probably shouldn't exist
Columbia MO (Mizzou) - Ozarkian shithole, surely
Columbia SC (South Carolina) - SC grads I know actively talk shit about what a dump the town is
College Station TX (A&M) - lol
Starkville MS (MSU) - I saw like 40k people packing some College Baseball tournament game in the middle of the worst of covid, so yeah, there's fuck all to do here
Fayetteville AR (Arkansas) - I'm guessing the "Fayettenam" nickname isn't because they have great larb
Tuscaloosa AL (BAMA) - this is the largest city in the state when there's a home game by population so