College football season is in our rear view mirror, and pretty soon, the NFL season will join it. But there's one game left, and even if you don't care about the NFL, the Carolina Panthers, or the Denver Broncos, you can still find a way to suss out a rooting interest for the Super Bowl.
We've taken the rosters for both the Panthers and Broncos and broken them down, from active rosters to practice squads -- hey, they get rings too. Want to root for someone who grew up near you? Great! How about someone who went to your school? That's a pretty good reason! Someone who played for another team in your conference? Knock yourself out!
Among conferences, the SEC has by far the most players across the two rosters this year, including the two biggest stars in the game, Cam Newton (Auburn) and Peyton Manning (Tennessee). Pac-12 fans should root for the Panthers, as should ACC fans (many surely already are), while the Broncos have nearly twice as many Big Ten players as Carolina does. The fifth Power 5 conference, the Big 12, finished behind the Mountain West.
At the school level, Ohio State's alone at the top with six. Auburn (all on Carolina), Georgia Tech, and Tennessee tie for second with four each. Six schools have three players on one roster and none on the other; Florida's three Broncos and Georgia's three Panthers put some minor bragging rights on the line.
(Last year, the Big Ten and Wisconsin led these things.)
The states with the highest numbers are ones you would have guessed. California has far and away the most, with 24. Next are Texas (14), Georgia (13), Florida (12), and Ohio (10).
Here are the full numbers for this year, and here's a breakdown by recruiting ratings among starters, which shows the Broncos are the team of choice for two-star enthusiasts and the Panthers are the blue chip squad.
By conference
Total | Broncos | Panthers | |
SEC | 31 | 14 | 17 |
Pac-12 | 23 | 9 | 14 |
Big Ten | 20 | 13 | 7 |
ACC | 17 | 6 | 11 |
Mountain West | 13 | 10 | 3 |
Big 12 | 11 | 5 | 6 |
American | 7 | 6 | 1 |
Sun Belt | 5 | 2 | 3 |
Conference USA | 3 | 1 | 2 |
Big Sky | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Independent | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Division II | 3 | 3 | |
CAA | 3 | 3 | |
Big South | 2 | 2 | |
SoCon | 2 | 2 | |
Ohio Valley | 1 | 1 | |
SWAC | 1 | 1 | |
NAIA | 1 | 1 | |
CIS (Canada) | 1 | 1 |
By school
Total | Broncos | Panthers | |
Ohio State | 6 | 2 | 4 |
Auburn | 4 | 4 | |
Georgia Tech | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Tennessee | 4 | 3 | 1 |
Alabama | 3 | 1 | 2 |
Arizona State | 3 | 3 | |
Colorado State | 3 | 3 | |
Florida | 3 | 3 | |
Georgia | 3 | 3 | |
Nevada | 3 | 3 | |
Notre Dame | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Oklahoma | 3 | 1 | 2 |
Oregon | 3 | 1 | 2 |
Oregon State | 3 | 3 | |
Texas A&M | 3 | 2 | 1 |
USC | 3 | 1 | 2 |
Utah | 3 | 1 | 2 |
Arkansas | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Boise State | 2 | 2 | |
Coastal Carolina | 2 | 2 | |
Colorado | 2 | 2 | |
Duke | 2 | 2 | |
Florida State | 2 | 2 | |
Iowa | 2 | 2 | |
Kansas | 2 | 2 | |
Maryland | 2 | 2 | |
Michigan | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Mississippi State | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Missouri | 2 | 1 | 1 |
North Carolina | 2 | 1 | 1 |
San Diego State | 2 | 2 | |
South Carolina | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Stanford | 2 | 2 | |
Texas | 2 | 2 | |
Troy | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Tulane | 2 | 2 | |
Washington | 2 | 2 | |
Wisconsin | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Assumption | 1 | 1 | |
Bloomsburg | 1 | 1 | |
Boston College | 1 | 1 | |
California | 1 | 1 | |
Cincinnati | 1 | 1 | |
Connecticut | 1 | 1 | |
Fresno State | 1 | 1 | |
Idaho | 1 | 1 | |
Idaho State | 1 | 1 | |
Indiana | 1 | 1 | |
Iowa State | 1 | 1 | |
James Madison | 1 | 1 | |
Kentucky | 1 | 1 | |
LSU | 1 | 1 | |
Miami | 1 | 1 | |
Michigan State | 1 | 1 | |
Midwestern State | 1 | 1 | |
Montreal | 1 | 1 | |
Morningside | 1 | 1 | |
NC State | 1 | 1 | |
Nebraska | 1 | 1 | |
Northern Colorado | 1 | 1 | |
Northwestern | 1 | 1 | |
Oklahoma State | 1 | 1 | |
Ole Miss | 1 | 1 | |
Penn State | 1 | 1 | |
Pittsburgh | 1 | 1 | |
Purdue | 1 | 1 | |
Rice | 1 | 1 | |
Sacramento State | 1 | 1 | |
Samford | 1 | 1 | |
San Jose State | 1 | 1 | |
SMU | 1 | 1 | |
Southern | 1 | 1 | |
Syracuse | 1 | 1 | |
TCU | 1 | 1 | |
Temple | 1 | 1 | |
Tennessee State | 1 | 1 | |
Texas State | 1 | 1 | |
Texas Tech | 1 | 1 | |
Towson | 1 | 1 | |
UAB | 1 | 1 | |
UCLA | 1 | 1 | |
UL-Lafayette | 1 | 1 | |
USF | 1 | 1 | |
Utah State | 1 | 1 | |
UTSA | 1 | 1 | |
Villanova | 1 | 1 | |
Virginia | 1 | 1 | |
Wake Forest | 1 | 1 | |
Wofford | 1 | 1 |
By native state
Total | Broncos | Panthers | |
California | 24 | 14 | 10 |
Texas | 14 | 7 | 7 |
Georgia | 13 | 4 | 9 |
Florida | 12 | 6 | 6 |
Ohio | 10 | 6 | 4 |
Alabama | 8 | 3 | 5 |
Louisiana | 7 | 4 | 3 |
Pennsylvania | 6 | 3 | 3 |
Maryland | 4 | 1 | 3 |
Colorado | 3 | 3 | |
Michigan | 3 | 1 | 2 |
Missouri | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Nevada | 3 | 2 | 1 |
New Jersey | 3 | 3 | |
North Carolina | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Oregon | 3 | 3 | |
Tennessee | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Illinois | 2 | 2 | |
Iowa | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Mississippi | 2 | 2 | |
Montana | 2 | 1 | 1 |
New York | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Oklahoma | 2 | 2 | |
Utah | 2 | 2 | |
Washington | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Wisconsin | 2 | 2 | |
Arizona | 1 | 1 | |
Connecticut | 1 | 1 | |
Hawaii | 1 | 1 | |
Idaho | 1 | 1 | |
Indiana | 1 | 1 | |
Minnesota | 1 | 1 | |
South Carolina | 1 | 1 | |
Virginia | 1 | 1 | |
Washington, D.C. | 1 | 1 | |
Canada | 1 | 1 |