Lane Kiffin wanted to rank SEC boosters. I can't either. Instead, here's fan bases from 1-14 | Adams

Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin said at SEC Media Days he would like to rank the conference’s boosters. But he didn’t follow through.

What a tease.

There’s no way I could rank schools based on their boosters. Financial insight would be required. You would have to know who gave how much to whom. That would be possible only if members of former Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt’s staff had been involved in the transactions.

I would be more comfortable ranking fan bases. Keep in mind this is a very subjective venture. And ranking in the bottom third is akin to ranking in the lower third of the SEC baseball standings. You still could be in the top 25 nationally.

1. Tennessee: Sure, this makes me look like a homer. But I don’t want to penalize the fan base just because I live in Knoxville.

UT fans regularly fill up two huge venues, Neyland Stadium and Thompson-Boling Arena. And their interest in baseball has soared so that renovation plans for Lindsey Nelson Stadum will include more than 2,100 additional seats.

Despite all their football failures, they haven’t forgotten how to celebrate. They don’t just take down goal posts. They take them to the river.

2. LSU: The Tigers aren’t just about football. They can pack a baseball stadium that seats more than 10,000, and their women’s basketball program ranked fifth in total home attendance during its 2022-23 national championship season.

Ron Higgins, a fellow sportswriter, can speak to their staying power. He was on the sideline in 1982 when LSU fans celebrated a victory over Florida State and the Orange Bowl victory that came with it by throwing oranges at anyone within range, including sportswriters.

Forty years later, Higgins was caught up in another Tiger Stadium celebration when fans rushed onto the field after a victory over Alabama. Luckily, he’s not claustrophobic.

“It was wall-to-wall tight in every direction on the field,” he said. “I’m 6-5, or I wouldn’t have been able to see above the crowd. It was flat dangerous.”

3. Georgia: As an animal lover, I’ve always been a fan of Georgia’s Uga mascots. But Georgia fans don’t just like dogs. They act like dogs.

I’ve heard adult males bark at small children and elderly women. Once, as a columnist in Jacksonville, Florida, I had the privilege of seeing a Georgia fan celebrate a victory over Florida by dropping to his knees and eating the turf.

4. Alabama: Tide fans are the Bluebloods of SEC football. So, it’s no wonder they think of themselves as superior to the rest of the SEC.

Other fan bases wear buttons that read “Beat Bama.” Alabama fans wear buttons that read: “Beat Everybody.”

Although Alabama might look down on its competition, it still must deal with the unsettling fact its fan base once included Harvey Updyke. He was sentenced to three years in prison for poisoning Auburn’s oak trees at Toomer’s Corner.

5. Texas A&M: How can you not be impressed by a fan base that can more than fill up a 102,733-seat stadium? A record crowd of 110,633 fans attended the Texas A&M-Ole Miss game at Kyle Field in October 2014.

My love for dogs also factored into the Aggies’ high ranking. I appreciate the respect paid to all their canine mascots. Reveille mascots are buried at the north end of Kyle Field.

6. Arkansas: I’m a big fan of Hog Hats and how can you not like: Calling the Hogs? But Arkansas fans don’t just shout a good game. They show up for games.

Razorback Stadium is small by SEC standards with a seating capacity of 76,212. But Arkansas ranked fourth nationally in baseball attendance with a per-game average of 9,762 this past season. Its fans also can fill up the 19,200-seat Bud Walton Arena for basketball.

7. Kentucky: Wildcats fans have always faithfully supported a mediocre football program. But their fanatical obsession with basketball is what truly distinguishes them from most fan bases.

Kentucky fans never lose their focus, as evidenced by the 1993 SEC Tournament at Rupp Arena. The Wildcats were on their way to a 101-40 victory over Tennessee with five minutes to go when a fan disagreed with a favorable Tennessee call by veteran referee Don Rutledge.

He stood up and screamed, “Call it both ways, Rutledge,” as if the outcome were still in doubt.

8. Florida: This might seem like a low ranking for fans who frequent The Swamp, which is as loud as any stadium in the country when the Gators are in the running for a national championship.

But when was the last time they were in the running for a national title?

9. Auburn: It suffers from being No. 2 to Alabama in the same state. But its fans are as loyal as its boosters are impatient (see all the fired football coaches for details).

When the Tigers play Alabama in November, they usually have the largest fan base in the country.

10. South Carolina: Gamecocks fans also are loyal – so loyal, in fact, that former coach Steve Spurrier once chided them for not being upset enough over a loss.

11. Mississippi State: It’s the only fan base in the country that risks an outbreak of tennis elbow in the fall (from ringing those cowbells). Bulldogs fans also were at the vanguard of the SEC’s baseball boom.

12. Ole Miss: The Rebels move up two spots whenever they have a Manning at quarterback.

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13. Missouri: Give Tigers fans another 20 years and maybe they can develop as much hostility as the average SEC school. Right now, they’re too nice for the SEC.

14. Vanderbilt: The Commodores open their gates to a stadium takeover at every SEC home game.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: twitter.com/johadamskns.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: How I rank SEC fan bases in all sports. From Tennessee to Vanderbilt