Being a fan of a school you attend online

I’m currently planning on attending the University of Arizona as an Undergrad. But I’m specifically looking at the online college.

I’m totally a fan, but I feel like there might a little bit of a lack of connection to the school. Not in an “I don’t care about them” kind of way. But in a feeling genuinely disconnected kind of way. I’m not going to be on campus, participating in traditions, attending games all the time.

I don’t know if anything I said made sense but I was just wondering if anyone else was or is in a similar boat? And what did you do in that situation?

You don’t need to ask anyone permission to be a fan

If they’re cashing your checks, you’re good to be a fan. Hell, if you’re not even sending checks you can still root for them if you want.

(If you’re sending checks that aren’t being cashed, you’re obligated to become a superfan.)

Be a fan of whoever you want. Just because you attended online doesn’t make you less of a student of that school imo. Be proud and be as much of a fan as you like.

Man I feel like so much of college for kids these days is online I wouldn’t break a sweat. You go there, your an alum, so cheer all you want.

Funny story on that note - I live in Tulsa, and my wife got a nurse practitioner degree from the University of Cincinnati. Whenever they come play, Tulsa in any sport she puts her bearcat shirt on and talks more shit than I ever do at an OU Texas game.

We also flew out to cincy when she graduated so she could walk, which helped build a connection. So maybe you could look into doing that. If you live in Arizona maybe go study at the library every once in a while.

You can be a fan of any school, homie - just make sure it’s not texas please

I mean the reason LSU is my second flair is because their online classes are cheap… I still feel a connection because I watch a lot of their baseball games on ESPN +

I wish the online students became Arizona State fans. We have over 60,000 of them these days.

I’m sorry you feel disconnected from the hubbub, and I can’t deny that being an in-person student at the U of A would only heighten your football fandom experience.

But life’s short, and this is all for fun anyway, so don’t let it get you down. You can root for whoever you want, however you want.

I’ve been to Chadron six times in my life, have two degrees from there, and have no problem being all in on our little D2 school.

I never attended Nebraska in anyway, but I have them as my second flair because they were my favorite big school growing up.

I know plenty of SDSU fans who have never attended college in general. Nobody cares, they’re just happy to have more fans.

Will you have a chance to visit campus? I did a program online and went, visited the school, did a tour, and attended a couple games. That helped with the connection quite a bit. It also depends how your program is structured, as we had official school slacks and school hosted functions, which helped build a relationship with fellow students

So basically I think it’s up to you. If you want to get more immersed you can, and it’s not like people can say you weren’t a student there and therefore you “can’t” be a fan. Just show them your tuition payments and tell them to shut up lol

Also: Arizona doesn’t really have bandwagon fans right? It seems like they would welcome having more fans after the last couple years

You can always be an OU fan. There’s room on the schooner for you

I’m getting my MBA online at a P5 school (ACC so neither of my flairs) and I rock the gear and am planning on going to a game this year. Go for it bro

You can be a fan of whatever school you want for whatever reason you want. You decide your fanhood.

I definitely felt disconnected when college went virtual because of covid-- but that’s actually what caused me to get into football, because I wanted to feel more connected!

You can be a fan of whom ever you want.

I’ve never been on campus at UF outside of football.

Don’t let anyone or anything determine eho you support or how you express your fandom

You’d be surprised the amount of college football fans don’t even go to college lol