Prairie State Wire

Illinois ranked seventh most popular for college football among the 50 states, according to a Prairie State Wire analysis of college sports participation.

The U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education collects athletics data annually from all institutions with intercollegiate athletics programs that receive funding through federal financial aid programs. Data for 2016 – the latest year available – includes more than 2,000 schools nationwide.

California is the most popular state for football, with 7,360 players, followed by Pennsylvania (5,616) and Texas (5,273).

In all, there are 91,057 football players for colleges and universities in the United States.

College football popularity rankings

Rank	State	Total football participation
1	California	7,360
2	Pennsylvania	5,616
3	Texas	5,273
4	Ohio	4,762
5	New York	3,620
6	North Carolina	3,596
7	Illinois	3,544
8	Iowa	3,006
9	Kansas	2,873
10	Massachusetts	2,782
11	Minnesota	2,739
12	Michigan	2,601
13	Virginia	2,593
14	Missouri	2,331
15	Indiana	2,117
16	Georgia	2,029
17	Florida	1,989
18	Tennessee	1,985
19	Mississippi	1,938
20	Kentucky	1,895
21	Wisconsin	1,828
22	Alabama	1,728
23	Oklahoma	1,694
24	South Carolina	1,549
25	Arkansas	1,459
26	West Virginia	1,410
27	Louisiana	1,388
28	Nebraska	1,276
29	Oregon	1,181
30	Arizona	1,056
31	Colorado	1,030
32	South Dakota	1,030
33	North Dakota	1,021
34	Maryland	940
35	New Jersey	909
36	Connecticut	877
37	Utah	820
38	Montana	777
39	Washington	714
40	New Mexico	608
41	Maine	482
42	New Hampshire	452
43	Rhode Island	405
44	Idaho	376
45	Washington, D.C.	345
46	Vermont	298
47	Delaware	294
48	Nevada	223
49	Hawaii	119
50	Wyoming	119
	Total	91,057

Source: U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education