Mississippi State fans have claimed an odd kind of crown.
A new study from Covers says Bulldogs supporters are the foulest-mouthed fanbase in college football, finishing with a perfect 10.00 “Vulgarity Score.” Arkansas was right behind at 9.97, making the race for the top spot an SEC duel decided by just 0.03 points.
The rankings came from an analysis of thousands of Reddit posts tied to every FBS program. Covers looked at how often profanity showed up, how many swear words appeared per comment, the use of angry or vulgar emojis and the overall negative tone of the posts.
Those four factors were combined and normalized on a one-to-10 scale, and Mississippi State came out alone at No. 1.
That’s not exactly the sort of banner the Bulldogs will hang at Davis Wade Stadium, but it is a title nonetheless.
Louisville finished third nationally at 9.79, giving the Cardinals the ACC’s highest mark by a comfortable margin. Wyoming was one of the bigger surprises in the study, landing fourth at 9.71, while Jacksonville State rounded out the top five at 9.53.
The rest of the top 10 had a little bit of everything:
Mississippi State, 10.00
Arkansas, 9.97
Louisville, 9.79
Wyoming, 9.71
Jacksonville State, 9.53
San Diego State, 8.96
Purdue, 8.91
Texas Tech, 8.84
Arizona State, 8.69
Western Michigan, 8.60
Some of college football’s biggest brands were nowhere near the top. Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, Texas, Georgia and Notre Dame all finished outside the top 10.
Purdue was the highest-ranked Big Ten fanbase at No. 7 overall. Texas Tech led the Big 12, while Louisville, Jacksonville State, Western Michigan and Wyoming were the top scorers in their respective conferences.
The strangest Mississippi storyline might be this one: while Mississippi State sat at a perfect 10.00, Ole Miss came in at 3.96. That made the Rebels the least vulgar fanbase in the SEC, which adds a fresh layer to Egg Bowl bragging rights.
At the conference level, the Big 12 edged the SEC for the ugliest overall language. The Big 12 posted an average Vulgarity Score of 6.80, just ahead of the SEC’s 6.75.
Texas Tech, Arizona State, Baylor and West Virginia all scored above 8.00. The Big Ten finished third at 6.34, followed by the Mountain West at 6.18 and independent programs at 6.15.
The national average checked in at 6.02. The ACC was the only Power Four league below that number, finishing at 5.50 even though Louisville ranked third overall.
That low conference average was driven in part by several ACC teams showing up among the country’s cleanest fanbases. Clemson ranked third least vulgar nationally at 2.00, and Syracuse, NC State and Boston College also made the cleanest top 10.
At the very bottom of the vulgarity scale, Sacramento State finished with a baseline score of 1.00, making Hornets fans the least vulgar in college football. Louisiana followed at 1.38, with Clemson, Syracuse and Georgia State completing the cleanest five.
BYU also landed near the clean end of the list, coming in at No. 8 among the least vulgar fanbases with a score of 2.95. The Cougars were well below every other Big 12 program.
The study is limited to Reddit posts, so it captures online fan behavior rather than every voice in a fanbase or what gets said in a stadium. Even so, Mississippi State now owns a stat line nobody saw coming - and one the internet is apparently happy to keep track of.
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