[The giveaway at the bottom is now expired. Thanks!]

Every year when the weather turns colder, and football season starts, I ultimately get asked by friends to go to a game. In addition, the majority of the time they want me to get up and start tailgating with them at 6:00 AM with the masses of other fans. To many, that sounds like a great time. However, I learned my lesson years ago.

Tailgating for this guy means my friends invite me to the coldest games of the year. After bundling up in my warm clothes, and crowding around the grill, I am ultimately going to have to buy those $20 extra pair of gloves from the homeless guy at the end of the row. Then after sitting outside for 3 hours with the Lake Erie winds blowing in my face, I am always lucky if I can move.

Even when it comes to the grand daddy of football games, some people, including Steve from More Kids Than Suitcases, dream of spending their day at the Superbowl just once in their lives. However, when I think of the football and the Superbowl, I think commercials, chicken wings, and friends gathered around my new 55″ television I ordered using my worthless Sony Rewards card.

So this week Discover Card (Facebook/Twitter) is rocking it out by asking college football fans how they prefer to watch their games.

Since college football fans and I could not agree on our favorite foods, this poll showed there could be some shared common ground between us fans. In this week’s Discover Fan Loyalty Poll, 83 percent of fans said they prefer watching the game at home in front of a TV, compared to 12 percent who would rather watch the game live at a stadium, and 4 percent who are partial to bars or restaurants.

When it comes to preferences of fans among the major conferences, Big East fans are the most willing to go out to a game, 42 percent, compared with their counterparts in the PAC 12, 23 percent; ACC, 16 percent; SEC, 10 percent; Big Ten, 9 percent; Big 12, 4 percent; and independents, 1 percent.

College football fans also proved this week that loyalty runs deeper than just wins and losses. When asked if they were at the game and their team was losing badly, would they stay or leave? The majority, 71 percent, would stay and cheer to the bitter end, while 21 percent would leave early to beat the crowd and traffic and, 8 percent were unsure. Eighty five percent of fans said they would still follow their teams every week – even during a bad season.

The top college football polls all agreed on the five best teams in the country right now; however, Discover Fan Loyalty Poll respondents had a difference of opinion on order. Alabama and Oregon were the same across the board, but Notre Dame sneaked into third as 56 percent of fans with no conference affiliation or preference chose the Fighting Irish. The rankings are as follows:

• Alabama, 47 percent
• Oregon, 9 percent
• Notre Dame, 7 percent
• Ohio State, 6 percent
• Florida, 5 percent
• Kansas State, 3 percent
• Louisiana State University, 3 percent
• Oregon State, 1 percent
• Some other team, 13 percent
• Not sure, 7 percent

Win a $25 Discover Gift Card

Discover has graciously given me some $25 gift cards to give away to go along with their Fan Loyalty Poll promotion. In the spirit of Halloween, we want to see you in your favorite team colors (it does not need to be college football teams). So dress up in your favorite team spirit garb, hold up your Discover Card, and take a picture to post on our Facebook wall or send us via Twitter.

If you do not have a Discover Card, feel free to be creative in your ways of sharing. Just be sure to cover up your card number if holding your real Discover card in the photo.

The most creative photo wins, and will be selected by our boys. The contest will run today until Halloween, October 31, 2012 at noon EST.

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For reference, here are some of the other Discover Card Fan Loyalty Poll results.
– Will Discover Card’s College Football Poll Tell the Results of the 2012 Presidential Election?
– Discover Card’s College Fan Poll Proves No Loyalty to the Chicken Wing

Save Money, Travel More!

Discover Card does compensate our family for being an official Fan Loyalty Correspondent, but any opinions are our own.