I’ll wrap this series with what was the toughest decision I’ve faced during this process of finding new favorite sports teams: What to do about college football and college basketball.

For most people who went to college, it’s simple: You root for your alma mater. If you went to a couple different schools, root for any or all of them. If you didn’t go to college (or haven’t gone yet), you’ll most likely root for schools with local ties, family ties, or teams that were powerhouses with national TV exposure during your formative years (which explains why you probably know a Duke basketball or Alabama football fan who doesn’t seem to have any natural connection to the program).

I went to Seattle University, and while I’ll always root for the Redhawks, that’s just not enough for me as a college sports fan. For starters, my alma mater doesn’t have a football team. And while SU is now a Division I mid-major in basketball, when I was in school we were moving between NAIA and Division II. So I haven’t had that big-time college sports experience with my default favorite program. Which sucks, because I like watching college football and college basketball even more than the NFL and NBA. That’s why I’ve been looking for a favorite college football team and high-major basketball program in addition to my mid-major, non-football-playing alma mater.

The problem is that college football and basketball might be the most complicated sports when someone is trying to adopt a new team.

College sports are in a strange place right now for lifelong fans, let alone a fan trying to jump into the fray with a new favorite program. Conference realignment is changing the game(s): dissolving old rivalries and creating new ones, killing the regional communities that separated college sports from the pros, and throwing a lot of programs and fan bases into unchartered, often unappealing territory. (And let’s not even get into the havoc it will surely wreak on the “non-revenue” college sports like track, baseball, swimming, etc.)

Think about an Oklahoma football fan who’s been enjoying the Sooners’ dominance in the Big 12. What will it be like if they can’t dominate the SEC? (Ask a Nebraska fan how it’s been since moving to the Big Ten.) Washington could find its footing as a top-tier football program in the Big Ten, and Arizona could be an instant basketball contender in the Big 12, but they’re both leaving behind longtime Pac-12 rivals like Washington State and Oregon State to flounder with an uneasy future ahead. And how long will it take UW fans in the Northwest or ‘Zona fans in the Southwest to get excited about conference showdowns with Minnesota, Kansas State, Illinois, and West Virginia?

I grew up in Pac-12 country and was conditioned to dislike Stanford, a conference rival of Washington and Washington State, the two most popular programs in my hometown. Does that dislike carry over now that Stanford is headed to the ACC, Washington is going to the Big Ten, and Washington State’s future (as of this writing) remains unknown?

Also complicating matters: If you root for one school’s football team, shouldn’t you also root for its basketball teams? And if you root for one school’s men’s basketball team, shouldn’t you also root for its women’s hoop team? There’s a lot to consider. It’s like I’m being recruited coming out of high school again — except these schools don’t actually care whether I choose to be their fan or not.

Ultimately, I decided to see if I can land on one college football team and one basketball program, which includes the men’s and women’s hoop team. And I tried to keep it high-major, reserving my mid-major allegiance for Seattle U.

Seeing as there are over 100 Division I football teams and over 350 basketball programs, we’ll get straight to the finalists:

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Clemson Tigers — I have family in South Carolina who live a couple hours from the Clemson campus. Clemson is Southern, but not scarily-intense, SEC-fan-wars Southern. (But will they leave the ACC someday for the SEC?) I like the name and logo; big cats are always a winner with me. During their ongoing run of success under coach Dabo Swinney, the Tigers have consistently produced great defensive backs and running backs, my two favorite positions in football (the one I played, and the one I wanted to play).

But when I did this process for the NFL, I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of rooting for the Cleveland Browns after the franchise hitched its wagon to embattled QB Deshaun Watson — who happens to be arguably the best player in Clemson history and led the Tigers to one of the program’s three national championships. Can you be a real Clemson fan if you don’t rock with Watson?

Colorado Buffaloes — There’s so much to like about the Buffs that I came very close to adopting them as my team last season. Yes, that was before “Coach Prime” Deion Sanders was even a pipe dream of an idea in Boulder; this was back when Karl Dorrell was at the helm, and all throughout Colorado’s 1-11 season I was on the cusp of declaring myself a new Buffs fan. I love Colorado’s uniforms, colors, logo, and name. The black and gold look from the ’90s might be the best college football unis of all time. The late running back Rashaan Salaam, a Muslim, won the only Heisman Trophy in school history in 1994.

Being in the Pac-12 gave Colorado a West Coast connection, which I liked. But now they’re headed back to the Big 12. There’s also that bandwagon-y feel that comes with committing to the Buffs now that Deion is on board, even if most experts predict the team won’t be good for Prime’s first season or two.

Florida State Seminoles — This school has direct family ties: One side of my family is rooted in Florida, some of them still live in or near Tallahassee, and a couple relatives went to FSU. The ‘Noles were cool when I was younger, suiting up Deion Sanders and Charlie Ward and Warrick Dunn, among others. And when it comes to DBs, I’d argue Florida State is the true “DBU”: Deion, Jalen Ramsey, Derwin James, Xavier Rhodes, LeRoy Butler, Terrell Buckley, and the rest.

But there is the sticky matter of the Seminole affiliation. It’s not what you might think: I don’t mind FSU using the name, as the school has the support of the Seminole Tribe and maintains a good relationship without mocking the heritage. But the tribe itself created a problem for me that has nothing to do with football. Back in the 1990s, the Seminole Tribe was granted a $46 million judgement against the U.S. government for past atrocities; that’s when the tribe decided to ice out its Black Seminole members — descendants of Africans who for centuries had built with and fought alongside the Seminoles — by refusing to share any of that money with them. That still doesn’t sit right with me.

Florida Gators — For a less-controversial Florida option, there’s the Gators. I have family/proximity ties, as Gainesville is right next to my grandma’s hometown. I like the name and the uniforms. I like the history of running backs (Emmitt Smith, Fred Taylor) and defensive backs (Joe Haden, Jackrabbit Jenkins). I like the Gator Chomp, and I already own some UF gear.

Did I say “less-controversial,” though? If having one shady character in its past is a knock against Clemson, then you have take a long look inside Florida’s closet — from the slightly disturbing Urban Meyer to the outright unconscionable Aaron Hernandez. That’s a lot to overlook.

Michigan Wolverines — I wish. My sister and her Ohio State-fan family would disown me if I sided with the Wolverines, a.k.a. That Team Up North (they won’t even speak their name), even if Charles Woodson (the G.O.A.T. defensive back) and Desmond Howard are part of the legacy. In fact, I probably shouldn’t consider anyone in the Big Ten, despite the fact that incoming members Washington and USC are right in my West Coast wheelhouse.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish — At one point during my childhood, I was a huge Notre Dame fan, and that was pre-Rudy. Before launching this process, I even told myself not to watch Sean Astin’s magnum opus because it could unfairly influence my pick. Somewhere during my teenage years, though, I lost touch with Notre Dame. Maybe it was because I concluded that I would never actually go there if given the opportunity. This was around the time my study of Islam and Black history intensified, and the hifalutin Catholic school in Indiana with a 3-percent Black enrollment wasn’t exactly appealing at that age. Vastly different from the, um, hifalutin Catholic school in Seattle with a 5-percent Black enrollment that I wound up going to.

Today, though, probably the best thing Notre Dame football has going for it is that they’re not in a conference. (ND’s other sports are in the ACC.) Even better; Notre Dame football doesn’t need a conference. The independent Irish can thrive without the Big Ten, the Big 12, or the Big 18. And if they do eventually decide to join a conference, it wouldn’t be to the detriment other programs or conferences, unlike what’s happened to the Pac-12 since USC and UCLA first announced their departure.

UNLV Rebels — My fiancee’s alma mater reps our current city and state. So there’s that. But, UNLV football … well, it’s been awful. The Rebels haven’t posted a winning record since 2013. They went 0-6 in the 2020 COVID season, and 0-11 back in 1998. A winless season in college football is rare, and UNLV has had two of them in my lifetime. The last time UNLV had back-to-back winning seasons was in 1983 and 1984. And both of those seasons were later wiped out by NCAA sanctions, so the Rebels are technically 0-24 over that stretch instead of 18-6 (which means four winless seasons in my lifetime). But things could turn around under new coach Barry Odom, who previously had some success in the SEC at Missouri. It would be cool to go along for that rise.

Washington State Cougars — Growing up in Washington, even if you were a young Notre Dame fan, you still had to pick a side in the Apple Cup rivalry between UW and WSU. I chose WSU, in part because I was a natural contrarian surrounded mostly by Huskies fans, and in part because WSU sometimes played snow games in Pullman, and I love snow games. Right after college, my first reporter job was covering WSU on-location. Living in Pullman and working on-campus in my early-20s, it kind of felt like I was going to WSU. (I even got invited to a WSU Black alumni reunion recently, and had to remind them that I was never actually a student there.)

A few weeks ago, I was all set to settle on the Cougars as my team, but then the Pac-12 fell apart before our eyes. And so, as of this writing, I have no idea what happens next for Washington State. Will it become a Mountain West mid-major? A weird West Coast member of the ACC? The nation’s second-best independent after Notre Dame? Should I just root for WSU this year during the Pac-12’s last hurrah, then do this all over again depending on what happens after?

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Arizona State Sun Devils — I have an Arizona State shirt that says “Guard U” on the front. While ASU is not seen as a perennial pro factory, some of my favorite college guards have come out of Tempe: James Harden, Jahii Carson, Remy Martin, Stevin Smith before the whole point-shaving thing, Briann January on the women’s side, and Frankie Collins this past season.

I like the colors and the court. ASU is leaving the Pac-12, and given that they had a hard enough time cracking the upper echelon there, how successful are they going to be in the Big 12? Plus, something about rooting for a team with “Devils” in the name doesn’t feel quite right, even if the origin behind the name is about nature (look up “dust devil”) rather than anything nefarious.

California Golden Bears — Another Pac-12 defector, the Bears are headed for the ACC. Even when Cal had future NBA stars like Jason Kidd and Shareef Abdur-Rahim (who’s Muslim), the men’s team didn’t win a lot; they haven’t been to an Elite Eight since 1960. But lately, it’s been bad. The Bears have gone 54-134 (.287) over the last six seasons and haven’t even made the NCAA Tournament since 2016. There’s no reason to believe they won’t continue getting smacked around the ACC, facing the likes of Duke, North Carolina, Virginia, and Miami on a regular basis.

I don’t know how long women’s coach Charmin Smith is going to be around Berkeley — she hasn’t posted a winning season in four years — but she practices Muay Thai, and that’s always one way to win me over.

Georgetown Hoyas — I was a Hoyas fan early on, but not because of their legendary lineage of centers. Patrick Ewing was a little before my time, and as a short kid I couldn’t relate as much to Dikembe Mutombo and Alonzo Mourning as I could to a 5-foot-10 point guard named Joey Brown. He was my first favorite Hoya. Then, Allen Iverson came along, and the late coach John Thompson was overseeing the whole thing, and thus Georgetown has off-and-on been my favorite college hoop team since the late ’90s. The program was down bad during Ewing’s recent tenure as coach, but there’s a new excitement heading into Ed Cooley’s first year at the helm.

Louisville Cardinals — Here’s one case in which I like the women’s team and the men’s team equally, if not leaning more toward the women. From the time Angel McCoughtry led UL to the NCAA women’s title game in 2009, the Cardinals have been one of the country’s best teams. The electric Shoni Shimmel led Louisville to another national title game in 2013, and they went to Finals Fours in 2018 and 2022.

The Louisville men officially did not win a national championship in 2013 according to the NCAA, but I swear I watched it happen; the point guard on that team was Peyton Siva, an alum of my old high school in Seattle.

Temple Owls — Just like John Thompson, the late John Chaney is a coaching legend who made his school seem like the place to be for a young Black male looking for leadership. But the Owls haven’t done much of note since Chaney; the team’s last deep tournament run was an Elite Eight trip led by Chaney in 2001. Plus, Temple has some of that same aura as Philadelphia’s pro teams, where it feels like you need to be a lifetime fan, otherwise you’re faking the funk.

UNLV Rebels — Same reasons here as for the Rebels football team, except UNLV basketball is better than terrible. The women’s team has actually been a powerhouse in the Mountain West recently, going undefeated in the conference last season, and the men’s team seems to be headed in the right direction.

The UNLV men were cool and dominant for a stretch when I was a kid, so while they are technically a mid-major program, in my view they’re still a high-major that should have high-major expectations.

***** *****

As far as 3-for-1 options — i.e., schools with which I could see myself rooting for the football team and both basketball teams like a normal alumni (or “sidewalk alumni”) — the possibilities are UNLV, Cal, and Washington State. But Washington State’s future is so shaky that it feels like joining a start-up company that doesn’t have investors, and Cal may be destined for a long and dreadful future of losing; ideally one would want to root for a team that at least has a chance at winning something substantial.

UNLV is appealing, but I just don’t know about signing up to follow that football team. Men’s and women’s basketball seems like the way to go there. I have family connections — my kids are UNLV legacy, after all — and some good nostalgic memories of old Rebels squads featuring Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, Shawn Marion, and Greedy Daniels. My time working for the Vegas newspaper put me closer to the UNLV men’s and women’s hoop teams and the athletic department in general. Women’s coach Lindy La Rocque has quickly built a winner out here, and success could be right around the corner for men’s coach Kevin Kruger.

UPDATE: I may have misdiagnosed UNLV basketball as a high-major trapped in ill-fitting mid-major clothing. Having dipped more than a toe in the Runnin’ Rebels-fan waters lately, UNLV seems firmly planted in its mid-major existence. And I already have a mid-major hoop program — where my kids are also legacy — in Seattle U. So basketball-wise, that brings me back around to … California-Berkeley. It’s West Coast. It’ll carry the memory of the Pac-12 into the ACC, where it can find new rivals in a couple schools that I’ve already been conditioned to dislike: Duke and Syracuse. The Golden Bears have suited up a lot of players that I really like, from Kidd to Abdur-Rahim (Muslim) to Jaylen Brown (very much appears to be Muslim) to Leon Powe to Jerome Randle on the men’s side; and Jayda Curry, Layshia Clarendon, and Alexis Gray-Lawson on the women’s team. Interesting animal mascot, nice uniforms and colors and court design. The Cal men and women have been below-average to plain bad in recent years, but there’s at least new hope for the men’s team with first-year coach Mark Madsen coming on board.

UPDATED UPDATE: I’m still torn here. I’m writing this on the opening day of the college basketball season, and UNLV and Cal are running neck-and-neck for my fandom. I really wanted to pick a clear-cut high-major program, and Cal is that while UNLV is not, but the realignment factor complicates it. (Also, Cal still isn’t good on the men’s or women’s side.) If the Pac-12 were going to remain in existence, Cal would have the edge. But with the Golden Bears headed to the ACC, that makes the Rebels more of a West Coast program between the two — at least the Mountain West has West in the name and some programs in the conference that are on the West Coast. I don’t yet feel a strong connection to Cal. Yes, they’ve had some players in the past who I’ve liked, but that’s about it. UNLV has family ties and I’m living in the Rebels’ city. I’m almost leaning that way, even though they’re really a mid-major; at least they are still a big brand in college hoops. I think I’ll watch both programs for the first couple weeks of the season and just go with which one feels right. To be continued…

LAST UPDATE: It’s UNLV for basketball. Just feels right.

Now, as far as football: With every new twist and turn of conference realignment, I’m drawn more toward Notre Dame. The Irish have been able to operate mostly above all of the craziness. The older I get and the more I learn about business, art, and entertainment — and now college sports — the more respect I have for those who remain independent. Notre Dame football is even a little bougie with their independence, and I can respect bougie. From everything I’ve heard and read from those close to the program, Notre Dame football won’t be joining a conference any time soon. They like calling their own shots too much. I like stability, and Notre Dame is as stable an entity as there is in college football — which goes against the grain of where the sport is currently. The program that used to come off like The Establishment has become the rebellious contrarian in this new landscape.

But that’s all off the field. On the field, Notre Dame produced some of my favorite college football players back in the day, from Rocket Ismail to Jerome Bettis to the late Demetrius DuBose (a Seattle native). They’ve had great defensive backs (Allen Rossum, KeiVarae Russell) and running backs (Ricky Watters, Reggie Brooks) in my lifetime. They’ve started Black quarterbacks (Tony Rice, DeShone Kizer) and hired Black head coaches (including current HC Marcus Freeman), which matters to me. Of course there’s a long history of success going back to football’s stone age, but the Irish haven’t won a national championship since 1988, and so this isn’t exactly a jam-packed bandwagon. Whatever soured me on Notre Dame all those years ago isn’t a problem today anymore, and some things that I didn’t appreciate about Notre Dame back then actually look good now.

So that leaves the list as follows:

NFL — Las Vegas Raiders

NBA — Houston Rockets

WNBA — Seattle Storm

MLB — Seattle Mariners

NHL — Seattle Kraken

NCAA BK — Seattle U Redhawks and UNLV Rebels

NCAA FB — Notre Dame Fighting Irish

And with that, I think I’ll go watch Rudy again…