With the start of college football season, a few questions are lingering in the air alongside the lofting scents of grilled meat and cheap beer. First, is Texas back? Second, where did Texas go?

Answers: No, and down the toilet. Don’t at me.

Here at Trinity, there are other questions related to Division I college sports. First, what Division I teams do Trinity students root for when they watch Division I college sports? And second, why do they root for those teams?

Sam McWhorter, sophomore communication major, roots for the University of Texas’s football team, University of California, Berkeley’s basketball team and for the baseball team at the University of Connecticut.

“I cheer for UT football because I was interested in football when I was younger and that’s when I lived in Austin,” McWhorter said. “In basketball, Cal-Berkeley because they are really close to Oakland, where I lived in the middle of my childhood. I also root really irrationally for University of Connecticut baseball because I lived in Paris for a year and that was the only team they showed on television.”

Nathaniel Prete, first-year accounting major, roots for Louisiana State University’s teams.

“My mom went there and her side of the family lives there,” Prete said.

Kevin Owens, sophomore business and Chinese double major, has hometown pride for the University of Kansas.

“I cheer for the Kansas Jayhawks,” Owens said. “I was born in Kansas and my sister went to Kansas.”

Johnny Kassis, senior business marketing major, is a University of Southern California fan.

“I’m from LA. That’s the LA team,” Kassis said. 

Matt Jones, senior finance and communication double major, watches the University of Texas, the University of North Carolina and Stanford University.

“I’m from Austin, I started watching North Carolina when I was young and I like [Stanford football’s] Andrew Luck,” Jones said.

Samy Abdallah, senior history major, has family ties to the University of Arkansas.

“I watch University of Arkansas ’cause my sister went there,” Abdallah said.

Hunter Straka, first-year finance major, roots for the University of Arizona.

“I live in Tucson, Arizona,” Straka says.

Kristen Canepa, sophomore accounting major, has some friends on the Los Angeles soccer team.

“I watch UCLA soccer. I know a lot of players on that team,” Canepa said.

Gavin Huse, junior business major, is a University of Oklahoma fan.

“I watch Oklahoma because my cousin played there, and my family’s from that area,” Huse said.

So is Patrick Kaltenbacher, senior business analytics and technology major.

“Both my parents went to OU,” Kaltenbacher said.

Coleman Kvapil, junior business major, is another UT-Austin fan.

“I’m from Austin. My parents went to UT,” Kvapil said.