Thanks to college football’s structural lunacy, December 5’s Florida-Alabama contest was 2009’s most important regular-season game. And 1,000 miles from Gainesville, Florida, fans packed the Gin Mill on Amsterdam Avenue near 81st Street, which has hosted New York’s Gator fans for the past eleven seasons. A small Gator flag flew outside, orange and blue Jell-O shots were passed around, and the school’s fight song played after each touchdown. An hour before kickoff, the waitresses couldn’t move without bumping into urbanized alums. The situation was nothing unusual: On fall Saturdays and during March Madness, this kind of jam-packed enthusiasm for distant competitions takes over many of Manhattan’s pubs and sports bars. Over time, fans have organically matched up with proprietors (who know a loyal customer base when they see one) to establish headquarters for displaced college sports enthusiasts. Below, where to cheer on the following teams.
Alabama
The Ainsworth
122 W. 26th St., nr. Sixth Ave.
California
M.J. Armstrong’s
329 First Ave., at 19th St.
Duke
Village Pourhouse
64 Third Ave., at 11th St.
Georgetown
Village Pourhouse
Illinois
The Australian
20 W. 38th St., nr. Fifth Ave.
Indiana
Traffic
986 Second Ave., nr. 52nd St.
Kansas
Village Pourhouse
The Backpage
1472 Third Ave., at 83rd St.
Kentucky
Jack Demsey’s
36 W. 33rd St., nr. Broadway
LSU
Legends
6 W. 33rd St., nr. Fifth Ave.
Miami (fl)
Brother Jimmy’s Murray Hill
181 Lexington Ave., at 31st St.
Michigan
Professor Thom’s
219 Second Ave., nr. 13th St.;
Metro 53
307 E. 53rd St., nr. Second Ave.
North Carolina
Brother Jimmy’s Midtown
416 Eighth Ave., at 31st St.;
Firefly
54 Spring St., nr. Lafatyette St.
The Ainsworth
Notre Dame
Public House
140 E. 41st St., nr. Lexington Ave.
Ohio State
SideBar
120 E. 15th St., nr. Irving Pl.
Oregon
Playwright Irish Pub
27 W. 35th St., nr. Fifth Ave.
Penn State
Tonic East
411 Third Ave., at 29th St.;
Rogue
757 Sixth Ave., nr. 26th St.
Syracuse
Professor Thom’s
The Hill
416 Third Ave., nr. 30th St.
Tennessee
Wharf Bar and Grill
587 Third Ave., nr. 38th St.
Texas
Stout NYC
133 W. 33rd St., nr. Seventh Ave.;
Hill Country
30 W. 26th St., nr. Broadway
UConn
The Ainsworth
USC
Galway Hooker Midtown
7 E. 36th St., nr. Fifth Ave.
Villanova
Public House
The Australian
Wisconsin
Mad River Bar & Grille
1442 Third Ave., nr. 82nd St.