Ignorance displayed throughout the world of sports fandom has disgusted me for years.

As a follower of dozens of sports, I often come across people that have scoffed at my allegiance to less popular sports, and for the most part, I can tolerate it. At least I understand how talented the athletes really are.

But it’s an absolute shame that the same ignorance is present in the student body at Iowa State.

During my four years here, I can’t count the amount of times I’ve heard somebody say, “We suck at sports,” or “I wish we actually had good teams to watch.”

Please, students. Open your eyes and get a clue.

In college sports, football and men’s basketball will always reign supreme, but it really is sad to see how much stock a school’s fan base puts on their success. The students at Iowa State are no different, as I have continually seen them let their attitude towards the athletic program ebb and flow with the accomplishments of these teams.

Before I continue, let me make one thing clear: I am in no way putting down or making cases against our football and men’s basketball programs, and I am not saying students should stop supporting them. I just hope everybody can see past them to discover the other special opportunities they have to watch top-notch athletic teams at this university.

I followed two sports in particular during my time in Ames, and I traveled all over the country watching them set the standard for winning in Cyclone athletics.

Thanks to them, I’ve eaten more free meals at NCAA tournament functions than most college students eat real dinners in two months. Because of these two teams, I’ve been to at least 20 rounds of eight different NCAA tournaments — covering six of those tournaments as a sports reporter — and have seen five separate Sweet 16s.

I’ve been sent to California, Texas, Ohio and many places in between to write about these programs that have defined what it means to be a true student-athlete and represent this school with a sense of pride and dignity.

And here’s why students rarely realize or appreciates their resume of success: none of the athletes I’ve ever covered have a Y chromosome. It’s sad, but for the most part, true.

If you haven’t figured out by now, the two programs are volleyball and women’s basketball. Led by two of the most successful coaches in the university’s history, they have continually raised the bar of success for themselves and other Iowa State programs. Thanks to their successes, along with a host of other sports such as wrestling, cross-country and track, Iowa State is currently ranked a record-high 19th out of more than 300 schools in the latest 2009-10 Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup Division I standings, a quantitative measure of a school’s athletic achievements during the year.

All of these successful sports  seem to draw a general lack of respect from the majority of the student body.

Just about every other demographic of Cyclone fans has grasped how special these two teams are, but not the students. And trust me, you’re not a fan just because you look up their scores on the Internet or read articles about them the next day.

The women’s basketball program has ranked in the top 10 in the country in attendance for every year in the past decade, including third-place finishes behind powerhouses Tennessee and Connecticut the last two seasons.

Attendance numbers are consistently topping 10,000 — and do you know, on average, how many of those are students? Maybe 100-200.

The story is no different for volleyball games, where, on a good night, maybe 50-100 students are in the seats for a normal home match. Yet the volleyball team still ranks in the top 20 in the nation in attendance every year.

The worst part about all of this? Students are paying hundreds of dollars to watch the less-successful teams when you could be watching other teams win — for FREE!

If students purchase both football and men’s basketball tickets, they get a Cy Pass that will give them the chance to watch volleyball, women’s basketball, wrestling, and gymnastics for no cost at all.

I know women’s sports don’t catch the eye and aren’t perceived exciting, but every true sports fan would be impressed by the talent these athletes have.

During my time here I’ve witnessed one of the greatest turnarounds in college sports with the volleyball program — which was 1-19 in the Big 12 in 2004. Five years later the team has registered five-straight winning seasons, has 8-4 record in NCAA tournament play and finished this past year with a 27-5 record, ranked No. 6 in the final poll.

The women’s basketball team has done nothing but win since coach Bill Fennelly came to Ames. It have made the postseason 13 of the last 14 years, including 11 NCAA tournaments, five Sweet 16s and two Elite Eights.

So why have our students continually failed to support them? Your guess is as good as mine. But whatever the reason is, it needs to change.

Other demographics of Cyclone Nation have done their part to make Hilton Coliseum an incredible sporting atmosphere during volleyball and women’s basketball games, and it’s time students did theirs. Regardless of who is on the court, every Cyclone fan should love to experience an atmosphere like this.

Get out this fall and go witness it for yourselves.