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Since the inception of the BCS, the South has had 10 winners (Tennessee, Florida State, Oklahoma, Miami, LSU, Texas, Florida, LSU, Florida, Alabama) out of 12 (Ohio State and Southern Cal are the only schools from non-Southern schools to win, respectively.)
In your opinion, what are the legitimate reasons why this is the trend? (Please no bashing, this is a serious inquiry. Thanks in advance.)
Last edited by Bo; 01-08-2010 at 10:05 AM..
Reason: Moved from General US.
Yeah really outside of Ohio, Michigan, PA, and Cali no place is on par football wise with the South. Those are the only 4 states outside of the South I'd say that are on par with it. Plus the South has a warmer climate year round, which allows for more, or at least better practice time.
I believe it's a result of the South over the years gaining population and also the better weather encourages players to participate in many sports year round. Many college players in the South alco excel in track, baseball, basketball.
I'm not saying that there are not multi-talented athletes in the North, but a good athlete up there may just focus on football and hockey.
The South also wins the recruiting wars......if your one of the top 5 players in say, the entire state of Massachussets, your going to be heavily recruited by an SEC school and with the recent success of the Southern schools you'll get better exposure and a better chance to leapfrog to the NFL.
I believe it's a result of the South over the years gaining population and also the better weather encourages players to participate in many sports year round. Many college players in the South alco excel in track, baseball, basketball.
I'm not saying that there are not multi-talented athletes in the North, but a good athlete up there may just focus on football and hockey.
The South also wins the recruiting wars......if your one of the top 5 players in say, the entire state of Massachussets, your going to be heavily recruited by an SEC school and with the recent success of the Southern schools you'll get better exposure and a better chance to leapfrog to the NFL.
More of the local guys are starting to stay home now. Jordan Toddman the former top running back in MA went to the University of Connecticut.
Football just isn't the top sport in most of the northern states like it is in the south. Basketball seems to be king while hockey and baseball run neck and neck for second. Having grown up in Connecticut I know that football was the least popular sport in terms of participation at the youth level in my town.
Lots of Northen schools (Iowa and other Big Ten schools anyway) head down to Texas to recruit players for this reason. They live and breathe High school football down there
I'm also from CT and where I grew up football reigned supreme from pee-wee up through high school. I wonder if maybe the best players from those areas are opting for those Southern schools for their college because they do so well?
I'm also from CT and where I grew up football reigned supreme from pee-wee up through high school. I wonder if maybe the best players from those areas are opting for those Southern schools for their college because they do so well?
Are you from the Naugatuck Valley? I'm from Simsbury. Football is just starting to become popular now that the high school team is state ranked and making it to the playoffs.
I think it's mostly due to the better talent pool for high school players in the South.
There is a lot of passion for college football in the Midwest. In the most recent season that I could find numbers for (2006), the top schools for attendance were:
1. Michigan (110,026)
2. Penn St. (107,567)
3. Tennessee (105,789)
4. Ohio State (105,096)
5. Georgia (92,746)
Which means that three of the top five schools for average attendance, including the top two, are from a midwestern conference (Big Ten). It's second only to the SEC in overall attendance.
The problem is that the best high school talent (for the most part) comes from Florida, Texas, Georgia, etc. Some of these players end up going north, but most of them go to Florida, LSU, Alabama, and other great programs in the South. Ohio and Pennsylvania are good states for high school football, but not as good as Florida and Texas.
So, yes, college football in the South is king, but the level of interest in the Midwest is extremely high, even if the schools aren't bringing home national titles every year.
I think it's mostly due to the better talent pool for high school players in the South.
There is a lot of passion for college football in the Midwest. In the most recent season that I could find numbers for (2006), the top schools for attendance were:
1. Michigan (110,026)
2. Penn St. (107,567)
3. Tennessee (105,789)
4. Ohio State (105,096)
5. Georgia (92,746)
Which means that three of the top five schools for average attendance, including the top two, are from a midwestern conference (Big Ten). It's second only to the SEC in overall attendance.
The problem is that the best high school talent (for the most part) comes from Florida, Texas, Georgia, etc. Some of these players end up going north, but most of them go to Florida, LSU, Alabama, and other great programs in the South. Ohio and Pennsylvania are good states for high school football, but not as good as Florida and Texas.
So, yes, college football in the South is king, but the level of interest in the Midwest is extremely high, even if the schools aren't bringing home national titles every year.
That probably has more to do with the fact that those stadiums are larger. For instance, if the University of Alabama sold out every game their average attendance could only at maximum be around 93,000.
The top five largest stadiums are
1. Penn State (107,282)
2. Michigan (106,2010)
3. Ohio State (102,329)
4. Texas (100,119)
5. Tennessee (100,011)
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, this is a serious inquiry. Thanks in advance.)