It's quiet, too quiet...

[hthusky74]

It's not just a northern-southern thing. Football isn't as big in the ACC, as billybud pointed out. There's nothing wrong with not making college football the central focal point of your entire life.

And really, if the SEC teams don't get that, and FSU doesn't understand, they should try playing only among themselves to see how far they'll get. My guess: not far. You can't whittle down competition to 20 teams that live for nothing else. It can't work that way.

I don't know why people get inferiority complexes when a school like, say, Creighton draws 17k to bball games. So what? Apparently, there's little else to do there. Congrats to them.

Lincoln is an hour down the road, and a few people drive from Omaha to see Big Red (no not "our" Big Red) on Saturday's. So there are other things to do there.

 

[Stinger92860]

Lincoln is an hour down the road, and a few people drive from Omaha to see Big Red (no not "our" Big Red) on Saturday's. So there are other things to do there.

Plus great steaks!

 

[hthusky74]

I think that billybud is right: there is a stark contrast to southern vs northern football culture. Down south, it's a religion.

You are right. Down South football and Nascar are religions. Check this out. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...erral&utm_campaign=cnn-sports-bin&hpt=hp_bn15

 

[Dooley]

You are right. Down South football and Nascar are religions. Check this out. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...erral&utm_campaign=cnn-sports-bin&hpt=hp_bn15

I saw this! Is it weird that I am not a fan of NASCAR, Tennessee or Va Tech, but I really want to go to this?

 

[Adios]

UConn may be an "entertainment option" but that stands true for everywhere. They just have less "entertainment options" down south. We have some hardcore football fans.

 

[btstimpy]

For many of the older fans (from Independent days), the ACC has never seemed a good fit for FSU. It has taken 22 years to build a rivalry...and one is finally budding with Clemson.

Many of us (Nole guys) view the Tobacco Road crew as basketball forward programs that have not devoted the energy and resources necessary to build a strong football conference.

Furthermore, FSU joined a southern-mid Atlantic conference in 1992...the additions of Pitt, Syracuse, and Boston College moved the conference north...and FSU has both Syracuse and Boston College in the division while only playing its oldest and closest rival (GT) once every six years. A Florida team playing in Boston and Syracuse is a clumsy, artificial fit with zero chance of any rivalry or football excitement.

When teams align with conferences, sometimes the matches made are imperfect...such was FSU's with the ACC and WVU's with the Big 12.

I get what you're saying about North-South, and I know one of FSU's biggest gripes with the ACC is not being able to play Georgia Tech enough. I had thought that the ACC might swap Georgia Tech and NC State in their respective divisions to solve that, but it hasn't happened yet.

While reading your comments though about not being able to form rivalries with the northern teams, I think that will have more to do with their ability to compete at the same level as FSU. If I look at the professional leagues I see the Miami Dolphins in a division with Buffalo, Boston, and New York. I see the Tampa Rays in one with Boston, Toronto, New York, and Baltimore. I see the Miami Marlins in one with New York, Washington, and Philadelphia along with Atlanta. There exist some rivalries between Florida teams and Northern teams in these leagues. It's not impossible.

I found the recent FSU-BC football game very entertaining this year. It is true that BC will have to improve a lot to make the outcome of that game in question. But that is not impossible for BC to do with the right coaches and emphasis.

 

[Dooley]

I found the recent FSU-BC football game very entertaining this year. It is true that BC will have to improve a lot to make the outcome of that game in question. But that is not impossible for BC to do with the right coaches and emphasis.

Be careful not to praise BC too much around here!

 

[btstimpy]

It's not just a northern-southern thing. Football isn't as big in the ACC, as billybud pointed out. There's nothing wrong with not making college football the central focal point of your entire life.

And really, if the SEC teams don't get that, and FSU doesn't understand, they should try playing only among themselves to see how far they'll get. My guess: not far. You can't whittle down competition to 20 teams that live for nothing else. It can't work that way.

I don't know why people get inferiority complexes when a school like, say, Creighton draws 17k to bball games. So what? Apparently, there's little else to do there. Congrats to them.

Football is a hell of a lot bigger in the ACC today than it was in the 80s when I went to school. In fact the difference is staggering. ESPN has the ACC as the number 3 power conference this year behind only the SEC and PAC12. The Big Ten is rated so low in football that many of the talking heads are suggesting that an undefeated Ohio State might not make it to the title game because their schedule is so weak. The ACC is not going to be a conference full of football factories like the SEC. That is not the identity of the ACC. But the ACC has some schools with teams good enough to compete in the SEC, and most of them regularly schedule SEC opponents.

I don't understand why all the football powers would want to be in the same conference where they eliminate each other. South Carolina is a prime example of a school with a football team that could potentially dominate in the ACC, but they have not been a relevant football team in the SEC since they have been there. They are no threat whatsoever to win the SEC or compete for a national championship. The same is true for Arkansas. I will give Steve Spurrier some credit for at least getting South Carolina talked about, but that's about all it is. They would beat my team obviously. UVA does not have much history as a football power, and play a similar role in the ACC. We have some big wins and upset wins over the years, but not a dominate season. We don't normally get complaints about being a bottom feeder either. We might this year though I admit.

 

[billybud]

Bstimpy....

Pro football is different re rivalries. Fans don't really travel to away games. And, in the deep south, ticket holding pro football fans are a fraction of college fans and seem highly concentrated in the city that has the team.

But proximity is absolutely a factor when building a classic college rivalry...like FSU-Fla, Alabama-Auburn, OSU-Michigan, Texas-Oklahoma, VT-WVU...

Virginia-FSU?. Who cares? FSU-GT? That is a game that Noles look forward to.

Although FSU is 14-3 vs Virginia in the ACC, Nole fans are much more excited about playing the Yellow Jackets (FSU 13-2). Record seems to not play in.

 

[upstater]

Bstimpy....

Pro football is different re rivalries. Fans don't really travel to away games. And, in the deep south, ticket holding pro football fans are a fraction of college fans and seem highly concentrated in the city that has the team.

But proximity is absolutely a factor when building a classic college rivalry...like FSU-Fla, Alabama-Auburn, OSU-Michigan, Texas-Oklahoma, VT-WVU...

Virginia-FSU?. Who cares? FSU-GT? That is a game that Noles look forward to.

Although FSU is 14-3 vs Virginia in the ACC, Nole fans are much more excited about playing the Yellow Jackets (FSU 13-2). Record seems to not play in.

You'd be surprised about pro football fans traveling. I see a ton of visiting fans here in the northeast.

 

[billybud]

You'd be surprised about pro football fans traveling. I see a ton of visiting fans here in the northeast.

Maybe in the northeast....but not in the south...You won't see RV's full of Miami folks pulling into lots at Atlanta...or even Jacksonville.

Heck, very, very few Jaguar season ticket holders live in Tallahassee...and you never, ever, see Jag stickers on a car...

 

[billybud]

Pro football is really not a deep south "thing"..... pro football seems to be more northern and urban in feel.

Pittsburgh loves its Steelers more than they love Pitt...New York really doesn't have a college team, New England is a pro area....I think that the Bulldogs have more support in Georgia than does the Atlanta pro team. Only New Orleans seems to carry their area comparable to the local team (LSU).

Tallahasssee, Orlando, Macon, Birmingham, Knoxville, etc...have no feel for pro football.

 

[ctchamps]

Pro football is really not a deep south "thing"..... pro football seems to be more northern and urban in feel.

Pittsburgh loves its Steelers more than they love Pitt...New York really doesn't have a college team, New England is a pro area....I think that the Bulldogs have more support in Georgia than does the Atlanta pro team. Only New Orleans seems to carry their area comparable to the local team (LSU).

Tallahasssee, Orlando, Macon, Birmingham, Knoxville, etc...have no feel for pro football.

It's about sustained winning. Nothing else. Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys were southern teams that drew well and had attention.

 

[husky91]

I think Pro dominates everywhere when the team is good. College is more of a consistent high energy, but for example if lSU is real good and Saints 2 Saints will dominate interest of state.

Maybe not in places as much like Alabama or South Carolina where no pro teams in state and fragmented rooting interests.

Pro football is really not a deep south "thing"..... pro football seems to be more northern and urban in feel.

Pittsburgh loves its Steelers more than they love Pitt...New York really doesn't have a college team, New England is a pro area....I think that the Bulldogs have more support in Georgia than does the Atlanta pro team. Only New Orleans seems to carry their area comparable to the local team (LSU).

Tallahasssee, Orlando, Macon, Birmingham, Knoxville, etc...have no feel for pro football.