This map shows the top 10 in College Football, from last season. The Louisiana State University Tigers are champions.
The Associated Press Poll, and the USA Today Poll both had the same top ten teams (Boston College being placed at 11, in the USA Today poll). The helmets are sized to the teams’ 2006 average attendances (the NCAA website has not posted 2007 final average attendances; probably the only changes would be increases in the Missouri and Kansas figures).
In 1996, the Western Athletic Conference over-expanded, from 9 schools to 16. They paid a serious price, as 8 schools eventually left [see my post of November 18, "...The Mountain West," for details, here]. The conference has been in flux ever since. If it weren’t for the very recent emergence of Boise State and Hawaii as national powers, the conference would be in serious trouble. Just look at the paltry average attendances of two thirds of the conference.
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The Mountain West Conference (MWC) was formed in 1999, when several members of the recently expanded Western Athletic Conference decided that the conference was too big. 8 schools left , depriving the WAC of much of it’s competitive strength and history. TCU followed 4 years later. Founding members of the WAC (which was formed in 1962) that eventually became part of the Mountain West Conference were Brigham Young University, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Schools that later joined the WAC, and also moved on to the Mountain West were Colorado State (joined WAC in 1967), San Diego State (joined WAC in 1978), Air Force (joined WAC in 1980), UNLV (joined WAC in 1996), and TCU (joined WAC in 1996). So the MWC is basically the old-time WAC, plus TCU and UNLV. Only Hawaii remains in the WAC, from the earlier days of that conference. The Mountain West has it’s own TV broadcast network, the “mtn.” (the mountain). They ceased their affiliation with ESPN after that network insisted the MWC play games on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. But there have been problems. The network is unavailable on satellite TV, and totally unavailable in Dallas/Ft. Worth, the home of TCU. Both Utah schools are dissatisfied to the point of bringing in their lawyers.
The Big East Conference was founded in 1979, but did not begin playing football until 1991. Before then, it had been primarily a stage for the basketball programs of it’s constituent schools. Miami’s presence gave Big East football instant credibility, and the Hurricanes dominated, winning 9 titles in 13 years. When Miami left (along with Virginia Tech) to join the ACC in 2004, there was a gaping hole, only partially filled by the additions of Cincinnati, Louisville, and South Florida. Boston College also left to join the ACC, in 2005. In 2005, West Virginia claimed the Big East title, and won the Sugar Bowl (over Georgia), finishing #5 nationwide, in the AP poll. In 2006, Louisville won the title, which they sealed with a triple-overtime win over upstart Rutgers. Louisville went on to win the Orange Bowl (over Wake Forest), and finished #6 in the AP poll. West Virginia finished #10, and Rutgers were #12. The state school of New Jersey, Rutgers were a perennial doormat in football up until 2006. Their surprising success, along with the rise of Connecticut and South Florida as football powers, points to a promising future for Big East football.
The Atlantic Coast Conference was formed in June, 1953, and begun play for football that fall. The 7 founding members had left the Sothern Conference, primarily due to that conference’s ban on post-season play. Charter members were Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina, and Wake Forest. Virginia joined the following year. South Carolina opted to become an independent in 1971 (they are now in the SEC). Georgia Tech joined in 1978, and Florida State joined in 1991 (both from the old Metro Conference, a fore-runner of Conference USA). In 2004, Miami and Virginia Tech left the Big East, in a rather acrimonious fashion, and joined the ACC. A year later, Boston College followed suit. This made the ACC a 12-team conference. In 2005, the ACC began divisional play, with a Championship game played each December in Jacksonville, Florida. The Atlantic Division is made up of Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Maryland, N.C. State, and Wake Forest. The Coastal Conference is comprised of Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Miami, Virginia, North Carolina, and Duke.
With regards to the Conference Titles chart, I did not list the 3 Dixie Conference titles that Florida State won (1948-1950), as the conference was a pretty small concern. 4 of the 9 schools in it then did not field football teams. The conference, now called the USA South Athletic Conference, is in Division 3. The list shows Duke with 16 conference titles, and that is not a typo. Duke fielded some successful football teams during it’s time in the Southern Conference (1928-1952), and were champions, or co-champions, of the first 3 ACC seasons (1953-1955). Of course now, Duke focuses it’s energies on it’s huge basketball program, to the detriment of it’s sparsely attended football program. Thanks to the Midwest Collectibles website.
The Southeastern Conference (or SEC) was formed in December 1932, and began play in 1933. It was formed when 13 schools from the Southern Conferencece left to form their own conference. 10 of these schools still play in the SEC. At the end of 1991, the SEC expanded to 12 schools, with the addition of Arkansas (from the disbanded Southwest Conference), and South Carolina (who had been independent). Since 1992, the SEC has been split into 2 divisions. The Eastern Division is made up of Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt. The Western Division comprises Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Mississippi (usually referred to as “Ole Miss”), and Mississippi State. The winner of each division plays in the SEC Championship Game, held each December at the Georgia Dome, in Atlanta. Here are the biggest rivalries in the SEC. Alabama vs. Auburn (“The Iron Bowl”). Florida vs. Georgia (“The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party”). LSU vs. Arkansas (“The Battle for the Golden Boot”). Alabama vs. Tennessee (“The Third Saturday in October”). Florida vs. Tennessee (“The Third Saturday in September”). Auburn vs. Georgia (“The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry”). Thanks to the NFL Helmet Store, Midwest Collectibles, Elite Deals, CBS Sports Store, and Sports Unlimited Inc. websites.
The Big 12 was formed in 1994, and began play in 1996. The schools of the Big 8 joined with four Texas-based schools from the disbanded Southwest Conference. Although the Big 12 does not officially claim the history of the Big 8 as it’s own, most fans see the Big 12 as an enlarged version of the old Big 8. [The chart on this map lists total conference championships as the sum of Big 8+Big 12 Titles; and the sum of Southwest Conference+Big 12 Titles.]
Keeping with the rivalries theme of my last NCAA football map, here are the main rivalries in the Big 12. Oklahoma vs. Texas: “the Red River Shootout” (politically correct name is ”Red River Rivalry”). Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State: “the Bedlam Series.” Texas vs. Texas A&M: “the Lone Star Showdown.” Texas A&M vs. Baylor: “the Battle of the Brazos.” Kansas vs. Missouri: “the Border War” (p.c. version: “Border Showdown”). Kansas vs. Kansas State: “the Sunflower Showdown.” Five of these annual match-ups have trophies for the winner (the A&M-Baylor game doesn’t). Three more rivalries also have trophies, but aren’t big enough (I guess) to have an actual name. Thanks to the NFL Helmet Store, Elite Deals, Joes Sports, and Midwest Collectibles webites. Also thanks to All-Time Database (http://nationalchamps.net/NCAA/database/). I will do the Southeastern Conference next.
Any sports fan knows of the galvanizing power of a good rivalry. The Pacific Ten (or Pac-Ten) is great because the conference is essentially comprised of 5 separate in-state rivalries. The rivalries are: the Washington Huskies and the Washington State Cougars; the Oregon Ducks and the Oregon State Beavers (aka “the Civil War”); Stanford Cardinal and California Golden Bears (San Francisco Bay area); Southern Cal Trojans and UCLA Bruins (Los Angeles area); the Arizona Wildcats and the Arizona State Sun Devils. In fact, the 2 Arizona colleges joined the conference as a pair, in 1978. Thanks to the NFL Helmet Store, Midwest Collectibles, and Elite Deals websites.
The Big Ten is actually an 11-team conference, since Penn State joined in 1990. It boasts 3 of the top 4 draws in all of American collegiate football (Tennessee is third). The amount of spectators that the big-time college football programs draw is staggering. In 2006, 57 teams had average attendances over 40,000. The helmets on this map are sized proportionally to reflect the teams average gate. Thanks to the NFL Helmet Store for the photographs.
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