Good article on what the PAC12 needs to do to improve at football

[ProudUte]

There are some very interesting stats in this article.  The PAC12 schools need to increase their investment in football if they want to compete.

PAC12 commissioner talks football

Red state schools dominate in college football today; i.e. Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, et al.  Is there a correlation?  

[Utesbyfive]

It’s pretty clear that KSL commenters are uninformed trolls. I suggest not reading them unless you want to get your blood up.

[Hellhound152]

Politics have nothing to do with it.

Cowherd would argue, and I believe rightfully so, the real issue is options.  Kids on the West Coast have activity/sports option that kids in other parts of the country do not.  People on the West Coast have recreation/entertainment options people in other parts of the country do not.

There are far fewer communities in the Western United States where sports/entertainment is viewed as a “way out” compared to the industrial North or South East.

[ProudUte]

I was not trying to say that politics per se has any direct influence on college football.  However, there is a culture in these states that makes football a priority.  At the very least this culture influences politics in these states IMO.  So, I guess I am saying that it’s not politics that creates the culture, but that the culture does have some influence on politics.

 

[PhillyUte]

It’s funny that those red states that you mentioned, most of them are in the bottom 10 of best states overall to live in. Maybe they shouldn’t make football such a high priority and they should focus on improving the living situations for the people that live in that state. This is coming from a guy who absolutely loves football so I’m not just some football hating commie liberal. 

[Hellhound152]

Yeah, and I was trying to find a soft way to say more people from economically depressed areas or even blue collar areas (nothing wrong with blue collar, a steel mill gave me a great childhood with tons of opportunities) look to sports as an economic solution to their problems and place a premium on success on the field.  

The upper Mid-West that is primarily blue based on Unionization also makes football a priority so the more effective argument or correlation would be regional rather than political.  But it also puts a light on opportunity to pursue other interests that are readily available.