(06-17-2018 09:46 AM)quo vadis Wrote: (06-17-2018 09:38 AM)westwolf Wrote: Except for West Va, Texas A&M, Missouri, Maryland and Rutgers, the P5 schools are right where they belong geographically. The Pac 12 can't change geography or time zones. Most of us in the west (Cali excepted) are glad to be separated from the crime, noise, traffic and weather of the eastern half of the country.
I'd add a couple to the list, from a strictly geographic perspective:
Colorado and Nebraska ... belong in Big 12
FSU and Miami .... SEC
I disagree with you on Colorado. They did not make a mistake in moving to a Pacific and Mountain time zone conference. Their student body, the makeup of Colorado, is decided Western, much more California presence than Texas, and precious little (in terms of people) from the plains. They are part of the four corners (NM-AZ-CO-UT) and the eastern third of the State is pretty much empty, the main highway traffic runs north south along the front range.
Denver is a hodgepodge of locals, Californians, Great Lakes midwesterners and some Texans, a gateway to the West. But in terms of distance, it is not close to anyone, 7.5 hours from Utah and 8 hours from Nebraska, a bit more to KU driving. This makes it typical of Western schools, in that you have to fly to all your conference mates. The P12 at least has some reasonable pairs in short driving distance (Palo Alto and Berkeley, Westwood and Downtown LA, Tempe and Tucson, Eugene and Corvallis), so it's not much of an issue for CU Basketball road trips.
I think people look at Colorado the State and see it adjacent to Kansas, Nebraska, and part of the Oklahoma panhandle, and think "oh they should fit that." But people forget the eastern third of Colorado, and the Western 2/3rds of Kansas and Nebraska are sparely populated short grass Great Plains, a good 500 mile wide zone of emptiness. That is zone the runs from Canada to Texas dividing the West from the rest of the country. A desert that led Colby (Kansas) to declare itself an oasis. This empty swath is a big reason why Colorado had been looking at joining the Pac-10 since before the Big 12 was formed.
As for your SEC schools. Geography is not the issue, as the southern wing of the ACC overlaps the SEC (South Carolina, Georgia, Florida), and schools fit well in either conference geographically. But if you cite culture, perhaps. This is why Clemson and Florida State have often been mentioned. Miami is a strange fish, a mishmash of Caribbean, Yankee and Southern culture. It's a crossroads city like Austin or Denver.
The one school that is really out of place is West Virginia.
I have no problem with Texas A&M being in the SEC. They wanted to go there when the B12 was formed. They are in Eastern Texas, part of the deep South swamp lands that run through Louisiana and Alabama (the argument for Florida State). They fit with LSU, Arkansas, andthe Alabama schools. It seems to be working.
Missouri I agree is a funky fit, a State slightly more Midwestern than Southern. But at least they were placed with fellow border state Kentucky as well as SEC "East" (really North) schools in Tennessee and Vandy, plus similar liberal campuses Florida and Georgia, rather than the deep south SEC "West."
Nebraska, is another one where posters look at the entirety of the State rather than recognizing Lincoln and Omaha are on the very eastern side of the State, near Iowa and are tied in with upper plains States like Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota. But they could really use another Plains school like OU or KU to fit better in the B1G -- that could happen.
Maryland is one of those states that has shifted region. It is still deep Tidewater culture, but siding with the North and trade lines and migration patterns, as well as industrial patterns make it no longer southern. When paired with Penn State and Rutgers, as well as Ohio State, it forms part of a four school somewhat eastern cluster, not isolated. But it did rip much from the history of the school being the Northern outpost of the ACC for decades and decades. They are still adapting. (Note Baltimore Ravens are in the same conference with Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Cleveland -- the professional leagues have titled them north for some time.)
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Arizona State: Time to go rogue
