The inescapable and obvious conclusion that you come to when looking at the last 30 years of college football is that the region of the country stretching from Texas through the south to the Atlantic coast around the Carolinas and Virginia is absolutely dominating. The region dictates national championships even more than conference affiliation -- from the 88 through 17 seasons, Miami and Florida State alone have 5.5 championships. And that's not cherry picking stats, if I were to expand it to 35 seasons then that figure would be 7.5 championships because Miami won it all in 83 and 87.
For the sake of these stats, I am going to dispense with the fiction that LSU was the national champion in 2003 -- they weren't and everyone knows it. I will also say that Oklahoma is basically an appendage of Texas.
Champions by conference:
SEC: 12 (including 2017)
Big 8/Big 12: 5
ACC: 4.5
Big 10: 2.5
Pac 10: 2.5
Big East: 1.5
Independent: 2
By region:
Texas and the South: 21
Midwest: 6
West (Colorado to the West Coast): 3
If you look at just the past 20 seasons then we're talking about a ratio of 16 (southern) to 4 (two west, two midwest).
For the sake of these stats, I am going to dispense with the fiction that LSU was the national champion in 2003 -- they weren't and everyone knows it. I will also say that Oklahoma is basically an appendage of Texas.
Champions by conference:
SEC: 12 (including 2017)
Big 8/Big 12: 5
ACC: 4.5
Big 10: 2.5
Pac 10: 2.5
Big East: 1.5
Independent: 2
By region:
Texas and the South: 21
Midwest: 6
West (Colorado to the West Coast): 3
If you look at just the past 20 seasons then we're talking about a ratio of 16 (southern) to 4 (two west, two midwest).
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