college football

[chase]

Is there any reason as to why there are no major college football teams in new england? New england seems to be a pretty big sports place and i image that plenty of talent comes out of the boston area. I know uconn and boston college are real D-1 teams but they aren't seen as traditional power houses. I"m not trying to hate on new england, i"m just wondering.

thanks

 

[riverc0il]

Other parts of the country take their football much more seriously than New England, IMO. Having toured around the country and seen hundreds of stadiums of all shapes and sizes for various levels of competition, there is a noticeable difference in the south and mid-west compared to New England. The mid-west has high school stadiums bigger than the average college stadium in New England. Which translates into stronger programs and more kids going to college for football. It is part of the culture and the community supports it much more. Hey, what else is there to do Saturday afternoon in the middle of corn country? I think a lot of it just comes back to culture.

 

[Warp Daddy]

Without trying to sound elitist :

I sincerely believe that the cultural pursuits of northeastern sector are considerably broader in scope and less tied to any one or two given identity's, Sports are seen by many as just one of a multiplicity of interests albeit entertaining but not the Big Kahuna

"Nother words football ISN"T Life here too many other really cool things to do . Many invest in a MORE active lifestyle than armchair athletics.

Just sayin

PS : Early in my career i also coached hoops at a 2 yr college

 

[chase]

I pretty much agree with the previous statements...however one could argue that people in southern california also have diverse interests but ucla and usc usually have good teams...i think this is because in mainstream america culture the la area is portrayed as being "the place to be" while new england is looked at as some crusty old-fashioned place...

and its not like there aren't plenty of armchair pats and red socks fans...

another factor could be that the ivies early success in college football turned the state universities away from college football..

Also i get the feeling that in new england liberal arts colleges are more popular than big state schools....in the midwest and southeast many of kids that go to liberal arts colleges still identify somewhat with the big state schools...I"m under the impression that is not the case in new england

In the end it seems to be just a cultural thing..

just my .02$

 

[riverc0il]

Also i get the feeling that in new england liberal arts colleges are more popular than big state schools....in the midwest and southeast many of kids that go to liberal arts colleges still identify somewhat with the big state schools...I"m under the impression that is not the case in new england

That is a good point. But there are a lot of big schools in New England that could field a D1 team if they had better recruiting or more money. Part of it could be that there is not an audience in New England. You gotta pay for the recruiting and the team somehow and the typical college or university golf tournament just is not going to cut it. Stadiums down south and mid-west put UMass, UConn, and BC to shame. UNH does really well in Div 2 (didn't they win it all one year recently?) but don't look for them to make a jump to Div 1 if they know what is good for them. A lot cheaper to be number 1 in Div2 than tour all over the country and be dead last in Div1.