One of the downsides about the modern era of college football is the fact that focus seems to continue being centralized and nationalized to the point where the only championships that truly matter are national championships. After all, Oregon is less than giddy to have won a Rose Bowl title this season after laying down against Ohio State 11 days later in the inaugural CFP Championship Game.
This season has only intensified the focus on crowning national champions, of which there can only be four in a given season among the 667 teams of the FBS and FCS, Division II, and Division III. We rarely think about which teams were the state champion, outside of intrastate rivalry games that may or may not provide a binary answer to the question.
Half the fun of the sport though lies in its regional traditions. In that spirit, I had a wacky idea last week. I decided to have a little fun and play around with the recently-concluded season to determine state champions for all 50 states. I thought you all might be interested in it... it is one man's attempt to reward some exemplary seasons at all levels of the game.
Some were no-brainers. Some will raise eyebrows. None of this was scientific, as nothing in college football ever truly can be, but it's a good-faith effort to celebrate the diversity of the sport at every level. I'll be revealing my 50 state champions in installments each morning this week, and
you can find the first 15 selections here.
Please feel free to direct any questions, comments, and criticisms at the venue of your choice: either here in this thread, on each post throughout the week, or
on Twitter. I hope it piques your interest, everyone, and that you might have as much fun thinking about what I got right and wrong as I did researching and writing the piece...