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...

(01-19-2015 03:31 AM)Bigalke Wrote:  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...

TUESDAY INSTALLMENT: Teams 26-35

I am confused. Are you trying to pick the best team in the state or who had the best season?

So, I don't like our chances lol

^

Eh, they say Cincinnati is really just an extension of the south, so we'll just pretend that its in Northern Kentucky, where The Simpsons are from.

Yeah, the creator of this is definitely a G5 and below fan.

(01-20-2015 11:45 AM)goofus Wrote:  I am confused. Are you trying to pick the best team in the state or who had the best season?

That's a solid question, and one I guess I wasn't as clear about in my intro to the series. I evaluated on a couple of levels, but the key was performance in 2014-15. National, conference, and division championships were given preeminence over win/loss record, with head-to-head results taken into account when available as well as divisional comparison. I would assume, in almost every case, that a lower-division school has less composite talent than a FBS school from the same state. But my goal with this series has been to reward exemplary seasons rather than the best talent... so, to answer your question, it's more the latter (best season) than former (best team/talent).

You can now take a look at teams 16-25... thanks for the responses so far!

I really hope you choose Marshall over WVU. WVU did almost beat TCU and did beat Baylor so I expect you to pick them.

(01-22-2015 09:10 AM)MarshallHerdFanz Wrote:  I really hope you choose Marshall over WVU. WVU did almost beat TCU and did beat Baylor so I expect you to pick them.

You can find out now in Thursday's post revealing teams 6 through 15...

I like the idea.

(01-22-2015 01:31 PM)ohio1317 Wrote:  I like the idea.

Once I saw them list Minnesota State as the "champion" of the State of Minnesota, I stopped reading further. Obvious attempt by a G5 supporter. Minnesota State would get blown out of the water by this past season's Minnesota football team.

Good idea? Maybe. Good execution of said idea? Absolutely not.

(01-22-2015 07:59 PM)He1nousOne Wrote:  

(01-22-2015 01:31 PM)ohio1317 Wrote:  I like the idea.

Once I saw them list Minnesota State as the "champion" of the State of Minnesota, I stopped reading further. Obvious attempt by a G5 supporter. Minnesota State would get blown out of the water by this past season's Minnesota football team.

Good idea? Maybe. Good execution of said idea? Absolutely not.

As I said previously, the intent was not necessarily to determine the team with the most accumulated talent, but the one in each state that had put together the season that is the envy of everyone else in the state. Naturally, nobody will agree with all 50 choices I've made...

The final five of the series will likely offer zero surprises... you can check out today's post here.

By your criteria, DIII Wesley College should have been the pick for Delaware.

They went 12-2, only losing to FCS (and next year FBS) Charlotte by 5, and to Mt. Union in the DIII Semifinals

(01-23-2015 11:49 AM)Bigalke Wrote:  

(01-22-2015 07:59 PM)He1nousOne Wrote:  

(01-22-2015 01:31 PM)ohio1317 Wrote:  I like the idea.

Once I saw them list Minnesota State as the "champion" of the State of Minnesota, I stopped reading further. Obvious attempt by a G5 supporter. Minnesota State would get blown out of the water by this past season's Minnesota football team.

Good idea? Maybe. Good execution of said idea? Absolutely not.

As I said previously, the intent was not necessarily to determine the team with the most accumulated talent, but the one in each state that had put together the season that is the envy of everyone else in the state. Naturally, nobody will agree with all 50 choices I've made...

I am all for diversity of thought but if you think more people in Minnesota are even knowledgeable about Minnesota State then I do believe you are mistaken. The Minnesota Gophers have been a joke in football for quite a few years. Suddenly they are on the rise. They are getting some impressive athletes and putting together strong offensive and defensive plans with those athletes. The Minnesota Gophers are more competition for the Vikings in terms of attention than Minnesota State is for The Gophers.

I am sorry if that is the only example I can come up with from your listing but as I said, that is as far as I went. That is just one man's opinion though.

Kudo's for putting in the effort though.

(01-23-2015 11:51 AM)Bigalke Wrote:  The final five of the series will likely offer zero surprises... you can check out today's post here.

I was surprised that the team that actually beat everyone in Texas didn't win the state title.