Southern basketball dominated this year. 3 #1 seeds, 2 #2 seeds, 3 #3 seeds, 2 # 4 seeds.
# of top-4 seeds from the South:
2019: 10
2018: 6
2017: 6
2016: 7
2015: 6
2014: 4
2013: 4
2012: 6
2011: 6
The Southern-only conferences are stronger and deeper than they've eve been. The SEC had better seeding than it's ever had. The Southern Conference should have gotten its first ever at-large bid (UNC-Greensboro is a #1 seed in the NIT).
But it's not just Southern conferences. Almost every conference that has both Southern and Northern members was dominated by its southern members:
American: 4 of the 5 best traditional programs are Northern, but 2 of the top 3 teams this year are Southern
A-10: The only Southern teams in the conference (VCU and Davidson) finished #1 and #2.
Atlantic Coast: Pitt, BC, and ND were historically awful. The only other Northern team (Syracuse) finished 6th.
Big 12: Among the 4 non-southern teams: WVU was by far the worst in the conference, and Kansas failed to win the conference for the first time in 14 years. For the first time, all four Texas teams were at least legit bubble teams.
Colonial: The only conference where Northern teams outperformed Southern teams.
Horizon: Only 1 team below Mason-Dixon line (NKU), which is more Midwestern than Southern. NKU won the conference.
Ohio Valley: The Northern teams (EIU, SIU-E, and SEMO) all finished at least 9 games behind the regular-season title winners. Got two bids for the first time since 1986, and both went to Southern teams.
(03-18-2019 04:00 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote: [ -> ]Southern basketball dominated this year. 3 #1 seeds, 2 #2 seeds, 3 #3 seeds, 2 # 4 seeds.
# of top-4 seeds from the South:
2019: 10
2018: 6
2017: 6
2016: 7
2015: 6
2014: 4
2013: 4
2012: 6
2011: 6
The Southern-only conferences are stronger and deeper than they've eve been. The SEC had better seeding than it's ever had. The Southern Conference should have gotten its first ever at-large bid (UNC-Greensboro is a #1 seed in the NIT).
But it's not just Southern conferences. Almost every conference that has both Southern and Northern members was dominated by its southern members:
American: 4 of the 5 best traditional programs are Northern, but 2 of the top 3 teams this year are Southern
A-10: The only Southern teams in the conference (VCU and Davidson) finished #1 and #2.
Atlantic Coast: Pitt, BC, and ND were historically awful. The only other Northern team (Syracuse) finished 6th.
Big 12: Among the 4 non-southern teams: WVU was by far the worst in the conference, and Kansas failed to win the conference for the first time in 14 years. For the first time, all four Texas teams were at least legit bubble teams.
Colonial: The only conference where Northern teams outperformed Southern teams.
Horizon: Only 1 team below Mason-Dixon line (NKU), which is more Midwestern than Southern. NKU won the conference.
Ohio Valley: The Northern teams (EIU, SIU-E, and SEMO) all finished at least 9 games behind the regular-season title winners. Got two bids for the first time since 1986, and both went to Southern teams.
An interesting observation. I would posit that the recruiting is better in the South for basketball as well as football and very definitely baseball. I think the difference is that the Southern football schools have gone out of their way to give basketball players enough kudos on campus to keep them from heading North to the basketball palaces. Their facilities and coaching have received major upgrades and their families now get the recognition that football families have gotten in the past. So the incentive is gradually shifting to keeping them at home.
We'll see if time bears this out, but right now the college sports culture is extremely strong in the Southeast and Southwest.
The SEC has always had strong fan support for basketball. And they've been sinking big money into coaches in recent years.
But is this a long-term trend? There's still a much stronger basketball culture in the North than in the South, Southwest, or West Coast. For example, in Cincinnati there's robust competition to get a job coaching junior high school basketball.
Also, I think that the decline in football in some regions will help basketball (especially in the Northeast, which still has a very competitive culture). Football is not declining in the South, so I think that will put the South at a long-term disadvantage.
Still, it's been a very impressive year by Southern teams.
When the states of Texas and Virginia combine for 10 bids, that's a helluva year. The only national title from either state was extreme underdog Texas Western in 1966.
Update: 11 of the Sweet 16 are from the South.
Of the Cinderellas (12+ seeds who won their first round game), 2 of the 4 were from the South (Liberty and Murray State).
Update: 2019 is the first time since 1994 (Arkansas over Duke) that the final game has been between 2 Southern schools.
(03-18-2019 04:00 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote: [ -> ]American: 4 of the 5 best traditional programs are Northern
What teams other than Connecticut, Temple, and Cincinnati are northern? The other teams are in Oklahoma, Tennessee, Florida, Kansas, North Carolina, Louisiana, or Texas.
(04-09-2019 04:33 PM)EvanJ Wrote: [ -> ] (03-18-2019 04:00 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote: [ -> ]American: 4 of the 5 best traditional programs are Northern
What teams other than Connecticut, Temple, and Cincinnati are northern? The other teams are in Oklahoma, Tennessee, Florida, Kansas, North Carolina, Louisiana, or Texas.
Wichita is not Southern. Kansas was a free state, and it's Midwestern in every sense of the word. (I used Northern as a catch-all for New England, Mid-Atlantic, and Midwestern).
Oklahoma, on the other hand, is definitely Southern. It was settled by Southerners, is tied at the hip to Texas economically, and it's got the 4th highest proportion of Baptists of any state.
Even counting Wichita State as northern, that makes 4, not 5. If I had to guess, I would think people in Wichita would consider themselves more like Texans and Oklahomans than Illinoisans and Michiganians. In terms of how they vote, Kansas is more like Texas and Oklahoma than Illinois and Michigan. Kansas was a free state, but later it had segregated schools that caused Brown v. Board of Education. I'm okay with people calling Kansas "southern," "central," or "Great Plains." I disagree with anyone who calls Kansas northern or midwestern.
(04-10-2019 07:21 PM)EvanJ Wrote: [ -> ]Even counting Wichita State as northern, that makes 4, not 5. If I had to guess, I would think people in Wichita would consider themselves more like Texans and Oklahomans than Illinoisans and Michiganians. In terms of how they vote, Kansas is more like Texas and Oklahoma than Illinois and Michigan. Kansas was a free state, but later it had segregated schools that caused Brown v. Board of Education. I'm okay with people calling Kansas "southern," "central," or "Great Plains." I disagree with anyone who calls Kansas northern or midwestern.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_United_States
(04-10-2019 07:21 PM)EvanJ Wrote: [ -> ]Even counting Wichita State as northern, that makes 4, not 5. If I had to guess, I would think people in Wichita would consider themselves more like Texans and Oklahomans than Illinoisans and Michiganians. In terms of how they vote, Kansas is more like Texas and Oklahoma than Illinois and Michigan. Kansas was a free state, but later it had segregated schools that caused Brown v. Board of Education. I'm okay with people calling Kansas "southern," "central," or "Great Plains." I disagree with anyone who calls Kansas northern or midwestern.
Kansas is 100% Midwestern. No one would ever call it Southern. It was a Union state.
I know Virginia was the capital of the Confederacy but I have issues calling it Southern (Mid-Atlantic these days). Ditto for Kentucky, a Union state. Some even list Maryland and Delaware ( a hop skip and jump away from Philly and NYC) as Southern. Despite the history, times change and regional facades do as well. That said, it's not absurd to call Virginia and Kentucky Southern.
(04-10-2019 07:21 PM)EvanJ Wrote: [ -> ]Even counting Wichita State as northern, that makes 4, not 5. If I had to guess, I would think people in Wichita would consider themselves more like Texans and Oklahomans than Illinoisans and Michiganians. In terms of how they vote, Kansas is more like Texas and Oklahoma than Illinois and Michigan. Kansas was a free state, but later it had segregated schools that caused Brown v. Board of Education. I'm okay with people calling Kansas "southern," "central," or "Great Plains." I disagree with anyone who calls Kansas northern or midwestern.
Just pay attention to how they talk. Kansans
sound Midwestern. Go to Kentucky or even Cairo, IL and everyone sounds Southern.
(04-10-2019 11:19 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote: [ -> ] (04-10-2019 07:21 PM)EvanJ Wrote: [ -> ]Even counting Wichita State as northern, that makes 4, not 5. If I had to guess, I would think people in Wichita would consider themselves more like Texans and Oklahomans than Illinoisans and Michiganians. In terms of how they vote, Kansas is more like Texas and Oklahoma than Illinois and Michigan. Kansas was a free state, but later it had segregated schools that caused Brown v. Board of Education. I'm okay with people calling Kansas "southern," "central," or "Great Plains." I disagree with anyone who calls Kansas northern or midwestern.
Just pay attention to how they talk. Kansans sound Midwestern. Go to Kentucky or even Cairo, IL and everyone sounds Southern.
It’s too difficult to draw regions around state lines. Regions like “the South” must be drawn on a map sans state borders so as not to get distracted by the states themselves. However, using State lines, I would personally call “the Deep South” - Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina. In “the South,” I’d add Louisiana, Florida, and maybe Kentucky and North Carolina. Just my personal thought.
(04-10-2019 07:21 PM)EvanJ Wrote: [ -> ]Even counting Wichita State as northern, that makes 4, not 5.
Yes, the 4 Northern programs are 4 of the historically top-5 programs in the AAC. Cincinnati, UConn, Temple, Memphis, and Wichita have historically had the biggest fanbases and most success the past few decades.
The Eastern 1/3 of Kansas is 100% Midwestern. Kansas City, Wichita, Lawrence, and Topeka are normal Midwestern cities. Wichita is a lot like Dayton - a small basketball-crazy city in the middle of corn fields whose economy is completely driven by the aerospace industry. Over 2/3 of the world's aviation fleet was assembled in Wichita.
Western Kansas is more similar to West Texas where ranching, wheat farming, and oil dominate. But no one lives in Western Kansas. The biggest cities west of Wichita are Salina (47,000) and Dodge City (27,000).
Northern KY and Northern VA have had a lot of transplants in the past few decades. They're taking over, just like Northeasterners took over Maryland and Ft. Lauderdale two generations ago. Over 10% of Kentuckians are now in Greater Cincinnati (up from 8.2% in 1980). Nowadays I even meet a lot Louisville natives who have Midwestern accents. But the rest of KY and VA are still Southern (or Appalachian) and will stay that way for a long time.
(04-14-2019 11:40 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote: [ -> ]The Eastern 1/3 of Kansas is 100% Midwestern. Kansas City, Wichita, Lawrence, and Topeka are normal Midwestern cities. Wichita is a lot like Dayton - a small basketball-crazy city in the middle of corn fields whose economy is completely driven by the aerospace industry. Over 2/3 of the world's aviation fleet was assembled in Wichita.
Western Kansas is more similar to West Texas where ranching, wheat farming, and oil dominate. But no one lives in Western Kansas. The biggest cities west of Wichita are Salina (47,000) and Dodge City (27,000).
Northern KY and Northern VA have had a lot of transplants in the past few decades. They're taking over, just like Northeasterners took over Maryland and Ft. Lauderdale two generations ago. Over 10% of Kentuckians are now in Greater Cincinnati (up from 8.2% in 1980). Nowadays I even meet a lot Louisville natives who have Midwestern accents. But the rest of KY and VA are still Southern (or Appalachian) and will stay that way for a long time.
Thank God.