ACC vs SEC - Geographic Perspective for Clemson
From a culture perspective, Clemson fits both the SEC and ACC. A lot of Clemson fans would love to see us move to the SEC while a lot of Clemson fans would love to see us stay in the ACC.
Many of the ACC vs SEC conference issues (real or perceived) relevant to Clemson have been discussed ad nauseam on this board as well as many other boards. For something slightly different I wanted to take a look at the ACC vs SEC debate as it relates to Clemson from the perspective of geography (travel). Here are some ACC vs SEC geographic tidbits for Clemson (distances are rounded):
* The closest ACC/SEC school to Clemson is Georgia (75 miles). The closest ACC school to Clemson is Ga Tech (125 miles). Our in-state SEC rival (USC) is the 3rd closest school at 135 miles.
* The farthest ACC schools from Clemson are Syracuse (860 miles) and BC (945 miles). The farthest SEC schools today are Arkansas (830 miles) and Texas A&M (950 miles). Once Texas and Oklahoma are added, they will be the two farthest SEC schools - OU (985 miles) and Texas (1,025 miles).
* The top 6 closest schools to Clemson are UGA, GA Tech, USC, Tenn, WF, and Auburn (in order from closest to farthest). Four of the top 6 closest schools to Clemson are from the SEC.
* The average distance for the 6 ACC schools (GT, WF, UNC, Duke, NCSU, VT) closest to Clemson is 245 miles. The average distance for the 6 SEC schools (UGA, USC, Tenn, Aub, Bama, UK) closest to Clemson is 215 miles.
* The average distance from Clemson to the 7 ACC schools (GT, WF, NCSU, FSU, UL, SU, BC) that Clemson plays every year in football is 435 miles.
* The average distance from Clemson to all current ACC football schools is 440 miles (460 miles including ND). The average distance from Clemson to all current SEC schools (excluding Texas & OU) is the same at 440 miles. When Texas and OU are included, the SEC average distance becomes 510 miles.
Geographically, things are pretty much a wash between the ACC and SEC when it comes to Clemson. Changes to ACC divisions or moving to a division less format would most likely move things in favor of the ACC. However, if Clemson was to move to the SEC in an "eastern" division/pod, it would probably swing things in favor of the SEC.
I wonder how the ACC vs SEC geography works out for FSU? I would think the geography favors the ACC over either the SEC or BIG for the 4 NC schools as they are centrally located within the ACC footprint.
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