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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 993388, member: 289"] This has little to do with conferences but I've always felt that that the shift in power to southern and western teams had a lot to do with weight programs. It used to be said that you recruit size and strength in the north and speed and agility in the south because the northern kids are indoors half the year and they lift weights while the southern kids are outdoors, running around all year. A team from Syracuse or Ohio State or Nebraska would be known for big linemen and straight-ahead football while southern or western teams would be known for smaller, quicker linemen and more passing attacks. Schools like Notre Dame, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Syracuse, Minnesota, Nebraska, Pittsburgh and Penn State won national championships. Since the BCS started, only one team north of the Mason-Dixon line has won a title and that was Ohio State in a big upset , (and dubious call) in 2002. Weight programs have made everybody big and strong. It's like giving everyone a million dollars. Being a millionaire doesn't make you rich. What differentiates teams today are the "southern" advantages of speed and quickness. Northern teams try to compensate by recruiting southern players but they get the B-listers and schools like Florida State get the "A" listers. The result is 3-59 games. Regarding conferences, pro ball makes college ball secondary in Boston, new York, Washington, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, etc. Syracuse is one of the few "college towns" with big-time football and basketball in the northeast. But the markets the northeastern schools represent still make them attractive to leagues based in other areas who want national attentions. So one by one, the northern schools get coaxed to join leagues based elsewhere and the northeast, still the most populous area of the country, winds up unrepresented by a major college athletic conference. As I said in the other thread, while the ACC is the better place to be than the Big East right now, it's not "us" to northerners. The old Big East was. [/QUOTE]

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