Tonight’s college football national title game has a unique twist to it. It’s the first time, in a generation, without any Southern Hospitality. Of course, it depends on where and how you define The South. The Mason-Dixon line is a state of a mind; not a states border.
Still the Oregon vs. Ohio State clash is historical. The match-up goes all the way back to 1998; Notre Dame and West Virginia. So Tony Rice and Major Harris- represent.
ESPN’s Chris Fowler previewed the title game on media conference call.
“It’s the first time you’ve got two northern teams playing a winner take all championship game; maybe ever,” said Fowler.
“You could go back to West Virginia vs. Notre Dame. The mountaineers were #3, Notre Dame was #1, and say that the winner would have won the title, you could have made the case.”
“So it’s a ride with a twist, the new era’s first game has seen a shift from southern teams in the championship.”
So what states are part of Dixieland?
Here’s the map of Zaxby’s locations. The chicken fast food chain sponsors the Heart of Dallas Bowl. Then below it is a map of the Confederate States of America, 1861.
You’ll notice that the two maps are nearly identical. So get ready, the next Civil War is coming. Except this time it will be fought via the mediums of boneless buffalo wings with a side of ranch sauce.
Shifting back into serious mode, Ohio State versus Oregon is swing state versus the left coast. Ohio and Florida are the only two states that are consistently not red or blue. They’re magenta. This matters because ESPN/ABC/whoever broadcasts the national title game scores their biggest ratings hits when they get a match-up that re-hashes the civil war.
Or at least the “culture wars” narrative (red state vs. blue state) that Karl Rove loved so much. Every college football bowl season turns into the SEC vs The Rest of the Country, as the ESPN announcer pointed out during the Outback Bowl between Wisconsin and Auburn.
Speaking of the World Wide Leader, to just make the broad sweeping generalization that ESPN has an “SEC bias” is to be simplistic and shallow. As one of the ESPN college football talking heads pointed out back when SEC bias was a trending topic, Bristol would love nothing more than a nationally relevant Big Ten team.
It’s PERFECT for the World Wide Leader to have such a phenomena (as they have this year in Ohio State) because they need an intersectional adversary to pair up against an SEC football team. It’s best for them if it’s an over-the-top, always engaged fan base like Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Notre Dame, Nebraska etc.
Can you guess what national title game of the BCS era drew the worst ratings? Why yes, it was LSU versus Alabama. Having two teams from deep in the heart of Dixie doesn’t do big numbers.
Fowler was joined on that conference call by Kirk Herbstreit, who said some moving, and important words about the Rose Bowl. Both Herbstreit and Fowler also discussed the possibility of moving from four teams to an eight team playoff.
It’s safe to say that 8 teams will be here sooner rather than later, and here’s why.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports, Yardbarker Network, eBay and CBS Interactive Inc.
You can read Banks’ feature stories in the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition and listen to him on KOZN 1620 The Zone. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)