Good read from Dan Wetzel I searched and didn't find this posted. It's about Miles leaving for Michigan, but lots of good stuff about LSU. BATON ROUGE, La. – There are as many athletes down here as there are giant live oak trees. It's like they come in two sizes – 6-6, 330-pound man-eaters and 4.4 burners with hands of glue. There are 92,000 lunatics willing to sit through a rain so Biblical in its intensity the animals were pairing up. When not screaming or drinking (or both) they'll raise enough money to pay their coach however many millions it takes and, well let's face it, if you asked they'd pay the tailback too. The thing is, with just Tulane to recruit against in the state, all that Texas talent just across the border and a campus atmosphere second to none (have you seen the Golden Girls?), extra benefits might not even be needed to clean up. "LSU is a big time program," marveled Steve Spurrier, and that was before the Tigers laid a 28-16, not-as-close-as- it-sounds victory over South Carolina. The Gamecocks were merely the 12th-ranked team in the country and afterward the LSU defense had to practically apologize for even letting them score. http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news;...5nYcB?slug=dw-miles092207&prov=yhoo&type=lgns :helmet: :helmet:
The advantage the SEC has will only grow over time. The region's population is growing while the Midwest is stagnant or in decline. The people are larger, with greater diversity. You can find all the talent you need for every position. This isn't just football, but collegiate athletics in general.
If you want to look at population dynamics and how that may affect athletics, look at the southwest. Places like Arizona and Nevada are growing by leaps and bounds. That could signal a future shift to the west coast, perhaps giving USC a lot more competition out there from the likes of Arizona, etc. Nevada doesn't really have a big football school though.
Western states also have population in their favor. I don't know, though, if those schools will make the same financial commitment to football.
