You are right as usual. Alabama has a population of 4.8 million, Louisiana just 4.6 million. Obviously with that huge population differential, it behooves reporters and ADs to sell their souls.... I'm sorry. This is so ludicrous, I can't even make fun of it...
What he's saying could very well be viable to an extent. Fan bases are not just located within the state that their universities reside. Alumni move, people move, and then you have the "bandwagon" fans. Take the Cowboys in the NFL, the Dallas Cowboys market is not just the DFW and surrounding area. Their fanbase is nationwide. Same can be said for Universities who have success. It goes in cycles, and right now (since '09) Bama has ridden the wave of success, which is going to lend itself to a big bandwagon fanbase.
Has nothing to do with population. Look at Green Bay. Alabama is a Huge brand name. They are historically #1 in the South, have been for a very long time. Bama had "Broadway" Joe Namath, Kenny "The Snake" Stabler, 2 Heisman winners. Plus Bear Bryant & of course Saban. Look at LSU. We have Billy Cannon, not that well known outside Louisiana even though he won the Heisman in 1959. Then Bert Jones, but also not that well known outside the state. Lots of newer players though.
Was the first thing I thought about but what is the differential in enrollment? Do the gumps have that many more on the rolls? Granted our out of state footprint is predominantly Houston and the DFW area and that is about it but I can tell you that CFB fans all over the country feel the same way about the gumps as we do. Hell here in OKC I see probably 3 LSU plates or window stickers to every gump one. No one likes those sister kissing hicks. The Big 10 however, now you are talking about alums. That crap is everywhere because their enrollment is huge. Oh and the writers don't watch all those games. They wake up in the morning, read the box score, watch sportscenter and get to work.
Way not scientific AT ALL.....but I can tell you that here in South OC, Alabama has become a major destination for college-bound high school kids. 10 years ago, nobody here knew or gave a shit about bama. Today? TONS of kids want to go there, and ARE going there. Last year, they hosted a recruiting event (non-football) in a ballroom at a big hotel in Costa Mesa. Standing room only....well over 300 kids. I have seen a ton of Alabama window stickers, yard flags, gear. I see pretty much nothing from LSU.
Of course, they want to win. We aren't talking about recruiting The rest of the free world has serious gump hangover
They watch the few Primetine featured games, it's their job. Alabama has fans Nationally. LSU is much more Regional.
Yes Einstein....I get that. It was just an observation. For comparison.... Bama undergrads- 32.5k, ranked #110, acceptance rate at 53% LSU undergrads-25.5k, ranked #133, acceptance rate at 80% LSU is hammering my daughter with offers. Bama is too but she's been to that campus.
Well there you have it. I have better things to do with my time then look up stats like these. Nicely done
