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throatybeard
09-27-2007, 09:16 PM
Most programs are easy to classify as such. But there are a few I feel defy classification. What do y'all think about:

California
Virginia
Minnesota
Purdue
Georgia Tech

Or any others that you have to think about for more than 5 seconds.

YmoBeThere
09-27-2007, 09:40 PM
Notre Dame?
UConn?

j/k

dukeENG2003
09-27-2007, 10:22 PM
IMO, in order

football
neither
basketball
neither
football

Bluedog
09-27-2007, 10:25 PM
Just going by attendance figures, I'd say football, football, football, football, and football. Pretty much every student, for example, goes to Cal and Virginia football games - far fewer go to basketball games (although Virginia's new stadium is changing that)...

throatybeard
09-27-2007, 11:00 PM
Notre Dame can't be anything but a FB school and UConn is a BB school.

What does "neither" mean? "I can't decide," or "I think they suck at both."

I reject the second interpretation. Mississippi State sucks at FB and is decidely a FB school because FB is the game of the Deep South. You can suck at FB and still be a FB school. Look at South Carolina historically.

throatybeard
09-27-2007, 11:01 PM
Just going by attendance figures, I'd say football, football, football, football, and football. Pretty much every student, for example, goes to Cal and Virginia football games - far fewer go to basketball games (although Virginia's new stadium is changing that)...

Even Duke has bigger attendance figures for FB than BB. This is not only structural (how many people can see the game) but also due to the fact that BB has way more games.

jimsumner
09-27-2007, 11:02 PM
California-football
Virginia-basketball
Minnesota-hockey
Purdue-basketball
Georgia Tech-football

IMO

throatybeard
09-27-2007, 11:04 PM
California-football
Virginia-basketball
Minnesota-hockey
Purdue-basketball
Georgia Tech-football

IMO

I think these are really good answers. I was waiting for someone to say Hockey for Minnesota. I believe GT is a FB school due to [nominal] Deep South location and history (4 Natl Champs, last in 1990). Cremins made them something more than nothing in BB.

Virginia is still the one I have the most trouble with.

SilkyJ
09-27-2007, 11:53 PM
Can we make a poll out of this?

California - football
Virginia - bball traditionally, now equal
Minnesota - would have said football...but I what someone else said: hockey
Purdue - basketball
Georgia Tech - tough call...bball, although the fans may care more about football...its close


I would also say there is a difference between "traditionally" vs "now" for some of these schools which can make it hard to weigh...

hurleyfor3
09-28-2007, 12:47 AM
GIT has the 222-0 game and Cal has the THE BAND IS ON THE FIELD!!! play, so they have to be football schools.

BTW, Cal's football facility is a complete dump. They're the best state school in the country, with oodles of rich alumni, a program that wins, a legacy of pulling off the greatest single play in North American sports history (which occurred within the lifetime of most adults)... and their place is rotting away, literally. The top row does have a spendid view of the Bay Area, though.

Here's a tougher one: What's Pitt? Tony Dorsett... Dan Marino... basketball school?

pfrduke
09-28-2007, 12:56 AM
Virginia is absolutely a football school. Having spent three years in Charlottesville, I can tell you that the surrounding community is much more invested in the football team than the basketball team. Virginia may have more historical success in basketball, but it's still a southern(-esque) city, and as such, it loves its football. Or maybe it's just that Pete Gillen destroyed everyone's hope in the basketball team.

FewFAC
09-28-2007, 04:52 AM
I'd call Virginia a men's soccer school. With Carolina, of course, being a women's soccer school.

RPS
09-28-2007, 08:20 AM
BTW, Cal's football facility is a complete dump. They're the best state school in the country, with oodles of rich alumni, a program that wins, a legacy of pulling off the greatest single play in North American sports history (which occurred within the lifetime of most adults)... and their place is rotting away, literally. The top row does have a spendid view of the Bay Area, though.[/i]A full remodel (http://www.cp.berkeley.edu/SCIP_ScopePres.pdf) of the stadium begins after this season. There are some classic Berkeley protests (http://www.saveoaks.com/SaveOaks/Main.html) going on, but by all accounts, construction should begin on schedule. One of the great things about the stadium is that the students get the best seats in the house -- right at midfield.

hurleyfor3
09-28-2007, 09:05 AM
A full remodel (http://www.cp.berkeley.edu/SCIP_ScopePres.pdf) of the stadium begins after this season. There are some classic Berkeley protests (http://www.saveoaks.com/SaveOaks/Main.html) going on, but by all accounts, construction should begin on schedule. One of the great things about the stadium is that the students get the best seats in the house -- right at midfield.

OK, I was wondering about those people living in the trees. I just chalked it up to Berkeley kids being Berkeley kids.

Also, the access to that stadium on gamedays has to be awful. Where does everyone park? Orinda?

Bluedawg
09-28-2007, 09:17 AM
I think it is possible to be both. it doesn't always have to be one or the other.

orrnot
09-28-2007, 09:23 AM
I'd have to consider myself a football fan at a basketball school, so let me ask a question that suggests the only primacy football might seek here. Since 1980, which is more remarkable, Duke Football's failure, or Duke Men's Basketball's success? Sorry if it's an ugly question, but I can't get it out of my head. For variations, change the start date, which is fairly arbitrary. Say, 1990? 1995?
If I just said "basketball," Gail would bail us out for sure. Otherwise, I guess I'll give three championships their due, but for me it's a tight race against 4 winless seasons. I'd love to see both teams make the question a no-brainer in the next couple of years.

RPS
09-28-2007, 09:39 AM
OK, I was wondering about those people living in the trees. I just chalked it up to Berkeley kids being Berkeley kids.Actually, they aren't Berkeley kids. I was there last week and they're professional protestors, and admittedly so. One of the signs asking for donations was soliciting "penut butter" -- obviously not a Berkeley student.


Also, the access to that stadium on gamedays has to be awful. Where does everyone park? Orinda?The building project includes additional parking along with additions to the law and business schools. That said, parking will still be tight (on campus parking on game days costs $25). The project also includes major renovations to team and training rooms for a number of sports within the stadium complex.

Bluedog
09-28-2007, 09:50 AM
Even Duke has bigger attendance figures for FB than BB. This is not only structural (how many people can see the game) but also due to the fact that BB has way more games.

That is because Cameron can only seat 9,314. These schools don't sell out their basketball stadiums like Duke does. If Cameron was larger than WW, there is no doubt in my mind that more people would pay to watch basketball games than football games even though there are way more BB games.

I was just trying to say that for the average student at these particular schools, I feel like going to football games is a very standard thing for everybody to do, while the majority of the student body goes to hardly any bball games. I would even argue that most students go to more football games (usually around 6 home games a year) than basketball games, even though there are a ton more bball games. A friend of mine at Virginia, for example, went to every single home football game, but only around 2 b-ball games a year. Maybe he is an anomaly though....I just feel that, overall, football is much more popular than basketball in this country except for in March (and Feb since college football has ended by then). Just my opinion...

Johnboy
09-28-2007, 10:07 AM
How many true basketball schools are there that have Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly 1-A) teams? Not many, I'd wager, outside the ACC and Big East conferences. The first five that came to my mind are:

Kentucky
Kansas
Indiana
Temple
UCLA (Is UCLA a basketball school?)

There are surely others . . .

wilson
09-28-2007, 10:29 AM
(Is UCLA a basketball school?)



Um, yes. Their athletic program is excellent across the board, but fair or not, that John Wooden guy still has a good bit of currency.

What about Stanford? Granted, their football team stinks right now, but Jim Harbaugh is working on that. There's tradition there too, with Rose Bowls and John Elway. Also, the basketball team's recent successes have been somewhat remarkable for that school (and have also taken a bit of a dip in the last couple of years).
Also Oregon: the football team clearly has the upper hand right now, but their basketball arena is widely known as one of the toughest places in the country to play (to be fair, so is their football stadium), and I'd argue that success in both sports is a fairly recent phenomenon for them (though IIRC, they had some Final Fours, maybe in the '40s?).

Still thinking...

wilson
09-28-2007, 10:35 AM
These are both imo second-tier programs in both sports, punctuated by some obvious successes:

Utah: The Majerus years, with their pinnacle in the '98 national championship game (let's discuss that season no further) and the undefeated (?) football run a few years back, I think, more or less cancel each other out. Which one does the average UU (hey, that's kind of fun) student care more about today?

Rutgers: I think Schiano has a sea change afoot there and that it's skewed moderately but increasingly toward football...a few more years of this sort of success, and RU football is "second-tier" no more, but honestly, about ten years ago, to describe it as second-tier would have been generous. On the other hand, the basketball team has historically been pretty competitive, especially at the RAC, another underrated but very tough basketball arena.

wilson
09-28-2007, 10:37 AM
IIRC, Oregon had some Final Fours, maybe in the '40s?



I was almost right...they won the first NCAA basketball championship, in 1939. But does that carry any weight in this discussion?

I like this thread.

Indoor66
09-28-2007, 10:42 AM
Wyoming - NCAA BB in 1943, competes in Football (even had Pat Dye as coach before ECU and Auburn).

Johnboy
09-28-2007, 11:33 AM
Um, yes. Their athletic program is excellent across the board, but fair or not, that John Wooden guy still has a good bit of currency.
The reason I thought of UCLA is that when Terry Donahue was their coach, I remember him being the highest paid state employee in California - more than the basketball coach (who may have been Jim Harrick, IIRC).


What about Stanford? Granted, their football team stinks right now, but Jim Harbaugh is working on that. There's tradition there too, with Rose Bowls and John Elway. Also, the basketball team's recent successes have been somewhat remarkable for that school (and have also taken a bit of a dip in the last couple of years).
Also Oregon: the football team clearly has the upper hand right now, but their basketball arena is widely known as one of the toughest places in the country to play (to be fair, so is their football stadium), and I'd argue that success in both sports is a fairly recent phenomenon for them (though IIRC, they had some Final Fours, maybe in the '40s?).

Still thinking...

Those are "good question" schools. I still think football with Stanford and Oregon, though. There are several schools with NCAA success in hoops that I still think are most likely football schools: Michigan, Ohio State, and Florida come to mind as examples. How about Michigan State or Oklahoma State? Those seem like football schools to me, but Ok St had one of basketball's legendary coaches in Hank Iba, and Michigan State has two NCAA titles including the Magic Johnson/Larry Bird classic in 1979.

JasonEvans
09-28-2007, 11:57 AM
How about Michigan State or Oklahoma State? Those seem like football schools to me, but Ok St had one of basketball's legendary coaches in Hank Iba, and Michigan State has two NCAA titles including the Magic Johnson/Larry Bird classic in 1979.

Bingo-- these are the two most interesting cases to me. Especially Michigan State that has arguably been one of the top 5 or so basketball programs over the past couple decades. I'd love to hear from someone who really knows the school or lives in the area to hear where football or basketball gets them more jazzed up there in Lansing.

A few others--

What about NC State over the past decade?
Arkansas?
Illinois? Especially over the past decade.

--Jason "I think that if football gets good, every school is a football school except maybe the true basketball die-hards of Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, and UNC" Evans

Clipsfan
09-28-2007, 12:22 PM
California is definitely a football school, although during the Kidd era people paid a lot of attention to basketball. However, I've never had friends fly down to watch Cal basketball games, while they have come down to see football games. One of my co-workers wears a football jersey occasionally, but would never wear a basketball jersey.

I think that Jason is right, that school with good football programs end up becoming football schools. In my opinion, this is due to the timing of the seasons and the ability to attend games. As football season starts earlier, people get hyped up for that and stay with it as their teams are good. This doesn't always work if they are primarily basketball schools (KU friends of mine have been happy about football, but they'll be back on the basketball bandwagon soon enough), but it definitely helps push people towards football. Also, the ability of 100,000 people to see a football game vs. 5-20k to see a basketball game makes them bigger events. I also would guess that the money is bigger for football for most programs.

mapei
09-28-2007, 01:04 PM
I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Florida. Gotta be a football school, I guess, but basketball has to be coming on very strong in popularity.

mapei
09-28-2007, 01:05 PM
How about Syracuse?

throatybeard
09-28-2007, 01:29 PM
Very interesting comments, especially BlueDawg, Jason, Clips.

BlueDawg says why can't a school be both. In almost any situation with a dichotomy, I'd instinctively agree with a refusal to categorize, but I find this one particularly sticky.

I wanted to see what folks would say before I came out with my opinion, which is basically a stronger version of what Jason said: to be a basketball school is, except in a very few cases, merely a result of a failure to be a football school.

UF could win the next 8 national championships and that would still be a FB school.

Johnboy
09-28-2007, 02:32 PM
I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Florida. Gotta be a football school, I guess, but basketball has to be coming on very strong in popularity.

sigh.

I mentioned Florida.

I would agree with Jason and throaty that most schools become basketball schools because their football teams stink. Some exceptions would include UNC, which has had occasionally very good football teams, and UCLA, which has had excellent football teams, but one of the most successful basketball programs in history. At this point, it would take a lot of football success, and probably some basketball failure, to convert the likes of Kentucky, Duke, UNC, UCLA or Kansas to full-blown football schools.

blazindw
09-28-2007, 02:35 PM
Bingo-- these are the two most interesting cases to me. Especially Michigan State that has arguably been one of the top 5 or so basketball programs over the past couple decades. I'd love to hear from someone who really knows the school or lives in the area to hear where football or basketball gets them more jazzed up there in Lansing.


Growing up in Michigan (as a Wolverines fan), I would have to say that right now, Michigan State is a basketball school. Back in the 80s (during the years of George Perles), State was a football school. But I would say overall, they get more jazzed up for hoops than football (with hockey always in the mix).


A few others--

What about NC State over the past decade?
Arkansas?
Illinois? Especially over the past decade.


NC State - NC State is an interesting one. They've been pretty solid at both the past decade. I would give the edge to basketball because of their history.
Arkansas - My dad's from Arkansas, and I have a lot of family there. They're always up for Arkansas basketball, not so much for football, although that has changed the past few years with the success of D-Mac-5.
Illinois - I would say they're more about basketball than football. They're always competing in the Big 10 in basketball, but I don't think they've been decent in football since Jeff George was there, minus one aberration of a year in the late 90s (IIRC).

SilkyJ
09-28-2007, 03:10 PM
How about Syracuse?

Definitely Basketball

mbd1mbd1
09-28-2007, 03:18 PM
I was at UVa for grad school from 2000-2003 and I think it was a football school then. But not by much.

And I grew up in Arkansas...for maybe 5 years in the early 90's basketball was bigger. Historically and currently, though, it's a football school. I think even in the last 5 years I've seen football get even bigger there.

Indoor66
09-28-2007, 04:04 PM
Syracuse was, historically, a football school. The home of great fullbacks. Lately, basketball has outshone football, but to the Syracuse fans I know, football is always #1.

Ramblin' Man
09-28-2007, 04:18 PM
That is because Cameron can only seat 9,314. These schools don't sell out their basketball stadiums like Duke does.

GT actually sold out every basketball game last year as well. Football games on the other hand, do not all sell out.

That being said, GT is definitely still a football school - evidence being that John Heisman was our football coach for 16 years (longest tenure at any other school was 5).

houstondukie
09-28-2007, 04:42 PM
Football always dominates over basketball, unless we're talking about the traditional basketball powerhouses.

What about Florida? They won back to back in basketball, yet they are for sure a football school. Had they not won a football championship last year, they still would be a football school. If Donovon wins 3 in a row, I still think Florida is and always will be a football school.

mapei
09-28-2007, 06:00 PM
Indiana = basketball (duh)
Georgetown = basketball (duh again)
Hopkins = lacrosse
Wake = basketball?

captmojo
09-28-2007, 06:17 PM
where does Northwestern fall?

throatybeard
09-28-2007, 06:33 PM
Wake's basketball.

NWern is FB, I think.

Syracuse is interesting.

I've read articles/essays from Arkansas fans that talk about the FB teams in hallowed tones. They were in the SWC, after all. They're a FB school.

Wander
09-28-2007, 06:55 PM
Um... this discussion is, for lack of a better word, dumb.

First of all, there's more than two college sports last time I checked. John Hopkins is a lacrosse school. Cornell is a hockey school. Clemson is a football school, but baseball comes in second, before basketball.

There are definately schools that fall into the category of "football school" or "basketball school" - Duke being one of them. In fact, there are a lot of them, so I'm not against making the categories. But bending over backwards in trying to categorize schools that clearly don't fit any of the labels is stupid.

wilson
09-28-2007, 07:06 PM
Um... this discussion is, for lack of a better word, dumb...There are definately schools that fall into the category of "football school" or "basketball school" - Duke being one of them. In fact, there are a lot of them, so I'm not against making the categories. But bending over backwards in trying to categorize schools that clearly don't fit any of the labels is stupid.

There are definately a number of people who appear to disagree with you, who definately don't think this discussion is dumb, and who definately know how to spell definitely.

ArkieDukie
09-28-2007, 08:49 PM
If you want to look at the sport they're best in, it's clearly track. They have National Championship t-shirts that say "pick a year." :)

However, if you look at fan passion, I'd probably go with football during football season, basketball during basketball season. Seriously. People here are passionate about both sports. I grew up being an avid fan of both. Remember, there are no pro teams in the state, and the U of A is the only school in the state that fields both football and basketball teams in a major conference. They are the show for most people who are college sports fans. That's nothing against ASU and UALR; most people here just don't live and die by Sun Belt Conference sports like they do SEC sports.

Oh, and when AR was in the SWC, their fans bought the majority of the tickets to the SWC Tourney. They won almost every year. Reunion Arena was fondly referred to as Barnhill South.

mapei
09-28-2007, 10:44 PM
Um... this discussion is, for lack of a better word, dumb.

Good heavens. 90% of what we talk about is dumb in one sense or another. In this case, we're just bantering and having a good time. Nobody is taking this seriously except you.

Bluedawg
09-29-2007, 12:49 PM
Very interesting comments, especially BlueDawg, Jason, Clips.

BlueDawg says why can't a school be both. In almost any situation with a dichotomy, I'd instinctively agree with a refusal to categorize, but I find this one particularly sticky.

I wanted to see what folks would say before I came out with my opinion, which is basically a stronger version of what Jason said: to be a basketball school is, except in a very few cases, merely a result of a failure to be a football school.

UF could win the next 8 national championships and that would still be a FB school.


What about my question is mutually exclusive? If "UF could win the next 8 national championships" then yes, they will be considered a football school but one that excels in basketball. I don't think a school will be called both, they will carry the designation of a school [UF will always be a football school] but they have shown that a school can excel in both.

Although Duke may not really compete for a football NC, they will always be a "basketball school" but I think Duke can excel in both and compete regularly for the ACC championship in football.

jimsumner
09-29-2007, 05:14 PM
With the exception of Kentucky, I think every school in the SEC gives a higher priority to football than basketball.

Bluedawg
09-29-2007, 05:28 PM
With the exception of Kentucky, I think every school in the SEC gives a higher priority to football than basketball.

Probably do, it is a football conference, like the ACC gives a higher priority to basketball. However, both conferences are trying to get better in their weaker sports.

BTW, are you forgetting Florida, they didn't do too bad in football and basketball last year, did they?

jimsumner
09-29-2007, 07:04 PM
Nah, didn't forget Florida. Football school. Gap closer than Auburn or Mississippi or LSU but still a football school.

IMO.

wilson
09-29-2007, 07:24 PM
This is obviously an example of a much milder degree, but with regard to this debate, I liken flarduh's recent successes to the '94-'95 season at Duke. The football team made a bowl game and the basketball team posted its only losing record in forever (before or since), but Durham didn't suddenly go gridiron crazy.
flarduh will be a football school forever. That's part of what infuriates me so about their last couple of years. gators are good fans at all, but at the end of the day, I don't think they really care about basketball (or even really "get it") on near the same level as football, regardless of the two teams' performance.

Cameron
09-29-2007, 11:16 PM
Purdue is definitely a basketball school. Their success in the sport hasn't exactly been overwhelming in recent years but Gene Keady, and John Wooden before him, put the Boilermakers on the hoops map. The Boiler's throughout the '80s and '90s were a top ten basketball program. No doubt about it.

Besides, Purdue resides in the state of Indiana (abliet the fact that most Indianans refuse to give the residents of Gary credit for this), and that automatically makes the university a basketball school. (Notre Dame is the only exception to this rule.)

What about Gonzaga?





Lol.

http://www.losanjealous.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/03/depression.jpg

More lol.

mapei
09-30-2007, 12:05 PM
The Zags are basketball for sure, but I associate Purdue with football. The number of people - including students, faculty and alums - who associate their basketball program with John Wooden must be miniscule!

dkbaseball
09-30-2007, 12:26 PM
Between John Wooden and Gene Keady was a period of 50 years when Purdue basketball didn't make much of an impression. During that time, you had such football stars as Bob Griese and Leroy Keyes. I vote for Purdue as a football school, and it's in West Lafayette, not Gary.

jimsumner
09-30-2007, 03:46 PM
Actually Purdue did have some success between Wooden and Keady.

They won Big Ten titles in 1934, 1935, 1936, 1938, and 1940.

Terry Dischinger was a two-time consenus A-A, a member of the famous 1960 Olympic team, and a pretty good NBA player.

Dave Schellhase led the NCAA in scoring in 1966.

Led by All-America Rick Mount, Purdue thrashed UNC in the 1969 FF, advancing to the title game against UCLA, where they lost, like everybody else who played Wooden in NCAA title games.

Purdue won the NIT in 1974.

And we all know what happened in 1980.

Some down seasons too but I think Purdue hoops made an impression.

So a vote for Purdue and hoops.

throatybeard
09-30-2007, 04:19 PM
I defer to Jim's knowledge at all times, but I don't think success is the driving factor here. Let me offer MSU as an example again. Historically, good at baseball, decent at basketball, and pretty sorry at football. And what do people care about the most at that school? Definitely football. A few people there argue it's a baseball school, and it's got a really good culture supporting Ron Polk's teams. But it's in Mississippi and thus is a FB school.

Which game do your fans care about the most? That's the deciding factor.

jimsumner
09-30-2007, 04:37 PM
Throaty, I defer to your knowledge in all things Mississippi State. :)

I've already expressed my opinion that, excluding Kentucky, the entire SEC is a football conference. It's in the water, it's in the food, it's probably in mother's milk. Genetically encoded.

Purdue, of course, is located in a state where the same can be said for hoops. Reinforcing my view that Purdue tilts slightly on the hoops side of the balance beam. Call it 60/40.

throatybeard
09-30-2007, 05:07 PM
Ahh, the Indiana-ness. I see.

YmoBeThere
09-30-2007, 05:19 PM
Which game do your fans care about the most? That's the deciding factor.

Basketball must be looking better to those Golden Domers about now. Obviously, it'll be a football school for much past my lifetime, but I can't resist the chance to take a dig at them.

dkbaseball
09-30-2007, 05:57 PM
I've already expressed my opinion that, excluding Kentucky, the entire SEC is a football conference. It's in the water, it's in the food, it's probably in mother's milk. Genetically encoded.

Purdue, of course, is located in a state where the same can be said for hoops. Reinforcing my view that Purdue tilts slightly on the hoops side of the balance beam. Call it 60/40.

But Purdue is located in a conference that is as enthralled with football as the SEC. It's only true basketball school is at Bloomington, IN, where I went to law school. It's true that I can't recall an Indiana driveway that didn't have a basketball hoop, but West Lafayette is not in one of the real hotbed areas of the state (just about every place else). Jim brings up good points from the bball record (and didn't even mention Joe "Barely Cares" Barry Carroll), but I'm still thinking 55-45 football for Purdue, just from my sense of what most intoxicates the fan base. But I can be brought over to a hoops vote.

A relevant comparison, I think, is Wisconsin. Right now they have excellent football and basketball programs, and give great support to both. But over the last five years that I was there, I'd have to say football clearly generates the most enthusiasm. I don't even count the students, btw, in making such an assessment. Only a very small percentage show up for basketball games; plenty more go to football games, but only after getting thoroughly hammered and customarily appearing well after the opening kickoff. The alum base, however, is rabid.

jimsumner
09-30-2007, 06:06 PM
I think the Big 10 historically is stronger in hoops than the SEC and stronger in football than the ACC. And better in hockey than either.

Of course, the spring sports swing the balance of power back south. Not their fault. It's tough to get a good baseball practice in Minnesota in January. Of course, it's tough to turn the parking lot into a hockey rink in Mississippi, so maybe it balances out.

throatybeard
09-30-2007, 06:07 PM
Wisconsin was really bad at FB for about 3 decades, but has been great since.

I gotta put them in the FB column.

mapei
09-30-2007, 06:43 PM
Definitely football for Wisconsin.

I think you can make a basketball case for Illinois that's stronger than the one for Purdue.

jimsumner
09-30-2007, 07:05 PM
It might be useful to keep in mind that historically speaking football was more popular than basketball at almost every large school during the first half of the 20th century. Kentucky, Kansas, IU may be exceptions. Both Duke and Carolina would have been considered football schools in 1950. Case put State in the basketball camp during that era but they were an exception. Remember the ACC was formed primarily to promote football.

Urban schools like Long Island, NYU, CCNY, St. John's, DePaul, Loyola of Chicago, et. al. sparked much of the hoops movement. Even San Francisco, Fordham, and Georgetown were football powers at one time.

Not sure when basketball gained general parity. Maybe 1960s.

mapei
09-30-2007, 11:14 PM
Heck, even Georgetown (0-5 this year) had good football teams if you go back that far.

phaedrus
10-02-2007, 12:05 AM
Definitely football for Wisconsin.



definitely football. but hockey and basketball are surprisingly popular too.

one thing you have to keep in mind is that it's easier to make a football game a big event. there's only one a week, they're on saturdays, and there's only 12 all year. does getting 80,000 fans for 6 home games outweigh getting 15,000 fans for 20 home games (numbers aside)?