Why are major cities not represented in NCAA championships


K

Kendrick

Well-Known Member
The Final Four is in Houston and the only school from a major US city is Villanova (Philadelphia).

Why don't we see more schools from cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston or similar sized cities routinely playing for the national title in major college sports?
 



The only two cities on your list that have schools from a Power 5 conference are Los Angeles (PAC10 - UCLA and USC) and Philadelphia (Big East - Villanova) and Villanova is only known for basketball. Northwestern University is located in Evanston, IL not Chicago. Almost every school in the Power 5 conferences are located in mid-size to small cities. The largest city an SEC school is located in is Nashville, TN (Vanderbilt).
 
I think the general shift in caring only about football has hurt UCLA which was the only Power 5 school that gave a big care about basketball. Now I'm just asking is it the schools or the coaches not being able to handle the city and the kids the schools are in. For example St Johns (New York) used to be strong but fell off as well as UNLV ( Las Vegas), Georgetown (D.C), Depaul (Chicago), and U of Houston. So could the cities themselves be a big distraction as opposed to being a selling point?
 
There maybe a time period when schools in basketball and football in big cities may make long runs for national titles in the future. Georgia Tech made one in 1990 in football, and there was the old Big East. Will schools in the big cities make sustained runs for national titles by those schools? We will see.

Think about the big cities with the pro sports. Often pro sports win when it comes to attention and coverage. Sure, the Lakers went to the NBA finals during the UCLA dynasty. During the 1970s and '80s USC and UCLA were good in football along with the Rams in Los Angeles. The Dolphins won when the Miami Hurricances were winning big. (The Dolphins went to Super Bowls in 1982 and '84 and the AFC Championship game in 1993.) Yet, more times than not I have noticed the pro sports win when it came to a following and attention in the same city.

The Houston Cougars has a lot of success in men's basketball and football from the early 60s until the 90s. During the Rockets run for the championships, I doubt that there was much talk outside of anyone from the University of Houston about the Cougar men's basketball program. At least I did not hear much. Many Southwest Conference football programs in the 80s and 90s were on probation. When it came to football, talk about the Oilers dominated.
 
IMO, the cost of living and land availability has a lot to do with it. Schools in smaller cities have a better chance to grow due to the cheap and plentiful land that surrounds those campuses, such as the land troubles of TxSU in the SWAC. Also, schools in big cities are not the main attractions in the city, especially cities with professional sports teams.
 
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Kendrick said:
The Final Four is in Houston and the only school from a major US city is Villanova (Philadelphia).

Why don't we see more schools from cities like New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston or similar sized cities routinely playing for the national title in major college sports?
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Simple, the vast majority of Power 5 schools are in small cities. In Los Angeles, you do have UCLA and USC. Both have played for titles within the last decade. Dallas could have a chance if you consider TCU being located in Dallas, and if SMU can stop getting on NCAA probation, their basketball program could make some noise. Houston could make some noise to if they find a way to keep Tom Herman there longterm. Chicago and New York don't have any major college teams.
 
goodolebrave said:
I think the general shift in caring only about football has hurt UCLA which was the only Power 5 school that gave a big care about basketball. Now I'm just asking is it the schools or the coaches not being able to handle the city and the kids the schools are in. For example St Johns (New York) used to be strong but fell off as well as UNLV ( Las Vegas), Georgetown (D.C), Depaul (Chicago), and U of Houston. So could the cities themselves be a big distraction as opposed to being a selling point?
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You mean only Power 5 school in a major city right?
 
Outside of Vanderbilt, UCLA and USC, the only other Power 5 schools I know that are located in major cities include

Washington-Seattle
Georgia Tech-Atlanta
Minnesota-Minneapolis
Utah-Salt Lake City


Others are located in suburbs like Boston College, Arizona State and Miami.

But the idea of colleges not being located in city centers goes back to the Enlightenment and the thinking of that time
 
Noticed basketball can be found in a lot of major cities, but when it comes to football, schools require a lot more space. In mid-size to small cities, some Power 5 schools have 4 to 5 practice fields plus a very large stadium just for its football program, whereas the Power 5 schools in most major cities with football programs either play in off-campus stadiums (UCLA or USC) or their on-campus stadium (Vanderbilt) is relatively small for a Power 5 school. Land availability is a big plus for any athletic program.
 



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