I’ve decided that I have better things to do this semester than follow college football, but this morning I took a look at the conference standings after noticing that my Tulsa Golden Hurricane1 is knocking on the door of the top 25. Despite the success of a once-failing college football program, what struck me was the division of the Atlantic Coast Conference into the “Atlantic” and “Coastal” divisions. Unlike the Big XII, which divides the conference in South (Oklahoma and Texas schools) and North (everyone else), the ACC has apparently ignored geography in constructing its categories. While it would make sense to put Florida State and Boston College2 in separate divisions to save money on travel, both schools are in the Atlantic division. Then I thought the easternmost schools might fall into the Coastal division, while the landlocked schools fell into the Atlantic division, but in light of the fact that Boston College and Miami are the only schools near the shore, but fall in different division, this is not the case. Moreover, the three schools from the RTP area, UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke, and NC State are spread across the two divisions.
When I want to know something – but not too much – about a topic, I first turn to Wikipedia. I thought, “Surely some rabid sport-dork will explain the historical grounding of these stupid divisions.” But, no, Wikipedia failed me! The Wikipedia entry on the ACC discusses how the conference includes cross-divisonal rivals, but provides no information about the history of these divisions or the reasoning behind them. If any of my readers know, share your knowledge, first in Wikipedia, then in the comments below.
1. I attended The University of Tulsa as a high school student, so I’ll root for The Golden Hurricane3 when they’re in the NCAA basketball tournament or doing well in football.
2. Or just get rid of Boston College altogether. This has been said many times, but it seems ridiculous that a little private college outside Boston is in a conference otherwise composed of schools below the Mason-Dixon line. Save on gas, BC, and go back to the Big East.
3. Yeah, I think “The Golden Hurricane” is a stupid name, too, and it invites all kinds of tasteless jokes. According to Wikipedia, the football team bought yellow uniforms in 1922 and had planned to adopt the name “Golden Tornadoes,” but at that time Georgia Tech was using that name.
It’s interesting to note that the TU marching band has a Wikipedia entry, while the football team does not. It’s also nice to see that Ken Grass, whom I studied under in middle and high school, is still directing the TU ensemble.
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