Is the SEC still a “southern” conference?

[EasternVol]

By the map.... it is the ENTIRE Southeast now... except NC.

There's Virginia, Maryland, and some would say West Virginia.

 

[swampfoxfan]

Southern yes
Eastern Not so much

 

[gasguy71]

If it was based just on slavery then Tennessee, Arkansas, North Carolina and Virginia would have seceded with the other Confederate states instead of later and in reaction to Lincoln calling for troops. That might be a topic for another thread.
And to address the thread topic, the SEC's still culturally Southern.

This is the truth.

 

[PEPPERJAX]

What the hell is this crap?

 

[05_never_again]

I think of Texas and Oklahoma as more of Midwestern states. While Florida is geographically southern, it’s in a category of its own. When I travel there I don’t see it as a representation of the south. The folks there are different than folks in Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, Mississippi, etc….. To me that would be like grouping Ohio in with New Yorkers just because geographically they are both Northern.

Florida is absolutely "the South" until you get south of Gainesville. Maybe Ocala. That part of the state is culturally indistinguishable from south Alabama or south Georgia. West Palm down to the Keys is New York South. I don't really know how to describe the middle of the state from Orlando down to about Fort Pierce. It definitely isn't southern, but a lot of the Northern transplants live in South Florida. It is also where a lot of the Florida Man stories happen. That part of the state is definitely a category of its own.

Oklahoma is a fusion of the south and the midwest. It's culture is a mix of both. IMO, East Texas, especially the Piney Woods area from the eastern border until about Tyler, is 100% southern culturally. West Texas is indistinguishable from the Southwest.

 

[greenbacknative]

There's Virginia, Maryland, and some would say West Virginia.

I'm just using the Mason Dixon Line as reference.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

I'm just using the Mason Dixon Line as reference.

Using the Mason Dixon Line puts schools like Loyola or American University in the South?!?!?

Georgetown, even, which is every bit as Southern as Harvard.

 

[SpaceCoastVol]

Southern maybe, not sure as hell not SouthEASTERN

 

[207 others]

Considering my favorite team has to travel 1500 miles for most games, trust me it will only get worse lol. Get ready for SEC Notre Dame, USC, Kansas, Penn State lol

 

[207 others]

Using the Mason Dixon Line puts schools like Loyola or American University in the South?!?!?

Georgetown, even, which is every bit as Southern as Harvard.

isnt Loyola in Illinois, north of mason dixon? WV to SEC?

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

isnt Loyola in Illinois, north of mason dixon? WV to SEC?

There's a satellite campus in DC.

 

[207 others]

Good map, although I agree Maryland, Delaware, and W. Virginia aren't really part of the South.

WV is far more southern than modern VA and VA is the capitol of the South hehe

 

[207 others]

In what specific way? West Virginia relates better to southeast Ohio, Maryland, and PA than to the "deep" south. They're more like PA "hillbillies" than TN hillbillies.

There is barely any difference between East TN culture (UT) and WV culture, SWVA (Virginia Tech) culture, Blue Ridge (App St/outskirts of UVA/Virginia Tech) culture, Smokey Mt culture, have lived in all with the same attitude and blend in just fine. If you didn't have a GPS you'd not see many differences beyond where persimmons grow.

 

[TheGrove68]

Missouri has always been a state with a foot on each side. Missouri was settled by southern farmers until @1840. Then the people moving there were Northern farmers. Kansas City and St Louis today are midwestern/northern cities. The places in-between have the Midwestern Plains culture. It is a lot like the Tennessee outside of Memphis and Nashville, just not southern culture. The bootheel and Ozarks are places you will find grits and sweet tea on the menu. They are the only real southern areas today.

KY used to be more mixed. I had family living in KY near Evansville, IN. That area was not southern at all as far back as the late 70s. They were Yankees.

Correct analysis about Missouri I was born and raised in the Ozarks and it has a lot of Southern traits . If you take a ruler and lay it on the Kansas/Okl border and extend it across Missouri most everything south of that is a Cross Between southern and Hillbilly lifestyles. If you move far above that to the Middle of the State and Above it's more Midwestern. STL is eastern and when I go there people ask me about my accent and where I'm from all the time. I have the Hillbilly twang. KC is Midwestern as all get out and I get asked about my twang as well.

Worked with a couple of Southern Girls one from Savannah Georgia and the Other Miss. Both had the Southern Accent. Both said I had a Accent but it wasn't Southern they dubbed it Hillbilly. So that's what I've referred to it since then.

 

[TheGrove68]

I live in northern MO. Still southern... but south of I-44 you'd have a hard time distinguishing even the accent from Arkansas or west Tennessee. Oddly there are parts of southern Illinois and Indiana that are similar.

Its the Lil Abner/Jed Clampett Hillbilly twang

 

[VolRage]

One of my old bosses used to brag about being an Oklahoma southern boy. When he started that mess I’d tell him he was a midwestern boy. He didn’t like it but I didn’t care. I’m sure the folks in parts of Oklahoma have southern traits but he acted like everyone else in Kansas.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

There is barely any difference between East TN culture (UT) and WV culture, SWVA (Virginia Tech) culture, Blue Ridge (App St/outskirts of UVA/Virginia Tech) culture, Smokey Mt culture, have lived in all with the same attitude and blend in just fine. If you didn't have a GPS you'd not see many differences beyond where persimmons grow.

Coal's not big in east Tennessee. At least, not the way it is big (and I mean HUGE...culture-defining) in West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

I would think West Virginians would identify more with the midwest, particularly those two states, than the south. I get that "rural culture" and "Appalachian culture" are often seen as parts of "southern culture", but they're not really the same. You can be a country boy in Nebraska, a dairy farmer in Wisconsin, or an Appalachian in the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York, but you're certainly not southern.

 

[ut93vol]

According Angie Maxwell’s “The Long Southern Strategy”, survey data reveals that the characteristics that most to define Southern ideology are Christian fundamentalism, anti-feminist views, and racial resentment. The way SEC coaches tend to operate seems to reinforce at least two out of three, which suggests the conference remains Southern.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

According Angie Maxwell’s “The Long Southern Strategy”, survey data reveals that the characteristics that most to define Southern ideology are Christian fundamentalism, anti-feminist views, and racial resentment. The way SEC coaches tend to operate seems to reinforce at least two out of three, which suggests the conference remains Southern.

I think you need better sources.

Southerners aren't defined by religious extremism, misogyny, or racism, no matter how much some Northerners would like to paint us in those colors.

Go Vols!

 

[TrueOrange]

Yeah, you're right. My remark was hyperbolic. But again, if we aren't going to bother with regional integrity anymore, why should the conference name continue to reflect it? Hell, that goes for all of the major conferences now.

Brand recognition/ brand familiarity. People respond more readily to brands that they’re already familiar with (in turn, being more likely to invest their time into it [ie, watching] and spend money on or towards it).

 

[Defaultuser]

I think you need better sources.

Southerners aren't defined by religious extremism, misogyny, or racism, no matter how much some Northerners would like to paint us in those colors.

Go Vols!

Bull$#**

 

[Brave Volunteer]

Brand recognition/ brand familiarity. People respond more readily to brands that they’re already familiar with (in turn, being more likely to invest their time into it [ie, watching] and spend money on or towards it).

It didn't stop HBO from changing their name to Max. It didn't stop Elon from changing Twitter to X. Rebranding happens. I would think at some point both the SEC and The Big 10 will change their conference names. Maybe if a new league is formed outside of the NCAA.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Bull$#**

So you're saying Southerners ARE defined by religious extremism, misogyny and racism?

It didn't stop HBO from changing their name to Max. It didn't stop Elon from changing Twitter to X. Rebranding happens. I would think at some point both the SEC and The Big 10 will change their conference names. Maybe if a new league is formed outside of the NCAA.

There's always a cost to rebranding. If the benefit of adopting the new name is important enough to offset that cost, then the leadership starts the process.

Brave, I'm just not seeing any significant benefit to renaming the SEC. Easing OCD "accuracy" concerns is not enough to offset the very real costs we would incur.

Go Vols!

 

[dobre_shunka]

Not southeastern after this deal.

"Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) today announces a new, multi-year sponsorship agreement with the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and SEC Network to be the ‘Official Airline of the SEC'” the release read"

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Not southeastern after this deal.

"Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) today announces a new, multi-year sponsorship agreement with the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and SEC Network to be the ‘Official Airline of the SEC'” the release read"

Does seem like something ought to give, in that instance.

Will Southwest Airlines become Southeast Airlines? Heh.

Go Vols!