so much for that
Michigan Football Players and the States/Regions They Call Home
Filed under:
Earlier this morning, Maize.Blue Wagner posted a fantastic diary detailing the "Best Michigan Player From Each State". In order to finish his diary, he did an extraordinary amount of research into the amount of players hailing from each state (and Canadian provinces), which I'll base this post on. To be clear: I did not compile these numbers myself. Any and all credit for the research it took to get my raw data belongs to Maize.Blue Wagner.
I started by breaking down states by athletic conferences, with states able to double-count (Ohio skews the Big East numbers in a huge way) and took a look at who Michigan likes to deprive of talent. The results look something like this:
| Big Ten | |
| Illinois | 491 |
| Indiana | 181 |
| Iowa | 47 |
| Michigan | 2601 |
| Minnesota | 34 |
| Nebraska | 13 |
| Ohio | 683 |
| Pennsylvania | 141 |
| Wisconsin | 70 |
| Total |
4261 |
| SEC | |
| Alabama | 6 |
| Arkansas | 5 |
| Florida | 69 |
| Georgia | 13 |
| Kentucky | 26 |
| Louisiana | 18 |
| Mississippi | 1 |
| South Carolina | 7 |
| Tennessee | 13 |
| Total | 158 |
| Pac 12 | |
| Arizona | 9 |
| California | 69 |
| Colorado | 24 |
| Oregon | 4 |
| Utah | 6 |
| Washington | 16 |
| Total | 128 |
| BXII | |
| Iowa | 47 |
| Kansas | 13 |
| Missouri | 37 |
| Oklahoma | 11 |
| Texas | 53 |
| Total | 161 |
| ACC | |
| Florida | 69 |
| Georgia | 13 |
| Maryland | 16 |
| Massachusetts | 46 |
| North Carolina | 7 |
| South Carolina | 7 |
| Virginia | 17 |
| Total | 175 |
| Big East | |
| Connecticut | 13 |
| Florida | 69 |
| New York | 133 |
| Kentucky | 26 |
| New Jersey | 50 |
| Ohio | 683 |
| Pennsylvania | 141 |
| West Virginia | 11 |
| Total | 1126 |
|
Non-BCS |
|
| Delaware | 1 |
| DC | 13 |
| Hawaii | 2 |
| Idaho | 4 |
| Maine | 2 |
| Montana | 18 |
| Nevada | 2 |
| New Hampshire | 4 |
| New Mexico | 2 |
| Rhode Island | 3 |
| South Dakota | 13 |
| Vermont | 3 |
| Wyoming | 5 |
| Total | 72 |
Within the Big Ten:
Each conference, including the Big Ten:
Excising the Big Ten from the numbers:
As I said before, states double-counting skews numbers, especially Ohio in the Big East, and to a lesser extent Iowa in the BXII. Since I can't simply pretend Cincinnati and Iowa State aren't BCS schools likely to offer in-state talent, I decided to compare by region.
I'm sure there's some criticism headed my way for how the states are broken down (I have an entire book devoted to defining the concept of "Midwestern"), but I'll explain my rationale here. I went with six regions: Midwest, Colonial, Left Coast, Rocky, Cowboy and Dixie.
Midwest was the most straightforward, including the Big Ten footprint plus Missouri and Kansas.
| Midwest | |
| Illinois | 491 |
| Indiana | 181 |
| Iowa | 47 |
| Kansas | 13 |
| Michigan | 2601 |
| Minnesota | 34 |
| Missouri | 37 |
| Nebraska | 13 |
| Ohio | 683 |
| Wisconsin | 70 |
| Total | 4170 |
Colonial is the former colonies that didn't secede, plus Maine, DC and Vermont.
| Colonial | |
| Connecticut | 13 |
| Delaware | 1 |
| DC | 13 |
| Maine | 2 |
| Maryland | 16 |
| Massachussetts | 46 |
| New Hampshire | 4 |
| New Jersey | 50 |
| New York | 133 |
| Pennsylvania | 141 |
| Rhode Island | 3 |
| Vermont | 3 |
| Total | 425 |
Left Coast is made up of states with a Pacific coast. Hawaii is included in the Left Coast states simply because there was no other semi-logical choice.
| Left Coast | |
| California | 69 |
| Hawaii | 2 |
| Oregon | 4 |
| Washington | 16 |
| Total | 91 |
Rocky states include Colorado, Idaho, Montana, the Dakotas, Utah, Wyoming, and Alaska for the same reason Hawaii is "Left Coast".
| Rocky | |
| Alaska | 1 |
| Colorado | 24 |
| Idaho | 4 |
| Montana | 18 |
| North Dakota | 9 |
| South Dakota | 13 |
| Utah | 6 |
| Wyoming | 5 |
| Total | 80 |
Cowboy is Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
| Cowboy | |
| Arizona | 9 |
| Nevada | 2 |
| New Mexico | 2 |
| Oklahoma | 11 |
| Texas | 53 |
| Total | 77 |
Dixie is the former Confederacy, minus Texas and with Kentucky and West Virginia added.
| Dixie | |
| Alabama | 6 |
| Arkansas | 5 |
| Florida | 69 |
| Georgia | 13 |
| Kentucky | 26 |
| Louisiana | 18 |
| Mississippi | 1 |
| North Carolina | 7 |
| South Carolina | 7 |
| Tennessee | 13 |
| Virginia | 17 |
| West Virginia | 11 |
| Total | 193 |
By region, Midwest included:
Basically, breaking this down to its simplest form, Michigan, throughout its history, has been totally dependent on Michigan and Ohio recruiting to survive. Even with a "national brand", the vast majority of players (84.6%) come from within our conference footprint and 77.1% of players from the footprint hail from Michigan or Ohio. I hope this was informative, and again, make sure to go read and posbang Maize.Blue Wagner's diary.
July 9th, 2012 at 4:18 AM | 
This post might fit in better
This post might fit in better
July 9th, 2012 at 9:11 AM |
Wow, this is great, thanks!
Wow, this is great, thanks!
Wow, this is great, thanks! The visualization of the numbers certainly helps. I wouldn't have a problem with this being bumped to the diaries, or somehow combined with my post (though I'm not sure if that's possible, and it would make it ridiculously long).
July 9th, 2012 at 9:28 AM |
Thanks, I appreciate that.
Thanks, I appreciate that.
I figured they were different enough topics to deserve separate posts, but I've never seen a diary posted immediately after another that "piggybacks" or whatever this post's relationship to your diary is. I'm sure Seth will figure out what to do if he comes across my post here. Anyway, great work, I wouldn't have been able to create this post without your research.
Go Blue!
July 9th, 2012 at 9:14 AM |
Doublepost fail
Doublepost fail
Um...yes, as I was saying great addition to my diary.
July 9th, 2012 at 6:14 AM |
quick comment
quick comment
Nice work. RichRod's staff was apparently not the first to strike out in Mississippi (assuming that past staffs at least explored the area).
"500 channels and nothing but cats."
July 9th, 2012 at 9:09 AM |
Wow, I would not have pegged
Wow, I would not have pegged
Wow, I would not have pegged our Mich/Ohio ratio to be that high.
Blue is Faster
July 9th, 2012 at 9:59 AM |
These days...
These days...
I'm sure it's not quite that high, one of the things to remember is that list includes every player from Team 1 to Team 132. Still, yeah, we're really reliant on talent from Michigan and Ohio.
Go Blue!
July 9th, 2012 at 12:16 PM |
Isn't "Left Coast" a
Isn't "Left Coast" a
Isn't "Left Coast" a political perjorative regarding the voting tendencies of Wasington, Oregon, and California?
Hail to the college whose colors we wear,
Hurrah for the Yellow and Blue!
July 9th, 2012 at 12:26 PM |
That reference was to the
That reference was to the
That reference was to the brewery in California. My understanding is that it can refer to politics, but I've never heard it used in a pejorative manner.
I certainly wasn't trying to say anything political, and if it's offensive to anyone I'll change it, but I was going for somewhat "fun" names for different sections of the country (obviously I came up empty for my home region. Rust Belt doesn't seem to fit for a good portion of the Midwest, or I would have used it) and that's the only term that came to mind.
Go Blue!
July 9th, 2012 at 2:06 PM |
Obviously the Midwest can
Obviously the Midwest can
Obviously the Midwest can best be described by having great leaders, and iconic legends. Thus, should be named the Legends-Leaders region.
I still hate those division names. /sadface
July 9th, 2012 at 3:04 PM |
As a left coast resident who
As a left coast resident who
As a left coast resident who votes right, "Left Coast" was originally just a different way to say West Coast, not meant politically at all, certainly not pejoratively since people out here say it about themselves. Personally, I prefer Best Coast.
That said, I'm surprised by how many players we've had from Montana and South Dakota.
July 9th, 2012 at 4:30 PM |
No it's not. You may have
No it's not. You may have
No it's not. You may have noticed the West coast is located on the left side of the country. Calm down on the scrolling for offensive things.
Chaos is found in greatest abundance wherever order is being sought. It always defeats order because it is better organized.
July 9th, 2012 at 2:31 PM |
Cool graphics, but your
Cool graphics, but your
Cool graphics, but your conclusion is a skewed a bit by the fact that we basically never recruited outside the Midwest for our first 90 years or so as a football program. It wasn't until the 1970s or so that we really started to make an effort to recruit nationally. Anthony Carter was one of the first players we'd ever recruited from Florida, for instance, and he came in our program's centennial (1979).
July 9th, 2012 at 2:37 PM |
You're correct.
You're correct.
That wasn't the best wording. "Has been" is a better way to describe our dependence on Michigan and Ohio, since it would say more about the past than future, which is all the post was intended to do. I'll change the wording when I can get back on a real computer.
Guy above: Leaders/Legends would have been hilarious. If it was easier to edit, I might go back and plug those in for Midwest.
Go Blue!
July 12th, 2012 at 5:41 PM |
Very interesting piece. I was
Very interesting piece. I was
Very interesting piece. I was in no way aware that so many MI kids have made up the program. I am sure a lot of them came between team 1-55 then it probably started having a little more variety, considering the change in times. IMO.
A buckeye is nothing but a hair-less NUT!
This post might fit in better among the diaries, but I don't want to post a diary that didn't require individual research on my part and is simply manipulating data from what would be the diary below it. If one of the mods wants to move this to the diaries, that's fine by me, I just don't presume to start there, given the circumstances.
Go Blue!