A College Football Question

This is the only place in my life where I can discuss college football. One of the downsides of Boston life, but one reason I like this board.
Anyway, over on the horrifying Tampa Trib thread, someone said Tampa is a "Florida not Florida State town." How does that shake out across the state? Jacksonville is the only Florida city with which I'm familiar, and it's 50-50 there. I assume the U fan base pretty much peters out at Palm Beach. If you had one of those CNN-John King election maps for fans in the state of Florida, what would it look like?

 

I believe ESPN did a map of that a few years ago, with the various colleges "Areas", as it were. I'll go and see if I can find a copy.

 

Tampa to Orlando (a.k.a. the I-4 corridor) is definitely Gator nation. Moreso in Tampa than Florida. Daytona/St. Johns area is a little more 50/50. Jacksonville identifies with the Gators much more as does the Space Coast.

Once you past Tampa on the west side of the state. The Suncoast and Southwest Florida is a slight lean to the Seminoles. Anything south of there is about 65% Hurricanes and a split on the other 35%, maybe a slight lean to FSU.

The media coverage in Florida is HEAVILY slanted to the Gators because they have the large journalism school and so many UF graduates have major roles in papers here...especially the Sentinel and the Tribune.

 

Further north, the majority shifts from Gators to Noles somewhere around Live Oak, obviously peaks around Tallahassee and stays pro-FSU through the Panhandle, although you start picking up more Gator fans again by the time you reach Pensacola.

 

Actually Pensacola and a lot of the northwest, to my surprise, identify more with the Alabama schools....especially Auburn.

But yeah, from Live Oak to Okaloosa County is pretty firm Seminole area. However even in those areas the media is firmly Gator slanted.

 

Not that surprising to me. A lot of those areas have far more in common with Alabama than they do with Florida.

 

space coast, treasure coast area... uh.. melbourne, port st. lucie, south down to north palm beach seem to be mostly gator nation

 

Yes, I said Jacksonville down to the Space Coast identifies with the Gators. Once you get into Palm Beach County, however, it's a different world. At least half the population is made up of transplanted northerners who could give a fuck either way and you get a wide assortment otherwise with Hurricane fans starting to get recognized.

 

The Jacksonville chapter of Gator Boosters is the largest in the nation. The Bull Gators within Jacksonville also are among the wealthiest. Jax is a Gator town, and FSU is such a distant second that it's not worth the discussion.

 

Hondo, all I can tell you is the evidence of my own five senses visiting my parents there for decades now indicates Fla-FSU are nearly equal in terms of support. They sure are in the men's locker room at Plantation at Ponte Vedra Beach, anyway.

 

I disagree. I just think North Florida is full of trashy areas. I laugh when UF fans call other SEC fans rednecks. It's like they don't live in North Florida...