Case 1: 2000 US Census as Population Source

In this analysis, the population sample was the ~3000 counties located and sized by the 2000 census. Using the decay curve built from the analysis of current players (see Calculating Populations for details) we see in the first figure, before colleges are used as negative population sources, that the New Jersey - Pennsylvania - Ohio stretch, going south to northern Virginia is a particulary fertile recruiting ground. Once we add-in the competitive effect of other colleges we're left with a very barren patch in the southeast extending to the bottom of the Mid-Atlantic region. The New York to Boston wing, however, dominates the map. The Top 10 sites are in the Connecticut - Maine with a host of offshore sites in the mix. The northeast really dominates this analysis due to its high population density and low number of I-A football progams (only UConn and BC are located in New England). Surprisingly University of Washington in Seattle was actually at the bottom of the list before subtractions, even behind Washington State in more sparsely-populated Pullman, WA.

The other unsurprising result in this analysis is that people in SEC country, particularly in Alabama and Mississippi, disproportionately support football. White areas on the map indicate that the ratio of football teams to people is high. Despite the huge density of teams in Michigan-Ohio-Indiana, these areas are propped up to an extent by the northeast and Chicago-area population centers and are not nearly as white.