"Crappy little SEC towns"

[TaleofTwoDogs]

CampShellyDog pointed out the fact that there are a number of "crappy little SEC towns" and this shouldn't influence a recruit's decision. I can't attest to the crappy part but here is the population of all 14 SEC towns (rounded to nearest 1000).

Rank City Pop
1 Nashville 601,000
2 Lexington 296,000
3 Baton Rouge 229,000
4 College Station 228,000
5 Knoxville 179,000
6 Columbia, SC 129,000
7 Gainesville 124,000
8 Athens 115,000
9 Columbia, MO 109,000
10 Tuscaloosa 90,000
11 Fayetteville 74,000
12 Auburn 53,000
13 Starkville 24,000
14 Oxford 19,000

Obviously if size mattered, Vandy and Kentucky would be perennial SEC champs and LSU and A&M are underachievers (well, A&M anyway). So I'm not sure the number of lights on in a town is a good indicator of a school's attraction. For Mississippi kids, Starkville is the "big city" and can be attractive.

 

[Maroonandwhite]

CampShellyDog pointed out the fact that there are a number of "crappy little SEC towns" and this shouldn't influence a recruit's decision. I can't attest to the crappy part but here is the population of all 14 SEC towns (rounded to nearest 1000).

Rank City Pop
1 Nashville 601,000
2 Lexington 296,000
3 Baton Rouge 229,000
4 College Station 228,000
5 Knoxville 179,000
6 Columbia, SC 129,000
7 Gainesville 124,000
8 Athens 115,000
9 Columbia, MO 109,000
10 Tuscaloosa 90,000
11 Fayetteville 74,000
12 Auburn 53,000
13 Starkville 24,000
14 Oxford 19,000

Obviously if size mattered, Vandy and Kentucky would be perennial SEC champs and LSU and A&M are underachievers (well, A&M anyway). So I'm not sure the number of lights on in a town is a good indicator of a school's attraction. For Mississippi kids, Starkville is the "big city" and can be attractive.

I can't speak for all of the other areas; but, Fayetteville is 1 city in a mix in the NW AR region. The 74,000 that you reported is a bit flawed. It doesn't take into account Springdale, Bentonville, Rogers, Siloam Springs, or Bella Vista that are all within a few miles of one another. It is literally one giant metro area now. The combined population in about a 30 mile radius is over 500,000. It should be way up that list. I love Starkville; but, there is absolutely no comparison.

 

[GloryDawg]

You just can't look at the population of those cities. You have to look at the entire Metro area of those cities.

 

[LandArchDawg]

And Athens benefits greatly from its closeness to the megalopolis Atlanta.

 

[GhostOfJackie]

CampShellyDog pointed out the fact that there are a number of "crappy little SEC towns" and this shouldn't influence a recruit's decision. I can't attest to the crappy part but here is the population of all 14 SEC towns (rounded to nearest 1000).

Rank City Pop
1 Nashville 601,000
2 Lexington 296,000
3 Baton Rouge 229,000
4 College Station 228,000
5 Knoxville 179,000
6 Columbia, SC 129,000
7 Gainesville 124,000
8 Athens 115,000
9 Columbia, MO 109,000
10 Tuscaloosa 90,000
11 Fayetteville 74,000
12 Auburn 53,000
13 Starkville 24,000
14 Oxford 19,000

Obviously if size mattered, Vandy and Kentucky would be perennial SEC champs and LSU and A&M are underachievers (well, A&M anyway). So I'm not sure the number of lights on in a town is a good indicator of a school's attraction. For Mississippi kids, Starkville is the "big city" and can be attractive.

I prefer the small SEC towns. And no SEC town that I have ever been to would be considered "crappy little SEC town". Any SEC town is better than a non SEC town. Large quantities of snatch and a good selection of watering holes was all I was worried about in college anyway.

Just my opinion.

 

[J-Dawg]

CampShellyDog pointed out the fact that there are a number of "crappy little SEC towns" and this shouldn't influence a recruit's decision. I can't attest to the crappy part but here is the population of all 14 SEC towns (rounded to nearest 1000).

Rank City Pop
1 Nashville 601,000
2 Lexington 296,000
3 Baton Rouge 229,000
4 College Station 228,000
5 Knoxville 179,000
6 Columbia, SC 129,000
7 Gainesville 124,000
8 Athens 115,000
9 Columbia, MO 109,000
10 Tuscaloosa 90,000
11 Fayetteville 74,000
12 Auburn 53,000
13 Starkville 24,000
14 Oxford 19,000

Obviously if size mattered, Vandy and Kentucky would be perennial SEC champs and LSU and A&M are underachievers (well, A&M anyway). So I'm not sure the number of lights on in a town is a good indicator of a school's attraction. For Mississippi kids, Starkville is the "big city" and can be attractive.

Wikipedia say College Station only has population of 100k. The entire county only has population of 200k. Figured 228k was a tad high for college station.

 

[MaroonNation]

Those 19,000 in Oxford are $100 handshakers though.

 

[WrapItDog]

If your going to make this a metro population thing. You have to do the same with Strakville and add Adaton, Sturgis, Oktoc, Sessums, Clayton Village, ect**

 

[Puppychow]

"Large quantities of snatch and a good selection of watering holes was all I was worried about in college anyway."

Post of the Year!

 

[RocketDawg]

If your going to make this a metro population thing. You have to do the same with Strakville and add Adaton, Sturgis, Oktoc, Sessums, Clayton Village, ect**

So that'll take it up to 25,000 for metro Starkville.

But yes, if you're going to make a comparison, metro is the way to go. At that point, Lexington would be way down the list. I suppose Nashville would be the largest, but Athens is close enough to the attractions of Atlanta for that to make a difference.

 

[RocketDawg]

Last time I was in College Station, about 10-15 years ago, it seemed like a tiny town. The airport was minuscule ... only had a couple of gates ... had to take a crop duster from there to Dallas. Those population numbers must include the students.

 

[Palos verdes]

Last time I was in College Station, about 10-15 years ago, it seemed like a tiny town. The airport was minuscule ... only had a couple of gates ... had to take a crop duster from there to Dallas. Those population numbers must include the students.

College Station is around 100k permanent residents now.