I don’t think it actually is that broad. It’s like a venn diagram-- the circle of non-urban D1 schools, and the circle with decent men’s soccer and the circle with a strong football fan base converges to a pretty small overlapping area. Certainly I’m having trouble coming up with a lot of schools that meet those requirements!
“I don’t think it actually is that broad.”
Most schools in the Big 10, ACC, AAC, and Pac 12 meet those criteria. Most schools in the Big12 and SEC do not. Plus you could also add schools from other conferences (since the OP didn’t restrict to the P5), like the Ivies.
Pretty broad actually.
The OP’s constraints or preferences are:
- Non-urban
- East of the Mississippi
- D1 men's soccer programs
- **Strong football fan base**
The “strong football fan base” eliminates many schools, especially when you consider that not every P5 school has a men’s soccer team. As does the non-urban preference.
Example, UCF is a more recent entry into “strong football fan base,” but Orlando is urban.
The Big 10 has Penn State and Michigan. Is College Park (UMaryland) urban or non-urban?
ACC is Clemson and Notre Dame. Florida State is losing fan base in terms of football, but you could include them.
It whittles down quickly. I know it’s not comprehensive, but I agree, the universe of schools that meet the criteria IMO, gets small quickly.
Oops, how could I forget the SEC. They have a bunch I think. But I’m not familiar with the cities and towns. Remember they have to be non-urban.
South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, Texas A&M, Alabama, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Auburn and LSU.
Which of these SEC schools would fit the OP’s preferences?
Stream of consciousness continues. :lol:
Vanderbilt is not a strong football school and is located in Nashville. That’s out.
Lexington, KY is out for the same reasons.
Also, Vanderbilt doesn’t have men’s soccer, neither does Missouri. I suspect many others, but don’t have the patience to look them up for this thread.
I thought I screen grabbed that from the men’s SEC soccer standings, I may grabbed the women’s SEC standings.
Only two universities in the SEC, Kentucky and South Carolina, have competitive men’s soccer programs, but they compete in Conference USA.
I did not know that.
Conference USA consists of Charlotte, Marshall, Kentucky, Florida Atlantic, South Carolina, Old Dominion and UAB.
Maybe some folks could fill us in on the urban versus non-urban. South Carolina probably comes closest to “strong football base.”
It was a revelation to me, too, to learn how many schools don’t have men’s soccer! Actually, it makes sense that there’s a correlation between strong football and no men’s soccer-- with Title 9, schools can only have so many male athletes, and football takes a lot of those spots. No room for male soccer players. But absolutely room for a women’s soccer team.
As I said up thread, the Venn diagram of schools with all the attributes is not a big pool.
US Naval Academy and West Point (I know, I know, you probably didn’t mean service academies, but they otherwise fit your criteria). Navy is currently T25 for football and mens’ soccer had a great season as well.
The Navy coach is actually a friend of a friend. I’m not ruling that out, but I haven’t specifically addressed it with my son.
I don’t know how you can have a school with 30-50k students and not be considered a city, and urban.
I think of schools like DU which is urban but the campus itself is not a lot different than other schools which are very suburban or rural. Around campus there are bars and restaurants and shops, but if you want to go downtown you have to drive or take the light rail. There are movie theaters and malls only a short way away but you wouldn’t know it if you are on campus.
Penn State is in the middle of nowhere, but there are 50k people and plenty of Starbucks around all the time.
Yes, that would be his preference.
According to his coaches, as a sophomore, he already projects top D3 to low/mid D1.
This falls in the same category as “the sky is blue” and “water is wet.”
”The kid” is a very good student on the most rigorous track at a large public high school. He has no test scores yet. He should finish with a strong GPA.
I won’t turn down money but I’m also not presumptuous enough to expect any.
He’s 16, I have no clue and neither does he. Does it really matter at this point? Would that help you narrow things down? I’ll ask him after practice tonight.
@twoinanddone I agree that large schools are city like in population. It’s the cityscape my son is hoping to avoid. He wants a traditional campus feel, preferably away from large cities. I’m certain he would appreciate movie theaters, restaurants and a mall nearby but I’m equally certain he could live without them.
USC’s campus is in Columbia, SC. It’s not a metropolis but it is the capital of SC. I wouldn’t call it urban but it gets shows and concerts. Very good business school and soccer is pretty big in SC. When I went to school there in the 90’s they were perennial contenders.
Any SEC school will have a big football following even if they team isn’t that good. I’ve traveled and lived a few places and I think SEC football is tops when it comes to fans (good and bad). Not all SEC schools have men’s soccer but some do like USC.
The Big 10 or ACC schools should also be considered. Keep in-mind smaller schools like Furman, App State, or James Madison. Furman is a good school, has a pretty campus, and usually a competitive soccer team along with football.
If your son is open to D3 soccer then the list grows even more. Maybe Mount Union or Ithaca. The area around Ithaca is beautiful but off the beaten path with Cornell very close.
Plug for University of New Hampshire. Great traditional feel, non-urban (but centrally located) campus, strong football fan base (Division 1, just beat Villanova) as well as hockey, for spectating.
Check out Appalachian State
UCF is currently ranked number three in soccer and just won fifteen straight. Perks of being in Orlando but in the residential area and not by all the theme parks or downtown. If you pay attention to college football at all then you have heard about their football program.
I definitely would not consider Penn State urban. There is no “cityscape” but a smallish town made up of primarily students and traditional campus.
It’s nice to see my alma mater mentioned today. Several schools recently suggested will be on the list.