Of the past 17 seasons (2006-2022), only 1 ended with a national champion outside the southeast: 2014 Ohio St. All the rest were either SEC schools (Florida, LSU, Bama, Auburn, Georgia) or ACC schools residing in the southeast (FSU, Clemson). And the national champion from the year before that (2005 Texas) is joining the SEC next year.
The Big 12 is finding itself on the outside looking in.
Everything in life is cyclical. Where is the once powerful Big East basketball conference? Now, the once-lowly Big 12 leads the nation. It wasn’t that long ago that Rice and Army were good in football. So was Norte Dame and Michigan.
And the reason those two teams rise near the top every year is they play a patsy schedule. FSU has been at best mediocre the last decade.