CFB South: Intro The Core
The Geography
The Census Bureau groups 17 states** into the South. And within that big group, there are three regions: The West, The Core and the East.
Geography and Dollars
College football in the U.S. will forever be a primarily regional sport. A big focus of the Multiverse’s first phase emphasized baselining that and so will this phase. And when it comes to the regional context of CFB in 2025, we’re really talking primarily about Dollars and TV Households. So with that in mind, let’s do some baselining of the South’s CFB regions.
The Core
General Context
The final part of our baselining journey takes us to The Core. There are four states located in the South’s Core region. Kentucky and Tennessee are the oldest. Kentucky was ratified as a U.S. state in 1792 and Tennessee followed suit in 1796. Mississippi joined the Union in 1817 and Alabama was ratified in 1819.
In terms of TV market power, Tennessee stands out in the Core region. The state has four major TV markets which lay claim to a collective 2,841,530 TV households.
· Nashville: 1,199,400
· Memphis: 666,300
· Knoxville: 584,100
· Chattanooga: 391,730
Alabama occupies the #2 spot in terms of total TV households with Kentucky coming in a close #3. Alabama has two major markets, Birmingham-Anniston-Tuscaloosa (771,860) and Huntsville-Decatur-Florence (452,230) which sum up to 1,224,090 potential viewing households.
Kentucky also has two major markets, Louisville (702,310) and Lexington (517,660) which sum up to 1,219,970 households.
And then there’s Mississippi. The state only has one major TV market. Jackson acts as the state’s capital and also home to the 339,170 TV power points that matter in this Multiverse context.
College Football Context
The South’s Core region is currently home to eight Power 4 football programs. And seven of the eight programs are SEC members so the Core region can make both the geographic and faction cases for being the most “Southern.”
Each state within the region has two Power 4 programs and Kentucky is both the geographical and faction outlier. The jury is still out on whether or not Kentucky should be considered Southern or Midwestern. Geographically, the Midwest claim makes more sense. Kentucky’s borders touch seven other states and only three of those are in the Census Bureau’s Southern group. It shares small borders with West Virginia and Virginia to the east but really only touches Tennessee in a substantial way to the south.
And the University of Kentucky is in the SEC but the state’s other Power 4 program, Louisville, currently owes it allegiances to the ACC. Louisville serves the larger of Kentucky’s two major TV markets. The Louisville TV markets is estimated to have 702,310 TV households. The University of Kentucky is nestled into the Lexington TV market which has 517,660 households.
Tennessee is home to the Core region’s largest TV market, Nashville. The Music City lays claim to an estimated 1,199,400 TV households and Vanderbilt is locates within the market. The University of Tennessee is located in the Knoxville market which has about 584,100 TV households.
Both of Alabama’s Power 4 football programs are located in the Birmingham-Anniston-Tuscaloosa TV market. That market has an estimated 771,860 households and is home to the University of Alabama and Auburn.
And then there’s the special case of Mississippi. The Magnolia State only has one major TV market, Jackson. There are only around 339,170 households in the market, though. And neither of its Power 4 football programs, Ole Miss and Mississippi State are located within the Jackson market.
