If you were compiling a list of the states you’d want to live, you’d consistently rank it 40 or worse.
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Ole Miss tailgate scene is world class. I’d love for UVA to make a similar space by taking out the old student housing directly behind the hill…
I don’t understand the appeal of grilling during the game though. Maybe I’m just too weird haha but I don’t like to be distracted during the action if I’m there. I always time out concessions so I don’t miss any action.
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There I fixed it for you
Also stop stealing my ideas. Improving the gameday tailgate experience by opening all that up would be a massive upgrade
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There’s no place up north that’ll have decent shrimp and grits, but I wouldn’t overlook the excellent restaurants in Ann Arbor and Madison at least. A few good places in Minneapolis. Great Italian and other immigrant cuisine in central Jersey. And that’s not to mention DC, Chicago, LA and Seattle.
Yeah Madison and Ann Arbor would be the only towns that really excited me much honestly.
The big cities are great to visit, but aren’t really the college town & tailgate vibe I want from a CFB road trip. SEC clearly has them lapped there imo. City Grocery + the Grove is a perfect weekend to me, love Chicago but not excited about tailgating Ryan stadium (or whatever it’s gonna be called).
If we manage an SEC invite, I’ll personally host the LRA grove tailgate spot for our first Ole Miss game lol I love that place so much.
FWIW they did most of the grilling pregame and just had the stuff out during the game itself, but there is enough downtime in baseball and you are literally sitting on top of the outfield fence looking down, so you really don’t miss much. It’s a really good vibe that’s not that distracting I promise.
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Bloomington is a good college town.
East Lansing, West Lafayette, Iowa City all suck.
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Road trips would be better in the SEC (though the west coast ones in the BIG appeal to those of us that live our west).
That said, I’m in favor of the BIG for both personal reasons (I live out west and I grew up in Indiana) but also rivalries.
There is just so much more history and overlap of alumni bases with UVA’s BIG regional rivals/pod being Unc, Maryland, and Penn state. The same in the SEC would be what? Unc, Tennessee, maybe South Carolina or vandy? Yuck.
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Both are the class of the B1G for gameday experience.
Columbus is a decent enough city but not great. Northwestern low-key may be the jewel of the conference and it has nothing to do with the school.
But I’ll stick to my guns. Take me to ghe SEC 4 campuses in less than 6 hrs from the house. An excuse to go to Athens, Austin (a flight but worth it) Oxford, Nashville, Nola… yea Im in and don’t care if we dont win another game worth the price of admission.
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Don’t disagree with anything you say. I’d prefer an SEC invite than a B1G one too. We’re not a great fit in either, but at least the SEC schools are smaller with fewer alumni so we wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the sheer size of our rival schools. And the small college town vibe too.
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Carla done pissed jerry off 
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I mean he’s right she never talks to the media
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Don’t stop there! T-town, the plains, Norman, Gainesville, Knoxville, Lexington, and Columbia are all good football weekend visits too.
I’d take my 2-10 seasons for the trips and adopt the ‘can’t lose a party’ vibe.
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Seriously though, how are you going to grant an interview to a reporter in the middle of your HOF baseball coach being poached by the SEC?
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Yup ive had good times in almost all of those spots. I just listed my favorites. And I left out thst Bama and Auburn are basically in my backyard.
Exactly, pick 1 or 2 a yr make it a weekend and live it up.
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Jerry isn’t a reporter so much as a blogger.
Lots of good beat reporters hanging around the UVA programs. Jerry isn’t even on the list of those that the SID would grant an interview with Carla.
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Certainly not a Jerry defender, but if an AD didn’t piss off the media and was instead seen as a partner the other 11 months of the year, then she wouldn’t open herself up to these sort of pot shots when you do have to batten down the hatches.
When media members have to constantly file FOIA requests to get basic updates (eg coaches’ status within the program), they aren’t going to look the other way when you need a PR favor.
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Big picture for me is please please get U.Va. into one of the Big 2. Sure, I’d prefer the SEC over the B1G as well, but we’re not exactly in a position where the two conferences will be fighting over us. Our best hope is that we hitch our wagon to UNC and land where they do. But UNC may have other plans, so who knows.
The bottom line is that, if we don’t find a landing place in one of the two, what’s happening with Oak will repeat itself over and over (e.g., de Sorbo, Sargent, etc.). The ACC can’t implode soon enough.
We lived on the Gulf Coast of MS (see username) for 5 years and actually enjoyed it. But the coast is very different from the rest of the state. Oxford is ok but no way I’d consider anywhere else in the state. When it was time for college visits my son didn’t even visit Starkville and he could have gone for close to free.
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We’re actually in a great spot for the conferences to want to fight over, IMO. Flagship school in a new (to the conference) state. Media deals = mega money for the conference no matter how many 2-10 seasons we have…
There’s a reason the chatter has been on UVA/UNC being in tandem. Either way the conference that takes them expands its geographical footprint across 2 connecting states and has the flagship in each. UNC is a bigger brand, forsure, but UVA opens a major market to the prevailing conference.
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Good point about that article I shared being from 3 days ago. It seems like the scholarship limits (which have been a known concern since the offseason from 1 year ago) are the biggest concern. Maybe Grisham will help once again, particularly given that his net worth is in excess of $400 million!
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