DMN: Dallas area stakes claim to be the capital of college football

Talon90 · December 29, 2013

Theres no official designation. Yet.

But the Dallas area can make a strong claim to be the college football capital of the nation, on the field and financially.

North Texas hosts three bowl games, more than any other region, as well as big-time regular-season games featuring national powers. Alabama played Michigan here in 2012. Notre Dame played Arizona State here this past season.

The region has three major college football teams of its own. One of them TCU won the Rose Bowl game in 2011.

After next season, AT&T Stadium will host the first tournament national championship game for the biggest football powers. And dont forget the Division 1 Football Championship game in Frisco. North Dakota State plays Towson on Saturday.

D-FW certainly can make the claim to be the college football king, said Tom Starr, a consultant and former bowl director who helped start what has become the Heart of Dallas Bowl on New Years Day at Fair Park.

Dave Brown helps schedule college games for ESPN and helps run the Longhorn Network, which focuses on University of Texas sports. He hedged a bit when asked whether Dallas were now the nations college football capital.

Its certainly one of them, he said, thats for sure.

Financially, the regions college football stats are strong.

About 950,000 fans a year attend top division games in North Texas, according to an analysis by economist Ray Perryman. About 57 percent of the fans are from out of town and they directly spend, excluding tickets, nearly $165 million while here.

Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/business/headlines/20131228-dallas-area-stakes-claim-to-be-the-capital-of-college-football.ece

PlummMeanGreen · December 29, 2013

"Our dream,” Del Conte (TCU Athletic Director) said, “is to someday play for a national championship right here, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.”

Dream on...

TCU is going to have a very difficult time placing above 4'th place in the Big 12 most any year IMO. They had success in the MWC using that conference as a vehicle to get where schools like Kansas State, Baylor (most years) and Iowa State have never been able to get even close to as members of the Big 12 (as in a Rose Bowl appearance)?

The MWC was great for TCU but I don't see the Big 12 being that for the Horned Frogs. TCU's first 2 years in the Big 12 are a prime example of what I am talking about here. Notice which area Big 12 school didn't get a bowl game this season.

Baylor is having a one out of every quarter century kind of season but IMO will soon go back down in the Big 12 pecking order along with TCU even moreso after UT-Austin (with a new head football coach on the way) and OU get back in the NCAA national championship hunt.

Edited December 29, 2013 by PlummMeanGreen