CFB is better off when a team from outside the South

... plays for the Title.

Alabama-LSU and Alabama-Clemson are the two lowest rated National Title Games going back to the 2010 season.

Ohio State-Oregon followed by Auburn-Oregon are the two highest rated broadcasts during that time frame.

Of the past 5 National Title Games, the 3 lowest rated involved a match-up that included two Southern teams (Florida State-Auburn... Alabama-Clemson... Alabama-LSU).

People are tired of teams from the South playing in it every season. If two teams from the South are playing, pretty much only the South tunes in. Meanwhile, if teams from the North or West are playing, the South will still watch the game regardless and the other regions of the country will also tune in.

If you compare this years ratings to last year's ratings across 30 different markets (the only 30 I can find mentioned in articles), here is how they compare.

Alabama vs. Clemson did better in the markets of Birmingham, Greenville, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Atlanta, Nashville, Knoxville, New Orleans, and Norfolk.

Ohio State vs. Oregon did better in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton, Portland, Dallas, Denver, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington DC

All of these 30 markets either made the Top 10 markets lat year or this year... or they set an all-time cable CFB record in either of those two years.

So the Ohio State-Oregon matchup had higher numbers compared to Alabama-Clemson in 21 markets compared to 9 markets.

Amazingly, Ohio State-Oregon actually faired better in some areas that would be considered the South or at least the mid-atlantic (which would be Clemson's region). Jacksonville, Fort Myers, Richmond, and Washington DC all tuned in to watch Ohio State-Oregon in larger numbers. It also faired better in Dallas, San Antonio, Denver, Salt Lake City, etc. which aren't really in any of the 4 team's regions.

I think popularity in the sport only grows when teams from outside the Southern region have a stake in the title game.