Windy City

I suspect he is commenting geographically while you are commenting culturally.

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Eastern Texas and Southeastern Oklahoma were more like the South than the rest of their states because of the migration of Southerners after the Civil War and the cotton trade.

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Agreed. Culturally SE Oklahoma feels somewhat like the Ozarks. East Texas and Louisiana blend as well on the furthest reaches.

Texas in general though has too many distinct cultures, too much of an affinity for its creation story as a separate nation, and too much investment in its state identity to think of itself as a member of a larger region.

Love this scene from the movie Bernie.

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Did you learn about G10? There are two nice fellers on this board that can enlighten you.

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Just enough to learn it is a real lightning rod of a project. The garage, I was told, has tailgating history to it and that will be done away with and it also is an important parking area for students.

Basically it is all going to be Disney-fied into an entertainment zone at the expense of student convenience and tailgating history?

We just did a college visit. My impressions:

1) Cranes everywhere on and off campus. I can't tell if is condos or hotels being built by but man there is a lot of stuff going up.

2) Jimmy Haslam loves the school

3) Neyland is impressive but also kind of old when viewed up close.

4) What a setting for a college campus. The bend in the Cumberland and the tall cliffs on the river and the mountains in the distance and steep hills make for a really scenic daily existence.

5) I was surprised there was not more of a college strip. Cumberland avenue was a lot of hotels, chain restaurants and fast food.

The nearby downtown and old town host a lot of nice stuff but there I could not see more of a UT specific zone with old school college specific joints. did I just miss that?

6) Everyone there was from out of state. The school is a real national draw now.

7) Folks still aren't over Lane Kiffin. Our tour guide mentioned him several times.

8) The campus has a nice architectural consistency even with the new buildings. I say this coming from A&M, where we stack terribly ugly and incongruous designs on purpose.

9) The quarries and other stuff near campus looks like a lot of fun.

Also, the history is fascinating. I didn't realize Knoxville fell to the Union without a shot fired and that Eastern Tennessee had a mixed view on the war with lots of Union sympathizers.

The whole university and town city feels like a former hidden gem that has blown out quickly both in student interest and population. do the old alums feel that way?

Great school and great city, Vols.

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Jimbo's 2022 class was way overloaded with more highly rated DL's than any team could hope to retain.

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Jimbo then pulled the genius move of hiring DJ Durkin and switching to a 3-3-5 scheme.

The 2005 K-State deep snap to no one was also an all time classic.

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Tech's main money man boasted that he would not be out bid by any school & warned : "I am coming after your best players in the future".

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There are a lot of problems with this attitude, but the biggest that Campbell himself and the Tech alumni base are still small beer and outgunned in the arms race.

Phil Knight, as a patron of Oregon, is worth $31 Billion. Larry Ellison's girlfriend got him to step up and he is worth $200 Billion.

You also attract the underperforming merch types that Jimbo Fisher specialized in during his College Station tour.

At some point getting slapped down by the real programs will change the music a bit.

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Happens when Norman is as close and the D/FW area is full of OU boosters.

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I am a guy that grew up in North Texas raised by lots of Sooners so I get it.

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That’s also for liberal arts or education. And not a chance coming from a non CAP program, like Texas state. It’s only a low bar at CAP program because they are Texas feeder schools.

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You can tell yourself whatever you want. The reality is that both A&M and Texas are hijacked by the legislature who wants to pretend that top 7% kids from crap-burg West Texas high school are on part with top quartile kids from rigorous privates in Dallas, Houston, and Austin. The Texas and A&M student bodies are more average by design and legislative fiat.

I have no doubt that some of the engineering and b school kids are really, really competitive but they make up a relatively small percentage of overall student body while the larger group tends to be test optional beneficiaries of having gone to grade inflated poor quality Texas high school or the CAP or Blinn Team types whose best option is to hang out at UTSA or UT-Arlington for a year before majoring in some relatively uncompetitive liberal arts program.

In any event, Texas should not be included with a much more selective and focused school like Vandy.

Notre Dame and USC in football 1966 and 1967 and 1972 and 1973