A Cool Time Killer

Here's a fun little toy to waste time with for a while: an interactive map which shows the footprint of every conference. If you're reading here, you'll most likely start with the ACC, but there are some interesting other things to look at.

Check out how much the Big East has gone from a Northern/Eastern conference to one which cuts across from Rhode Island to Nebraska.

The ACC goes from nearly Canada to the very tip of Florida and as far west as Indiana. That's without Louisville, of course.

The Big 12 almost makes geographic sense but then there's West Virginia way to the northeast.

The Big West looks like a big wind sock: it's a long way from UC Irvine to San Francisco and UC Davis, but the "road" trip to Hawaii turns it all into a narrow conference triangle.

The PAC-12 covers a vast area, but consider how much of it is lightly or totally uninhabited.

But for one of the most difficult conferences, consider the WAC: once a brilliant basketball conference, it expanded earlier only to find most of the original WAC members departing to form the Mountain West.

Today the WAC extends from Seattle in the West to Pan American to the South and as far North as Chicago.

You have to wonder how long a conference made up of smaller, less prosperous programs, can afford the travel costs.

Check it out - it's a fun page.