# Most ridiculous "directional schools" in college sports **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [December 4, 2020, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190 "2020-12-04T09:08:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/21 "2020-12-04T17:04:56Z")
> [@stuccosuperstar2020](#): > > Don’t get me started on East, West and Central Michigan. Why not? There’s also a Northern Michigan. They’re all aptly named. University of Michigan’s main campus (Ann Arbor) is located only slightly west of Eastern, but it is to the west. (It has at least one smaller school as part of its system closer to Detroit, which is east of Eastern, but so what?) I’m pretty sure most if not all of them started as normal schools as indicated above. When you get founded by the state to train teachers for the area and don’t have a benefactor to be named after, you get pretty generic names. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/22 "2020-12-04T17:11:18Z")
> [@Stana\_Claus](#): > > The state of Tennessee is divided into three Grand Divisions - East, West, and Middle - which are represented by the three stars on the State Flag. And let me tell you people will let you know about them really quick if you mix them up. It is almost as if Memphis, Nashville, and Chattanooga are capitals of 3 different states. I know a few East Tennesseans who feel a closer affinity for Atlanta than Nashville (at least in sports allegiances). ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/23 "2020-12-04T17:17:06Z")
How about the University of Southern California?Iits hard to have more of a directional school than that. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/24 "2020-12-04T17:21:35Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I always figured that Northwestern University was named because, at the time it was founded, it was in the northwestern United States. It’s an odd anachronism now. > [@pulykamell](#): > > True. It would still have been the US northwest at the time of founding. Not quite. The Oregon Territory was established in 1848. And California became a state in 1850, if you’re only counting states. The explanation that it was meant to serve the former NW Territory makes sense, though. As for the OP, I do think the University of South Florida is poorly named, as it was founded in Tampa, which is in west-central Florida. It would have been South of the two major Universities, but isn’t really in South Florida. It is, though, a highly accomplished research university. But I’m also puzzled by the point of the OP in general. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/25 "2020-12-04T18:00:52Z")
Not universities, but these Chicago street names have always struck me as absurd: - Western Avenue is in the eastern half of the city. - North Avenue is south of a good 1/4 of the city. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/26 "2020-12-04T19:02:41Z")
On the other hand, Wisconsin is a college town: it seems like every CDP has a bar with an Old Style shingle out front and a UW-ThisPlace. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/27 "2020-12-04T19:37:44Z")
> [@eschrodinger](#): > > It would have been South of the two major Universities, but isn’t really in South Florida. It is, though, a highly accomplished research university. It is? I’ve always just thought of it as a massive commuter school and a home for those who couldn’t get into FSU or UF ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/28 "2020-12-04T19:43:04Z")
From [Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_South_Florida): > [@](#): > > Designated by the [Florida Board of Governors](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Board_of_Governors) as a “Preeminent State Research University,”[[9]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_South_Florida#cite_note-9) USF is [classified](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_Classification_of_Institutions_of_Higher_Education) among “R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity”.[[10]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_South_Florida#cite_note-UCF_Points_of_Pride-10) In its 2018 ranking, the [Intellectual Property Owners Association](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_Property_Owners_Association) placed USF 1st in Florida, 7th in the United States, and 16th worldwide in the number of [US patents](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_patent_law) granted.[[11]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_South_Florida#cite_note-11) USF faculty, staff, students, and alumni collectively hold over 2,400 patents. USF is home to the [National Academy of Inventors](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Academy_of_Inventors) and the [Florida Inventors Hall of Fame](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Inventors_Hall_of_Fame) is located in the USF Research Park in the southwest side of campus.[[12]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_South_Florida#cite_note-12) The university has an annual budget of $1.8 billion and an annual economic impact of over $4.4 billion.[[13]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_South_Florida#cite_note-13) According to the [National Science Foundation](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Science_Foundation), USF spent $568 million on research and development in 2019, ranking it 43rd in the nation and 25th among public universities. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/29 "2020-12-04T19:44:16Z")
Texas State (used to be Southwest Texas State) is firmly in Central Texas, about halfway between San Antonio and Austin. West Texas A&M is in Canyon, which is squarely in the Panhandle, not West Texas. South Texas College of Law is in Houston. The only directional school I can think of that’s actually accurate in terms of the nominal direction is University of North Texas, which is in Denton, about an hour north of Dallas and Fort Worth. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/30 "2020-12-04T19:53:15Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > My university had a south campus and a north campus. It was much smaller than a state. My high school had a West Campus and an East Campus. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/31 "2020-12-04T20:01:29Z")
As I’m sure you know, both streets were once their respective directional borders of the city. To this day, I still kind of think of Western, at least over here on the South(west) Side, as a kind of a western border of the older city. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/32 "2020-12-04T20:11:16Z")
Michigan’s fight song says, “Hail, hail, Michigan, the champions of the **West**.” Oklahoma has: East Central University Northeastern State University (with two campuses in different cities) Northwestern Oklahoma State University Southwestern Oklahoma State University University of Central Oklahoma Northern Oklahoma College Western Oklahoma State College ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/33 "2020-12-04T20:19:15Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > As I’m sure you know, both streets were once their respective directional borders of the city. To this day, I still kind of think of Western, at least over here on the South(west) Side, as a kind of a western border of the older city. Sure, but that doesn’t make them any less anomalous. Nor explain why Chicago Avenue is a relatively short, minor street instead of the grand thoroughfare you’d expect. > [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Michigan’s fight song says, “Hail, hail, Michigan, the champions of the **West**.” I always thought that was because they dominated the early Rose Bowl games played in Pasadena, but I could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/34 "2020-12-04T20:33:46Z")
Southern Oregon University is indeed at the near-extreme south of the state, just some 15 miles north of the Oregon-California border. It’s also very far to the western end of the state as well. The school has won an NAIA national championship in college football. That whole region of Oregon (Rogue Valley and/or Jackson County) is often referred to simply as “Southern Oregon” to the exclusion of the southeast part of the state (which is sparsely populated). There is also a Western and Eastern Oregon University, which are in the northwest and northeast parts of the state, respectively. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/35 "2020-12-04T20:35:48Z")
The OP asked about how directional schools are regarded by employers. I had a chance to go to either a large D1 name-brand school or a small directional school where I could get a better education. I asked my dad what I should do and he said, that directional school is great if you stay in the area but if you move out of state no one has ever heard of it. He was right. I could also point out City University which when I was in Seattle had a great reputation and had some gravitas if you had a degree from there but if you’re not from Seattle and I said I had a City University degree you may respond, “You couldn’t even get into University of Phoenix?” And I have a master’s from a state college. Now in my specific field, telling you my degree is from this school should impress the hell out of you and it did while I stayed there. But since I moved away employers see that school’s name and think, “Meh just another State College.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/36 "2020-12-04T20:35:59Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > Sure, but that doesn’t make them any less anomalous. Nor explain why Chicago Avenue is a relatively short, minor street instead of the grand thoroughfare you’d expect. Relatively short and minor? It’s one of the mile markers and runs from the lake across the entire city into Oak Park, River Forest, and Melrose Park before it finally ends. You mean why isn’t it a N-S boulevard? I suppose, but is it usual to have streets named after cities be the major thoroughfare in a city? Picking a random sampling of cities, I’m not finding that to be the case. Chicago Ave actually is a major E-W thoroughfare, and a mile marker to boot (which makes it an important street on the grid) not just some random side street. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/37 "2020-12-04T20:37:19Z")
There’s the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople, but it’s not much of a sports school. I’ll show myself out… ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/38 "2020-12-04T20:55:41Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > > [@Akaj](#): > > > > Sure, but that doesn’t make them any less anomalous. Nor explain why Chicago Avenue is a relatively short, minor street instead of the grand thoroughfare you’d expect. > > Relatively short and minor? It’s one of the mile markers and runs from the lake across the entire city into Oak Park, River Forest, and Melrose Park before it finally ends. You mean why isn’t it a N-S boulevard? I suppose, but is it usual to have streets named after cities be the major thoroughfare in a city? Picking a random sampling of cities, I’m not finding that to be the case. Chicago Ave actually is a major E-W thoroughfare, and a mile marker to boot (which makes it an important street on the grid) not just some random side street. Wow, consider me schooled. I once lived a block north of Chicago Ave. but – maybe because it has no highway interchanges – never traveled further than a few blocks on it. I had no idea it went that far west. Weirdly, I now live in a distant suburb, and there’s a Chicago Avenue nearby again. It’s only a mile long and has no significance whatsoever. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/39 "2020-12-04T21:03:35Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > Not universities, but these Chicago street names have always struck me as absurd: > > - Western Avenue is in the eastern half of the city. It’s not in the Eastern half, unless you’re up north. It’s actually right in the middle: [https://www.npr.org/local/309/2019/07/15/741161117/the-heart-of-the-city-finding-chicago-s-geographic-center](https://www.npr.org/local/309/2019/07/15/741161117/the-heart-of-the-city-finding-chicago-s-geographic-center) ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/40 "2020-12-04T21:03:42Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > is it usual to have streets named after cities be the major thoroughfare in a city? It is definitely not the case in Atlanta, where Atlanta Avenue is just a regular ole street. I mean the biggest thing that has happened to Atlanta Avenue recently is that at the intersection of that and United Avenue the city changed up the road sign so that Atlanta was above United… to match the name of our soccer team. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190.md?page=3)