# 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:** 5
**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 7, 2020, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/81 "2020-12-07T06:15:59Z")
Technically, it is marginally west of Sudbury, by meridian. Beyond Sudbury, there is not much. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/82 "2020-12-07T13:03:50Z")
Okay, there is a logic to the directional names, but they just sound lame. For example, don’t you think, “The University of Wisconsin at Whitewater”, is much cooler than, “Southeastern Wisconsin University”, would be? And don’t you think, “The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign”, is much cooler than, say, “Southeastern Illinois University”, would be? Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/83 "2020-12-07T14:24:44Z")
The “at” part of the name indicates which branch/campus of the university or university system you’re talking about. The direction is usually part of the name of the university itself. It’s possible to have both. Southern Illinois University, for example, has campuses at Carbondale and Edwardsville. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/84 "2020-12-07T15:31:47Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > The Great Plains are between the Mississippi and the Rockies. They are almost always included as part of the Midwest, but any definition that excludes Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan is just not useful or descriptive. So if there is a ‘Midwest’ in this country, then it seems that there should also be a ‘Mideast’. Where would the Mideast be located? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/85 "2020-12-07T15:51:45Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Where would the Mideast be located? [According to the NCAA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Eastern_Athletic_Conference): [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Mid-Eastern_Athletic_Conference_map.svg/1920px-Mid-Eastern_Athletic_Conference_map.svg.png) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Mid-Eastern_Athletic_Conference_map.svg/1920px-Mid-Eastern_Athletic_Conference_map.svg.png) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/86 "2020-12-07T15:57:13Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > So if there is a ‘Midwest’ in this country, then it seems that there should also be a ‘Mideast’. This doesn’t follow, IMO. It’s an artifact of history. ---
**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 7, 2020, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/87 "2020-12-07T16:08:02Z")
As Thudlow\_Boink said, “The University of Wisconsin at Whitewater” means that it is part of the University Of Wisconsin system. “Southeastern Wisconsin University” would imply it’s an independent university, and not part of the U of W system. Same with U of I (and with the U-C campus, simply referring to it as “U of I” is usually fine. The other campuses, UIC and University of Illinois-Springfield, you usually need to use the full name. Plus U of I wouldn’t really be “Southeastern Illinois” – It’s on the eastern end of Central Illinois.) ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/88 "2020-12-07T16:13:41Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > > [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > > > Ohio, Indiana, Illinois are the Mideast, > > That’s a fine, logical label that virtually no one uses because it’s not accurate. > > The Great Plains are between the Mississippi and the Rockies. They are almost always included as part of the Midwest, but any definition that excludes Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan is just not useful or descriptive. Right. It’d be akin to saying that since the Caribbean is sometimes referred to as the West Indies that there should be an “East Indies”… which just ignores historical naming conventions completely. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/89 "2020-12-07T16:20:50Z")
Actually, [East Indies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Indies) is a historic term. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/90 "2020-12-07T16:23:09Z")
Ah… well that’s fair… though I guess I meant a different term for the Indian subcontinent. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/91 "2020-12-07T18:57:19Z")
What happened to Georgia? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/92 "2020-12-07T18:58:51Z")
There are no Georgia schools in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, which is what that map shows. _Edit: technically not true – Augusta University is an associate member of the MEAC, but only for men’s golf, which is why Georgia isn’t shaded in on that map._ ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/93 "2020-12-07T19:50:04Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > > [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > > > The interesting thing about Northwestern University–other than the fact that Illinois hasn’t been considered part of the Northwest since the Civil War–is that it’s one of the few _national directionals_ . The only other ones that I can think of are Northeastern University in Massachusetts and Southern University in Louisiana. > > I’m not sure how Northeastern made your list and Southern California didn’t. One is a national academic and athletic university and the other isn’t. I too puzzled on that for a bit before I realized what **Freddy** meant. He was talking about universities whose name is simply a direction with no other qualifiers. Northwestern University isn’t named the Northwestern University of Someplace, nor the University of Northwestern Someplace. It’s just named “Northwestern University” Conversely the University of Southern California has … well … “California” in its name. It has a direction, but it also has more than a direction. Case Western University wouldn’t qualify either since it’s name includes the “Case” part. At least that’s not a geographical reference. And is yet another aging reminder that Ohio was once thought of as being in the West. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2020, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/94 "2020-12-07T20:10:56Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Case Western University wouldn’t qualify either since it’s name includes the “Case” part. At least that’s not a geographical reference. And is yet another aging reminder that Ohio was once thought of as being in the West. Trivia: Case Western Reserve University was originally two different universities: Case Institute of Technology was one and Western Reserve Univesity was the other. Northeastern Ohio was known as the “Western Reserve,” because, as pointed out above, it was the “Connecticut Western Reserve,” a chunk of land claimed by Connecticut until all the states relinquished their claims west of the Appalachians. ---
**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 7, 2020, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/95 "2020-12-07T20:21:22Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > He was talking about universities whose name is simply a direction with no other qualifiers. Northwestern University isn’t named the Northwestern University of Someplace, nor the University of Northwestern Someplace. It’s just named “Northwestern University” Thanks I missed that. ---
**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 7, 2020, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/96 "2020-12-07T20:58:47Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Ah… well that’s fair… though I guess I meant a different term for the Indian subcontinent. The landmass between Afghanistan and Myanmar is called “the subcontinent” there may be other things that qualify as subcontinents (Europe, perhaps?), but when one speaks of the subcontinent, it means India et al. ---
**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 7, 2020, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/97 "2020-12-07T21:15:46Z")
The Midwest Conference no longer exists, but at its time, there were schools only in Indiana and Illinois. ---
**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 7, 2020, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/98 "2020-12-07T21:17:08Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Case Western University wouldn’t qualify either since it’s name includes the “Case” part. At least that’s not a geographical reference. And is yet another aging reminder that Ohio was once thought of as being in the West. Case Western was named from a merger of Case Institute of Technology and Western Reserve University, so named because the area around Cleveland was the Western Reserve, that part west of Pennsylvania that was claimed by Connecticut. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/99 "2020-12-08T03:18:08Z")
How about [University of Western States](https://www.uws.edu/)? But they don’t have sports. There’s also [Western University](https://www.uwo.ca/) in Ontario. They have a full sports program. And [Eastern University](https://www.eastern.edu/) in Pennsylvania. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2020, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190/100 "2020-12-08T04:05:42Z")
You’re welcome to stop by Missouri, where Northeast Missouri State changed its name to Truman State, Central Missouri State changed its name to the University of Central Missouri (not that it was any great improvement), The University of Missouri-Rolla changed its name to Missouri University of Science and Technology (but is still part of the University of Missouri system), and Southwest Missouri State changed its name to just plain Missouri State University - infuriating every other school in the state university system (as if they’re any better than us!) as well as the University of Missouri system. There’s still Northwest and Southeast Missouri State Universities, among others. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ridiculous-directional-schools-in-college-sports/927190.md?page=6)