The 25 Year Winter Episode 1: How championship college football went dormant in the North

The South and the SEC took over college football starting in 1998 -- and the North and the Big Ten helped let it happen. This five-part podcast series will examine the how and why of that -- from coaches to players to attitudes to geography to cheating to luck. Between 1998 and 2022, the North won just two national titles as Alabama's Nick Saban and a host of other Southern champs put the North in a corner. Episode 1 starts with a moment of Northern superiority -- the 2006 showdown between No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Michigan. Then it explains how it all unraveled, including some close calls for the North that might have rendered this podcast moot if they'd gone another way. And yeah, once the South started winning, the South started bragging. The North didn't have much of an answer, on the field or in a war of words. The next four episodes will dive even deeper on coaches, players, attitudes and the shift in the sport that is ending this era of Northern shortcoming. Hosts Doug Lesmerises and Bill Landis from the daily college college football Kings of the North appreciate you being here, and they hope you enjoy The 25 Year Winter. Producer: Michael Henahan. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.