Big Ten Political Spectrum

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I'm brainstorming a similar chart for the SEC, but I'm not sure how to distinguish the 8-10 schools in a big clump slightlyright of center.

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This one also.

No Wisconsin?

No Kentucky or Louisville?

They're not Big Ten schools.

I think he was mocking Gordon Gee.

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Here's my best guess at the SEC.  The main criteria I used were:

-- Racial demographics of the student body
-- How the university's county voted in 2008 and 2012 (low impact on schools like Vanderbilt and South Carolina)
-- How the under-30s in the state voted in 2008 and 2012 (if available)
-- Where schools appeared on general lists of "Most conservative schools" I found by Googling
-- Recent news events which affect perception
-- General gut feelings, perceptions, and stereotypes.



Thoughts?  Did I mispeg anyone?  Vanderbilt was almost completely a guess, since none of the above factors really apply much.

ETA:  I probably put Kentucky too far to the left.

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I would put Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina, LSU and Arkansas farther to the left. If you go into DRA you can see that most of these campuses are in the high 50's/low 60's in their support for Obama. Georgia should be right next to Florida.

I don't know about that.  This is Obama's under-30 percentage in each of the SEC states (2008):
61   Florida
59   Missouri
56   Mississippi
55   South Carolina
55   Tennessee
54   Texas
51   Kentucky
50   Alabama
49   Arkansas
48   Georgia
48   Louisiana

Remember that all 14 SEC universities are whiter and richer than the overall under-30 population in their states.  That's why UF and Mizzou are the only ones left of center, along with Georgia that I put based on anecdotal evidence.  And perhaps I should put it even more liberal.


Here's the % Obama got in each university's county (not including the state capitals):
62.77   Georgia
57.71   Florida
50.20   Mississippi State
50.17   Missouri
49.32   Kentucky
41.48   Ole Miss
40.68   Alabama
40.07   Arkansas
39.23   Auburn
34.43   Tennessee
31.23   Texas A&M

Obviously this isn't necessarily an indicator of much, since many students are still registered back at home, it does give an approximation of the universities' environment.

I can buy putting Georgia to the left for sure though.