How Cool Is This Map of College Football from 1938?

This map of what college football looked like in 1938 looks like something out of the 1700s dealing with state lines and not yardage markers.

It’s also a reminder that Oklahoma State (Oklahoma A&M) and Tulsa were in the Missouri Valley Conference with Drake, St. Louis, Creighton and Washburn. OSU finished last in the conference that year. But hey, we were just one year away from the coolest uniforms ever.

Here’s what Slate has to say about the map.

By 1938, when this map was printed, college football was in its seventh decade and had already been the subject of much speculation and analysis, with onlookers fretting over the party culture surrounding it on campuses, investigating the amateur status (or lack thereof) of its players, and scrutinizing its recruitment practices.

Not much has changed!

As the abundance of teams and their widespread geographical distribution shows, neither that scrutiny nor the initial reduction in ticket sales that the first years of the Depression brought had affected the sport’s popularity.

No, no it still hasn’t.

You can zoom in on the map here.

[Slate]