[Sly Fox]

Come on, did you really believe I woudl let this slip by unnoticed? There is a huge dropoff after the top three. There are links to each of the 50 states.

Overall state football rankings
ESPN.com



High school playoffs have ended, bowl season is in full swing, and the NFL playoff picture grows clearer by the game.

In the midst of this football bonanza, we got to wondering: How do the states stack up across all levels of football?

We asked our NFL, college and Scouts Inc. editors to rank the states and District of Columbia at each level, then combined those rankings for an overall number.

The rankings you see below connect to a further description of each state. They aren't, however, the final word.

We're interested in your description of football in your state. Did we get it right? Did we miss an important fact, player, coach or game that would alter the rankings? Let us know what you think, and we'll add the best submissions to that state's pages.

1. Texas

No. 4 pro | No. 1 college | No. 1 high school: The Lone Star State has 10 DI teams, six Heismans*, six national titles**, three AFL titles***, five Super Bowl wins and 24 NFL Hall of Famers****.


2. California

No. 2 pro | No. 3 college | No. 2 high school: The Golden State has seven DI teams, nine Heismans, eight national titles, one NFL title, one AFL title, eight Super Bowl wins and 15 NFL Hall of Famers.


3. Florida

No. 3 pro | No. 2 college | No. 3 high school: The Sunshine State has seven DI teams, six Heismans, eight national titles, three Super Bowl wins and seven NFL Hall of Famers.


4. Pennsylvania

No. 1 pro | No. 7 college | No. 6 high school: The Keystone State has three DI teams, two Heismans, four national titles, four NFL titles, five Super Bowl wins and 26 NFL Hall of Famers.


5. Ohio

No. 5 pro | No. 4 college | No. 5 high school: The Buckeye State has eight DI teams, seven Heismans, seven national titles, nine NFL titles and 21 NFL Hall of Famers.


13. Virginia

No. 22 pro | No. 14 college | No. 8 high school: Old Dominion has two DI teams and seven NFL Hall of Famers.


14. North Carolina

No. 17 pro | No. 21 college | No. 14 high school: The Tar Heel State has five DI teams and five NFL Hall of Famers.

http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsna ... munityfbIP

[LUconn]

The Old Dominion state has more than 2 DI teams.

[SuperJon]

The guys on AGS are completely ripping that article.

[ATrain]

I bet the Appy State fans are extremely happy that their back-to-back national championships have been completely ignored and discounted in this article.

[PAmedic]

PA has a TON more DI teams then 3.

"yeah, how 'bout next time you do a little research"

[TIMSCAR20]

Medic that is a reference to my all time favorite Geico commercial right? "I'll have the roast duck, with the Mango Salsa...Nothing for me thanks, I think I lost my appetite!"

[PAmedic]

You are dead on, my friend.

I knew someone would get that.

[bigsmooth]

I think they are speaking of I-A teams. that is all i will say about this article.

[Sly Fox]

Come on, smoothie. I thought they were overly generous to your neck of the woods.

[bigsmooth]

very funny sly

[jack_sparrow81]

Texas and Alabama may care more about their teams but Florida's has the best HS football though hands down. The only reason the Big 3 schools have been down for the past five years is because other schools like USC and Ohio St. have snuck in and took some of the recruits.

[jmdickens]

texas has the best high school football hands down

[Sly Fox]

Come on, sparrow. You didn't really get much of a taste of Texas high school football in Victoria. Just compare attendance with Cali & Florida.

[SuperJon]

What else is there to do in the middle of the desert?

[jmdickens]

SJ, not everywhere in Texas is like what you see in the movies
Austin has 1 million people living there....Dallas is a huge metropolitan area, and Houston has a few million itself
Also, don't forget San Antonio

[SuperJon]

Oh, I know, I just like making fun of Sly.

[Sly Fox]

Austin actually has 1.5M in Metro ... 2M in the Alamo City.

Around 5M in Houston and 6M in Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex.

As for the desert, you can find it if you drive far enough. But I haven't seen it in years myself except out the window of a flight over West Texas.

[PAmedic]

whatever.

as long as you like Cactus and cowboy hats, I guess its ok.

do you get issued spurs at birth?