Folks, it's back. Below is the updated imperialism map following week 8.
"What is the College Football Empires Map?
Last season, I created the College Football Imperialism Map, which quickly became one of the most anticipated features on the CFB Subreddit every week. This season I have been given the opportunity to host this map on SB Nation, under the slight name change to the College Football Empires Map.
This map asks the question, "What if college football games were played for more than just wins and losses, but also for land?"
Each FBS team is given a territory to begin the season, and if they lose, the team that beats them takes their land. Teams are then always in the process of trying to either regain land or expand their land by beating teams that have land."
The territories for each team are determined by which school is closest in straight-line distance to the geometric center of each county.
More information can be found HERE.
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Comments
Please explain logic behind Auburn getting Alaska? Thanks
Because they beat Washington
OK, then, by similar logic, I could just as easily give it to VT: We beat the Seminoles which were the only Indian tribe to never surrender or sign a treaty with the US or its settlers. Therefore the Mountain Men of Alaska were defeated by the Hokies. Hokies get Alaska.
Washington originally had the land because
Washington is geographically the closest FBS school to the entire state. By that same quirk, if Miami weren't given Puerto Rico they'd start every season with no land and Cal owns counties adjacent to theirs but doesn't own the county they're in because Stanford is closer to the center.
OK, I was just playing around and trying to get VT more land.
Beating Michigan sure doesn't net you very much territory.
Too many directions.
But you get to keep the khakis.
So how much land was lost to never be retaken by an FBS team? If an FCS team won and doesn't play another FBS Jane that land lost to FBS teams forever?
ECU lost to FCS NC A&T.
But, NCAT plays Gardner-Webb next week, who then plays App State the following week. So that land can come back to FBS.
Nova has Temple land...
Nova plays LeHigh next week, who plays Navy the week after. It's possible to come back to FBS ownership.
it saddens me not to see the richmond spiders logo on this map...
If Liberty keeps winning the win over LOLUVA is going to worth a lot.
UVA would have to get past GT the week between.
Thing is, I don't know if Liberty can really pick up a lot of land. They play Army in week 2 (who already lost land to Duke), and an FCS team in week 3. They play North Texas (who has SMU's land) the following game who would be coming off a game against Arkansas.
After that, they have a lot of teams who either haven't won, or will be playing teams who will likely lose the game before playing Liberty.
I think initial land given to each team should be based on fan population in each county. I think I've seen some sort of facebook metric/analysis of this before. If fan populations can not be determined for a county, then default back to straight line distance.
An overview of what is at stake each week for VT, as it currently stands.
Week 1: took FSU's land.
Week 2: nothing (W&M is FCS)
Week 3: nothing (ECU lost to FCS)
Week 4: nothing (ODU lost, but could pick up land from Charlotte in week 3.)
Week 5: Duke, Army (via Duke)
Week 6: Notre Dame, Michigan (via ND).
Week 7: nothing (UNC lost to Cal)
Week 8: BYE gives us nothing.
Week 9: GT
Week 10: BC, UMass (via BC)
Week 11: Pitt
Week 12: nothing (Miami lost to LSU)
Week 13: UVA
We don't get another chance to get land until week 4 at the earliest, if ODU beats Charlotte. ECU plays UNC next week, so that's a battle for a whole lot of nothing.
Duke could gain a decent sized empire if they keep winning. Northwestern and Purdue (via NW) in week 2, and Baylor and UTSA (via Baylor) in week 3.
Full disclosure, LSU gained nothing from beating Miami. IIRC, other schools are closer to the center of Dade county than Miami is and Miami is the only school to start every season with no land.
Edit: Looks like they're giving Miami Puerto Rico this year, so, yeah... enjoy, LSU?
technically, just because we have nothing to lose (and a very low likelihood of losing) doesn't mean nothing is at stake. We could always lose our holdings.
I like how, in Week 4, you note that ODU could still pick up land between now and our game with them, but in Week 7, you don't bother, because there's no way that UNC will win a game.
Slightly OT: VT moves up to 12th in the AP Poll
Full rundown here, including a look at a historical Imperialism map, if last year's map kept going into this season. I guess they're trying to see how long until one team controls the whole map.
Looking at the historical map, I'm curious as to how we came to possess South Texas. Who did we beat that was holding territory down there? Or is it just some obscure clause in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?
It started as UTSA. They lost to Southern Miss, who later lost to UAB. UAB lost to Florida, who lost to Florida State.
FSU held it through ULM (make up game) and Southern Miss (in the bowl game). Then we took it on Labor Day.
lol we could run the table this year and still somehow only manage to have 2 territories by the time we play in the ACC CG.
The week 2 update of what VT stands to gain . . .
Week 1: took FSU's land.
Week 2: nothing (W&M is FCS)
Current territories: VT, FSU (via VT)
Week 3: nothing (ECU lost to FCS in week 1, and took nothing from UNC in week 2)
Week 4: nothing (ODU is 0-2, and unable to pick up land in week 3)
Week 5: Duke, Army (via Duke), Northwestern (via Duke), Purdue (via NW and Duke)
Week 6: Notre Dame, Michigan (via ND), Ball State (via ND)
Week 7: nothing (UNC lost to Cal and ECU)
Week 8: BYE gives us nothing.
Week 9: nothing (GT lost to USF)
Week 10: BC, UMass (via BC)
Week 11: nothing (Pitt lost to PSU)
Week 12: nothing (Miami lost to LSU)
Week 13: nothing (UVA lost to Indiana)
For the on-going Imperialism map, UNC has a chance to take a ton of land from UCF, and then give to us
VT's week 3 update
Week 1: took FSU's land.
Week 2: nothing (W&M is FCS)
Week 3: nothing (game was cancelled, but ECU didn't have any)
Current territories: VT, FSU (via VT)
Week 4: nothing (ODU is 0-3)
Week 5: Duke, Army (via Duke), Northwestern (via Duke), Purdue (via NW and Duke), Baylor (via Duke)
--Duke cannot add territory in week 4, as they play FCS
Week 6: Notre Dame, Michigan (via ND), Ball State (via ND), Vanderbilt (via ND), Nevada (via Vandy and ND), Middle Tennessee (via Vandy and ND)
--ND cannot add territory in week 4, as Wake lost theirs to BC last week.
Week 7: nothing (UNC lost to Cal and ECU)
Week 8: BYE gives us nothing.
Week 9: nothing (GT lost to USF and Pitt)
Week 10: BC, UMass (via BC), WF (via BC), Tulane (via WF and BC)
Week 11: nothing (Pitt lost to PSU and gained nothing from GT)
Week 12: Toledo (via Miami)
Week 13: Ohio (via UVA)
Looks like Ohio State will control most of Va soon
Assuming Duke wins this week, we'll have a chance to pick up some nice territory on the historic map as well
So if Team #1 loses week 1 wins in week 2, does the TEam that beat them in week 1 get their land in week 2 as well?
It's not retroactive.
You only capture the land your opponent holds at the time you beat them.
If FSU somehow wins a game this season against a team that holds land, FSU will win those territories. We took their original land; Syracuse got nothing because Samford is FCS. (FCS teams can win land but they start the season with nothing).
Thanks, Bub.
Let's assume we played Ohio State this week instead of ODU and end up winning the game:
Everything that currently has Ohio State over it would become maroon with a VT over it. If we then lost to Duke the following week, everything with a VT becomes Duke blue. We'd have no land to give up to Notre Dame the following week but could claim everything Notre Dame still has, assuming they don't lose to either Wake or Stanford before playing us.
Edit: Meant that as a reply. Thought I hit reply. Whoops XD
TL;DR, you only get your land back by beating the team that currently holds it.
Might as well keep a running tally of where the ACC territories are.
UPDATED after week 12
Clemson is the only team with their original territory.
Teams that lost their original territory:
Louisville - > Alabama (week 1)
FSU -> VT (week 1) -> ODU (week 4) -> ECU (week 5) -> Temple (week 6) -> UCF (week 10)
UNC -> Cal (week 1) -> Oregon (week 5) -> Washington State (week 8)
Miami -> LSU (week 1) -> Florida (week 6) -> Georgia (week 9)
Pitt -> Penn State (week 2) -> Ohio State (week 5) -> Purdue (week 8) -> Michigan State (week 9) -> Ohio State (week 11)
UVA -> Indiana (week 2) -> Michigan State (week 4) -> Northwestern (week 6) -> Notre Dame (week 10)
GT -> USF (week 2) -> Houston (week 9) -> SMU (week 10) -> Memphis (week 12)
Wake Forest -> BC (week 3) -> Purdue (week 4) -> Michigan State (week 9) -> Ohio State (week 11)
VT -> ODU (week 4) -> ECU (week 5) -> Temple (week 6) -> UCF (week 10)
BC -> Purdue (week 4) -> Michigan State (week 9) -> Ohio State (week 11)
Duke -> VT (week 5) -> Notre Dame (week 6)
Syracuse -> Clemson (week 5)
NC State -> Clemson (week 8)
And a breakdown of teams with ACC land by number of territories:
3: Clemson, Ohio State
2: Notre Dame, UCF
1: Alabama, Washington State, Georgia, Memphis
Well, this post sucks.
We have no land. ODU now controls VT and FSU territories.
VT's week 3 update
Week 1: took FSU's land.
Week 2: nothing (W&M is FCS)
Week 3: nothing (game was cancelled, but ECU didn't have any)
Week 4: surrendered to ODU
Current territories: none
Week 5: Duke, Army (via Duke), Northwestern (via Duke), Purdue (via NW and Duke), Baylor (via Duke)
Week 6: Notre Dame, Michigan (via ND), Ball State (via ND), Vanderbilt (via ND), Nevada (via Vandy and ND), Middle Tennessee (via Vandy and ND)
Week 7: nothing (UNC lost to Cal and ECU, gained nothing from Pitt)
Week 8: BYE gives us nothing.
Week 9: nothing (GT lost to USF and Pitt)
Week 10: nothing (BC lost to Purdue)
Week 11: nothing (Pitt lost to PSU and gained nothing from GT, then lost to UNC anyway)
Week 12: Toledo (via Miami)
Week 13: Ohio (via UVA)
Duke did not gain anything due to playing FCS. Notre Dame did not get anything from WF who lost to BC last week.
Miami and UVA did not gain anything due to both of their opponents losing in week 1 and not picking up any land in the meantime.
This was the master plan all along: ECU now controls Blacksburg after beating ODU.
Sadly ECU plays UCF in a couple weeks, meaning they won't have the land when we make the game up at the end of the season.
we're 2-0 in the ACC. At this rate, we won't be making up the game
I'm sorry, you seen to have missed the "/s" that I intentionally left off because I hate it.
VT's week 5 update -- we have land again!
Week 1: took FSU's land.
Week 2: nothing (W&M is FCS)
Week 3: nothing (game was cancelled, but ECU didn't have any)
Week 4: surrendered to ODU
Week 5: plundered Duke's expanded kingdom
Current territories: Duke, Army (via Duke), Northwestern (via Duke), Purdue (via NW and Duke), Baylor (via Duke)
Week 6: Notre Dame, Michigan (via ND), Ball State (via ND), Vanderbilt (via ND), Nevada (via Vandy and ND), Middle Tennessee (via Vandy and ND), Stanford (via ND), San Diego State (via Stanford and ND), USC (via Stanford and ND), UNLV (via USC, Stanford, and ND), Oregon (via Stanford and ND), Bowling Green (via Oregon, Stanford, and ND)
Week 7: nothing (UNC either loses or beats teams with nothing)
Week 8: BYE gives us nothing.
Week 9: nothing (GT either loses or beats teams with nothing)
Week 10: Texas (via Maryland, Temple, and BC), Maryland (via Temple and BC)
Week 11: nothing (Pitt either loses or beats teams with nothing)
Week 12: Toledo (via Miami)
Week 13: nothing (UVA lost to NC State)
A few big shifts. If we beat ND, we get a huge chunk of the map, and a lot of the west coast. We also can get some juicy territory from BC.
I think this map would be interesting if it were designed to show the recruiting Imperialism map. Which program controls which areas of recruiting. But I don't know how hard that would be to determine.
ECU has our land and it upsets me greatly. I know they won't have it long but I hate seeing that damn pirate in our mountains.
I find it interesting that we're actually third in population, and Notre Dame is first.
Population
1. Notre Dame - 40,236,908
2. Ohio State - 29,487,619
3. Virginia Tech - 18,509,389
4. Purdue - 14,996,319
5. South Florida - 14,658,163
Makes sense, since we have Northwestern (Chicago), Army (NYC), Duke (Durham), in addition to Purdue (West Lafayette) and Baylor (Waco). Those first three are pretty big population centers.
Notre Dame is also first in territories, fourth in counties, and third in land area. Lots of land to take over if we can beat them this weekend.
Source
VT's week 6 update -- we have no land again!
Week 1: took FSU's land.
Week 2: nothing (W&M is FCS)
Week 3: nothing (game was cancelled, but ECU didn't have any)
Week 4: surrendered to ODU
Week 5: plundered Duke's expanded kingdom
Week 6: surrendered the Duke kingdom to ND
Current territories: none
Week 7: nothing (UNC either loses or beats teams with nothing)
Week 8: BYE gives us nothing.
Week 9: nothing (GT either loses or beats teams with nothing)
Week 10: nothing (BC lost to NC State)
Week 11: nothing (Pitt either loses or beats teams with nothing)
Week 12: Toledo (via Miami)
Week 13: nothing (UVA either loses or beats teams with nothing)
Doesn't look like we're getting much of an empire, if any, by the end of the year.
The Notre Dame kingdom now consists of: Notre Dame, Michigan (via ND), Ball State (via ND), Vanderbilt (via ND), Nevada (via Vandy and ND), Middle Tennessee (via Vandy and ND), Stanford (via ND), San Diego State (via Stanford and ND), USC (via Stanford and ND), UNLV (via USC, Stanford, and ND), Oregon (via Stanford and ND), Bowling Green (via Oregon, Stanford, and ND), Duke (via VT), Army (via Duke and VT), Northwestern (via Duke and VT), Purdue (via NW, Duke, and VT), Baylor (via Duke and VT)
VT's week 7 update
Week 1: took FSU's land.
Week 2: nothing (W&M is FCS)
Week 3: nothing (game was cancelled, but ECU didn't have any)
Week 4: surrendered to ODU
Week 5: plundered Duke's expanded kingdom
Week 6: surrendered the Duke kingdom to ND
Week 7: UNC offered nothing
Current territories: none
Week 8: BYE gives us nothing.
Week 9: nothing (GT either loses or beats teams with nothing)
Week 10: nothing (BC lost to NC State)
Week 11: nothing (Pitt either loses or beats teams with nothing)
Week 12: nothing (Miami lost to UVA)
Week 13: Toledo (via Miami and UVA)
Overall, nothing changed in our forecast, other than delaying the ability to get the Toledo land by a week.
Updated to reflect week 8. Seeing tOSU wiped of the map is a beautiful thing.
anOSU*
Also, am I reading this right that Clemson is the only ACC team with territory? Liberty has more than all but one ACC school. It would make me sad if this in anyway reflected on how good a team's season is going (see: anOSU)
Sounds about right, considering that the majority of the ACC wins come against teams who had previously lost.
Just look at VT's schedule - the only games where we had or have any ability to gain territory were FSU (because it was the first one), Duke, Notre Dame, and UVA.
VT's week 8 update (pretty much the same as week 7)
Week 1: took FSU's land.
Week 2: nothing (W&M is FCS)
Week 3: nothing (game was cancelled, but ECU didn't have any)
Week 4: surrendered to ODU
Week 5: plundered Duke's expanded kingdom
Week 6: surrendered the Duke kingdom to ND
Week 7: UNC offered nothing
Week 8: BYE gave us nothing.
Current territories: none
Week 9: nothing (GT either loses or beats teams with nothing)
Week 10: nothing (BC lost to NC State)
Week 11: nothing (Pitt either loses or beats teams with nothing)
Week 12: nothing (Miami lost to UVA)
Week 13: Toledo (via Miami and UVA)
VT's week 10 update
Week 1: took FSU's land.
Week 2: nothing (W&M is FCS)
Week 3: nothing (game was cancelled, but ECU didn't have any)
Week 4: surrendered to ODU
Week 5: plundered Duke's expanded kingdom
Week 6: surrendered the Duke kingdom to ND
Week 7: UNC offered nothing
Week 8: BYE gave us nothing.
Week 9: nothing on the line against GT
Week 10: nothing to give to BC
Current territories: none
Week 11: Toledo (via Miami, UVA, and Pitt)
Week 12: nothing (Miami lost to UVA and every game since)
Week 13: nothing (UVA lost to Pitt)