In Praise of VPISU (Not!) - NPR contributor Frank Deford's panegyric to "State" colleges and universities is now available at SI Online.

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for State U teams. You know, those schools that are not the University of Somewhere -- like the University of Michigan or the University of Virginia -- but which have a "state" in their name, like Oregon State or Mississippi State.

State colleges invariably were created after the "University of" colleges. Usually, the "University of" colleges are the more hoity-toity places. They like to call themselves "flagships." Oooh. In fact, a lot of state colleges started out as agricultural schools -- "aggies," they were called, as if they were marbles -- so stuck-up fans of the aristocratic universities would all go "Mooo" during games, and holler other nasty barnyard-related remarks.

In the South, the state colleges were the impoverished, predominantly black schools, such as Tennessee State and Kentucky State. Or they started out as teachers' colleges, or, heaven forbid, as colleges for young ladies, like Florida State.

Whatever the original reason, schools with "state" in their name invariably lack the cachet that the "University ofs" have. So, as a lover of underdogs, I always root for the state colleges.

Coming from a man who thinks major league baseball is the apotheosis of sport, I'll take that with a grain of salt. (Why is "Mr. Jefferson" in boldface in reference to The University?) Besides, whatever he might have to say about the Hokies "leaving us in their dust," we never shout "moooo" at them -- we talk about how they come to the game on tractors dressed in over-alls.