Why College Football is better than the NFL

[aoa_stripes]

1. Passion
The appeal of college football is rooted in the simple notion that your team represents you, your state, your alma mater, your youth. The NFL represents -- what, exactly? A bunch of 25-year-old millionaires who will dump your town the minute their agent secures a better offer. There is no loyalty in the NFL. College football is all about loyalty.

2. 25-year-old millionaires
Speaking of which, college football has none. What the game does have, instead, is humility. You want the bling and the talk? Have at it. We'll stick with guys who are still happy to get their names in the paper.
Rivalry games like Alabama-Auburn fuel the passion for college football.

3. Rivalries
Army-Navy. Ohio State-Michigan. Alabama-Auburn. Texas-Oklahoma. Harvard-Yale. Williams-Amherst. No matter the division, there are rivalries that go 365-24-7. You revel in victory and agonize in defeat. What does the NFL offer in comparison? Dallas-Washington? How big can a rivalry be when they play it twice a year?

4. The postseason
That's right. I'm defending the BCS. Well, not exactly. I'm defending the lack of a playoff. Better yet, I'm going to let West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez defend it for me.
"In Division I [-A] football, every game is a playoff," Rodriguez said. "Once you lose one game, you're mostly out. If you lose two, you're definitely out. We got 12 playoff games. Teams take that approach. That's probably why there's so much interest. You stub your toe, you can never get back in it."
Those ugly December games when Peyton Manning plays one series and sits out, as if it were August? In college football, games in August are played as if they're in December.

5. Bowls on TV
Of course there are too many bowls. But from Dec. 19 to Jan. 8, when there's a game on just about every day, how great is that?

6. Playbook buffet
College offenses range from the option employed by Navy and Air Force to the I to the West Coast to the spread. Every week brings something different. They stretch the capabilities of defensive coordinators and the enjoyment of the fans. Most NFL offenses come from the same cookie cutter. Call them Two Degrees of Bill Walsh.

7. Overtime
It's simple. In college, both teams get the ball. In the NFL, you can lose the game without one side of your team stepping onto the field.
Traditions like dotting the I at Ohio State make halftime meaningful at college games.

8. Stadiums
NFL owners hold up their hometowns for state-of-the-art palaces that have as much personality as a downtown skyscraper. Give me old-school (there's a reason that became an adjective) classics like the stadiums at Notre Dame, Ohio State or most any SEC school any day of the week.
And think about this: Which sport has 16 stadiums that average more than 80,000 in attendance? The NFL has one. Which sport has four stadiums that average six figures in attendance? It ain't the Sunday one.

9. Ticket prices
The highest cost of a ticket at Georgia this season is $32. The Bulldogs are the defending SEC champion. The highest cost of a ticket at the Atlanta Falcons this season is $104. The Falcons went 8-8. Where would you rather be?

10. Commercials after kickoff
The worst thing to happen to football since the XFL. Let's go over this. Extra point. Lots of commercials. Kickoff. Lots of commercials. By the time the game starts again, you've got to remind yourself who's playing. That's not a problem in college football.

11. More bang for your buck (cont.)
All those commercials and yet the games are shorter. What does that mean? Less football! NFL teams ran an average of 62.5 offensive plays per game last season. Division I-A teams ran an average of 70.6 offensive plays. And don't tell me that college games last longer. Yes, they averaged 3:06 and the NFL averaged 3:01, but that's explained by halftime. College halftimes last 20 minutes; the NFL, 12.

12. College halftimes
NFL halftime means a break. College halftime means tradition. Marching bands dot the I in Ohio or at least rouse the emotions by playing the fight song. Non-marching bands, such as the LSJUMB (Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band) at Stanford, mock all that is sacred. Either way, it's an inestimable part of the college football experience. NFL halftime means, um, time to make a sandwich.

13. Dynasties
The NFL, thanks to the salary cap, is the last bastion of socialism in the world outside of Cuba. In college football, coaches build something to last. History demands that Michigan must win (or Nebraska or USC). What does history demand of the Carolina Panthers? An introduction.

14. JoePa
Joe Paterno has been at Penn State as assistant (beginning in 1950) and head coach (since 1966) for 56 seasons -- or seven years before the dean of NFL coaches, Bill Cowher, was born.
Touchdown Jesus watches over Saturday games in South Bend, Ind.

15. Traditions
Checkerboard end zones. Aggies kissing their girls after a touchdown. Nittany Lion roars. Boats on Lake Washington anchoring at a Husky game. The flaming spear at midfield. The Sooner Schooner. Touchdown Jesus. Traditions are the imprimatur of every college team and its fans. As long as the NFL is operated out of one office in New York, tradition will be disallowed.

16. Songs
Hail to the Victors, you Helluva Engineer. What be the odds, great or small, drown 'em Tide. Whether you Fight On, or you just On Wisconsin, just remember, We are the Boys from Old Florida, and champions of the West.

17. The Heisman
The single most recognized individual award in American sports may not deserve its perch on the merits -- it is, in fact, awarded to the best offensive player on a national championship contender -- but the Heisman has held on to its stature even as it outlived its founder (the Downtown Athletic Club of New York).
Only blood relatives can name any NFL MVP who won before, say, 2001. A Heisman winner will be introduced as such for the rest of his life.
The Heisman Trophy is the most recognized individual award in American sports.

18. Keith Jackson
Suffered one year on ABC's "Monday Night Football." Called college football games for more than four decades.

19. Championship sites
Last four championship sites: Pasadena, New Orleans, Miami, Tempe.

20. Eternal youth
Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, whose name has gotten tossed into every NFL coaching search since he left the Ravens staff in 1998, said he likes the college game because he likes to develop young players. The rhythm and arc of a collegiate career embody the fulfillment of potential. It's the same reason we continue to go back to our alma maters season after season. College football reconnects you with the kid you were, when Monday morning meant only a political science class, not the resumption of the mortgage chase. That's why you go back to campus every fall.
That, and the chance to beat your archrival.

[aoa_stripes]

I'll Even take it a step further and make my own Top 14 of Why we all love High School Football.

1) Passion
High school football is not just about playing for your school, but alsoyour entire community.

2) High School kids
These are Tenneage kids playingfor themoment and the memories. A large majority of these kids will never step on another football field after their high school career is over.

3)Rivalries
Don`t tell me rivalries aren`t as important to these kids as they are to largeD-1 schools. There`s always a team or 2 that gets circled on a schedule.

4)The postseason
Nothing beats rolling into UVA-Wise for a double header Region D championship game and having 4 LPD schools represent the Region.

5)Games not on TV
These kids aren`t playing for the air time or to be seen. Everything they do is for themselves, their school, and their community.

6)Playboooks
We see anything from the spread to the T , to the wishbone. And that`s just in the LPD!

7)Overtime
10 yards and 11 players between you and a win.

8)Stadiums
These kids don`t always play on the artificial turf or the beautiful turf we see at college stadiums. Some games are played in the gravel, dirt, and even a foot of mud.

9)Ticket prices
I know people that would pay $50 to see a big LPD matchup

10)No commercials
Everything is live and in your face action.

11)Dynasties
We all know there`s certain teams everyonelooks up to that they would love nothing more than to knock them off of their high horse.

12)Tom Turner
Need I say more?

13)Traditions
When you have 2 schools in your district ranked in the top 5 in your state in tradition, it says a lot.

14)eternal youth
These kids will remember these days for the rest of their lives!
For that oppurtunity to have their picture on the wall or to secure that trophy in the trophy case, that they can return many years from now and relive that moment.

[pvfan]

I love it because come the third Saturday in October your crying every year.

[imported_mega]

Id have to give the nfl props, I think they are even because their game is better in alot of ways. Theres really no affiliation for officials so theres less cheating involved, professional officials are much better because they are actually working a full time job instead of driving a bread truck all week then F'n up the game on saturdays. Im not much for conference officiating, there should be one body. I like the nfl playoffs as opposed to college bowls, they are more intense to me. I like the idea of the clock not stopping to move the chains. I like the idea that each team has to play a real schedule and the two teams in the national title game arent really there because they deserved to be but because they played a weaker schedule. I like the idea that Roger Goddell can discipline anyone he sees fit, instead of watching Bobby Bowden suspend a kid for the game against Southern Florida A&M State only to play the next week in the big game. I like nfl halftimes being nice and short and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the salary cap. It makes the game an even playing field for everyone and contrary to what the above said, dynasties like the Patriots still exist, not to mention teams like the Cardinals, Browns, and Lions all have the chance to become good in the next few years if they manage the cap properly and draft the right players. Sure, teams of the past like Dallas and San Francisco had a ton of depth where injuries didnt effect their playoff pushes as much, but Chicago still made it to the superbowl without Mike Brown and Tommie Harris. It is sort of odd that TO could spike the ball on the Dallas star and play for them 4-5 years later so rivalries arent quite the same but I dont think free agency is a bad thing. Even if there wasnt free agency, Im not sure rivalries would be the same.

There are things about college football that are better like bands, more venom, rivalries, school spirit, and tradition but I feel the nfl is a better game. When college football can determine its first real champion then I may give them the advantage. To say nfl players are greedy is sort of funny when you know the only reason there isnt a playoff is because college presidents are the most greedy. Everyone wants it to happen, yet it still comes down to money.

I will say the superbowl is highly overrated. Id much prefer to watch the nfc and afc championships. Im not sure if its the hype leading up to the game, corporate execs getting all of the seats, or the game rarely living up to what people expect, but Im not a huge fan of the superbowl. Id take the BCS national title game over the superbowl anyday although I believe the nfl game is a better game.

[TheBeast]

I agree with college being better than pros.

But I also have to add that ticket prices shouldn't be in there unless you also add that you can only get the tickets to the good games for this price if your at least a $5000 a year donor.

[aoa_stripes]

Interesting view, and I respect and agree with many of the points you make. IMO I still give college the nod, I just personally get more excited over watching a Saturday full of College games.

[UTVols2]

I like the post about the high school game Zebra, good stuff. The only thing I would add would be Friday Night under the lights, enough said.

[StateChamps92]

More heart, no contracts, and wanting a contract. Not to mention there's no playoff. So if the team has a hic up, that could kill their title shot. College has it in my eyes.

[imported_mega]

I think I paid 82 dollars each for my Miami/Oklahoma tickets for this season and thats at face value.

[imported_Counts]

I like collage more as well BUT I HATE the lack of a playoff system the 12 week playoff thing only holds water until you realize that #1 a Perfect record DOES NOT always get you a spot in that game and #2 The ranking system promotes running up the scores (poor sportsmanship) because to win is not enough you must beat them by as many points as possible