College football is far more fun to watch. However, the 49ers game versus the Packers in the divisional game of the 2002-2003 season was utterly fantastic!
College football has less talent, but the spread offense sweeping across the nation is more exciting than anything going on in any other sport, amateur or pro. The college level has a lot more heart too. The pros are preening prima donnas, no thanks to overinflated egos.
College is better for so many reasons. With so many teams there;s more to watch, keep track of and enjoy. plus each game means SO much more than pro and the upsets are exponentially bigger both in excitement and significance. Also, it’s more about the team in college because by the nature of it, the players have to change out so frequently. Plus, it helps that it’s on Saturday:)
Not that I watch much of either, but…I enjoy the precision I see in the pros (yes, if you’re watching a good team). Few sports deliver that degree of specialization and exactness, and when two goods NFL teams are both “on” it’s hard to find a better sporting event.
Pro football, even though the quality of play is often higher, is 90% boring. Plus, it’s so much harder to have continuing loyalty to a pro team like you do for your college. Rivalries suck or are non-existent in the pros, while college rivalries are blood oaths. College football is just so much more fun. Having said that, the BCS is a secret combination spawned from the deepest pit of hell and must be destroyed.
I didn’t even care much about college ball when I was in college, let alone years later.
Don’t know about the boring argument – tonight we had two great NFL games that went down to the last minute. Saturday we had Florida winning 56-6, Texas 41-10, Alabama 40-14, BYU 54-3, California 59-7, Boise St. 48-0, Oklahoma 64-0, VA Tech 52-10, and Cincinnati 70-3. Can’t get too excited about those games. Yes, sometimes we get great contests like Texas-USC or Boise St.-Oklahoma, but even those games don’t really mean anything with a nonsense BCS system preventing a legitimate championship.
But neither college nor the NFL is on my mind much in September and October. I just spent two weeks watching the US Open tennis, and the baseball postseason is right around the corner.
The best thing about college ball is that connection to your college team. There’s simply a stronger connection than anyone can have to a pro team.
If you have a college team. Barely half of Americans have any college experience and only a little more than a quarter graduate. Of those, a much smaller percentage went to schools with a big time football program, and even among those, doubtless there were some who felt little allegiance to that team.
The Baltimore and Cleveland fans whose franchises were taken from them certainly had strong connections to their teams.
Clark: I’m from Indiana and went to IU, and I can say I definitely have greater connection to my Colts than to my Hoosiers in terms of Football. I think what you say about connection is true If you went to a school with a great football program.
And I used to live in the Philippines and I can say there was nothing like spending Monday lunch watching Sunday Night Football at the RCA dome.
Saturday we had Florida winning 56-6, Texas 41-10, Alabama 40-14, BYU 54-3, California 59-7, Boise St. 48-0, Oklahoma 64-0, VA Tech 52-10, and Cincinnati 70-3. Can’t get too excited about those games.
I voted college, for many of the same reasons others mentioned. Even though the overall quality of football is better in the pros, there is a reason the NFL is called the “No Fun League.” College football is more fun–especially when your team wins.
And Eric (#15), even that BYU game got to the point where it was embarassing. Even though my BYU team got the break on the call, a big part of me wanted the fumble returned for a touchdown to be called back and ruled an incomplete pass. I was feeling sorry for Tulane by that point.
There are two big problems with college football that taint an otherwise great game.
1. No true championship, no true champion
2. This is best expressed as BYU 54 Tulane 3; or, if you’d rather, Florida 56 Troy 6; or, V Tech 56 Marshall 10. In any given NFL game the underdog has the talent to make its opponent a match. New England might beat Detroit 97 times out of 100, but there will be those three games, and is maybe 25-30 New England wins, at least there is a contest. Otoh, in 20,000 tries, Troy will never beat Florida. I suppose this is called ‘parity’ – and while it is nowhere near as big a problem as it used to be in College Football, too large a percentage of college games are just not competitive.
I’d agree that at its very best college football is more fun than the NFL. I still voted for the NFL for being more consistently entertaining. ~
You Americans don’t appreciate world sports, nor, it seems, those you invented. College games score highly. So what? So do my kids’ street games. The level of skill in the NFL is superb stuff.
Eric, the fun part about the 4th quarter was watching the second stringers play. I was really curious about the backup QB but unfortunately the score was so high he just handed it off to running backs most of the time.
The only disappointing part of BYU’s last game was that they knelt the last drive.
My suspicion is that Utah is going to fall to Oregon and that TCU could struggle against Clemson. I think there’s not a bad chance BYU won’t see another ranked opponent this season. If that’s the case, they’re going to need all the style points they can get. Total blow outs are the only thing that’s going to keep them above a one-loss Texas or Florida.
The best football is small college games which are untelevised. My daughter went to a 4,000 kid liberal arts college that played Division II football and we’d visit and go to a game or two each year. Totally fun—the rag-tag band, the cheerleaders, the witty and snarky kids, all the townspeople for whom it was a prime social event—and it greatly benefited from having no TV timeouts and no prima donna players with egos and attitudes, just kids playing football. I’d actually forgotten how much fun football could be to watch.
I went to a US college that didn’t even have football. We played hockey. Serious hockey (a few Division 1 national championships) over the years. Homecoming was a hockey game.
I think that fans of any MWC school had better hope that the other MWC schools win all the games they can. Utah benefited a great deal last year from the fact that TCU and BYU had good seasons, and even that only got them to #2. If TCU and Utah don’t finish the season ranked then it will hurt a hypothetical undefeated BYU, and probably sink their always slim chances of getting to #1. Though I think that Utah’s two trips to the BCS have probably been enough such that if any MWC team goes undefeated this year they’ll go to a BCS bowl, style points or no style points.
I love how BYU fans are already at the level of planning on an undefeated season and not playing another ranked team all year. Just keep counting those chickens, guys.
Total blow outs are the only thing that’s going to keep them above a one-loss Texas or Florida.
Are you quite sure that you didn’t go to college in Canada?
I am sure now, but I wasn’t so sure then. In fact, it was sufficiently confusing that I married a Canadian women (two days before graduation), just in case.
The school with the unique athletic program is the University of Denver.
MCQ, I actually agree. I remember ’90 too well and the end to Detmer’s Heisman season. There’s a ton of things that could go wrong still, even though the offensive play calling seems better, the depth is better than anyone expected and so forth. As I said punting and kicking are scary and can come to haunt us in big games. I also note that Florida has turned out to be pretty crappy so Saturday’s game won’t have the impact I think many fans hoped.
So every BYU fan ought be cheering that OK goes undefeated the rest of the season and hope TCU and Utah have good seasons as well (except against us). You can bet I’ll be watching the OK-Miami and OK-Texas games.
The most interesting thing about College Football is that there is no absolute champion. The arguments are passionate and exciting. Which conferences are over rated? No one can know for certain, but each fan can think they can.
Almost makes up for the inferior play.
I like the Sunday football better. The stories are less interesting, but the level of play is fascinating to watch.
Further Reading
Steve Evans
RJH
Scott B.
John C.
Susan M
Aaron Brown
ninemoons
John Harrison
kulturblogadmin
Kyle M
Brad
KulturBlogGuest
MCQ
Wm
Rebecca
Ivan
Geoff J
btdgreg
Clark Goble
Aaron R.
Tim J
Ben
Marcus
Brad Williams
gibsonbn
College football is far more fun to watch. However, the 49ers game versus the Packers in the divisional game of the 2002-2003 season was utterly fantastic!
I voted college football – but the Giants defeating the Patriots was certainly a special SuperBowl game – not much tops that event.
The primary downside to college football is the postseason.
College football has less talent, but the spread offense sweeping across the nation is more exciting than anything going on in any other sport, amateur or pro. The college level has a lot more heart too. The pros are preening prima donnas, no thanks to overinflated egos.
UFC.
College is better for so many reasons. With so many teams there;s more to watch, keep track of and enjoy. plus each game means SO much more than pro and the upsets are exponentially bigger both in excitement and significance. Also, it’s more about the team in college because by the nature of it, the players have to change out so frequently. Plus, it helps that it’s on Saturday:)
College is so much better other than the stupid BCS. Man what I wouldn’t give to have NFL styled playoffs…
The best thing about college ball is that connection to your college team. There’s simply a stronger connection than anyone can have to a pro team.
Major League Football is much better than Minor League Football.
College ball — not even close on this one, Russ.
Not that I watch much of either, but…I enjoy the precision I see in the pros (yes, if you’re watching a good team). Few sports deliver that degree of specialization and exactness, and when two goods NFL teams are both “on” it’s hard to find a better sporting event.
Well, unless you’re watching soccer….
College. No contest.
Pro football, even though the quality of play is often higher, is 90% boring. Plus, it’s so much harder to have continuing loyalty to a pro team like you do for your college. Rivalries suck or are non-existent in the pros, while college rivalries are blood oaths. College football is just so much more fun. Having said that, the BCS is a secret combination spawned from the deepest pit of hell and must be destroyed.
I didn’t even care much about college ball when I was in college, let alone years later.
Don’t know about the boring argument – tonight we had two great NFL games that went down to the last minute. Saturday we had Florida winning 56-6, Texas 41-10, Alabama 40-14, BYU 54-3, California 59-7, Boise St. 48-0, Oklahoma 64-0, VA Tech 52-10, and Cincinnati 70-3. Can’t get too excited about those games. Yes, sometimes we get great contests like Texas-USC or Boise St.-Oklahoma, but even those games don’t really mean anything with a nonsense BCS system preventing a legitimate championship.
But neither college nor the NFL is on my mind much in September and October. I just spent two weeks watching the US Open tennis, and the baseball postseason is right around the corner.
If you have a college team. Barely half of Americans have any college experience and only a little more than a quarter graduate. Of those, a much smaller percentage went to schools with a big time football program, and even among those, doubtless there were some who felt little allegiance to that team.
The Baltimore and Cleveland fans whose franchises were taken from them certainly had strong connections to their teams.
Clark: I’m from Indiana and went to IU, and I can say I definitely have greater connection to my Colts than to my Hoosiers in terms of Football. I think what you say about connection is true If you went to a school with a great football program.
And I used to live in the Philippines and I can say there was nothing like spending Monday lunch watching Sunday Night Football at the RCA dome.
Saturday we had Florida winning 56-6, Texas 41-10, Alabama 40-14, BYU 54-3, California 59-7, Boise St. 48-0, Oklahoma 64-0, VA Tech 52-10, and Cincinnati 70-3. Can’t get too excited about those games.
Some of us can, Bill, some of us can.
I voted college, for many of the same reasons others mentioned. Even though the overall quality of football is better in the pros, there is a reason the NFL is called the “No Fun League.” College football is more fun–especially when your team wins.
And Eric (#15), even that BYU game got to the point where it was embarassing. Even though my BYU team got the break on the call, a big part of me wanted the fumble returned for a touchdown to be called back and ruled an incomplete pass. I was feeling sorry for Tulane by that point.
There are two big problems with college football that taint an otherwise great game.
1. No true championship, no true champion
2. This is best expressed as BYU 54 Tulane 3; or, if you’d rather, Florida 56 Troy 6; or, V Tech 56 Marshall 10. In any given NFL game the underdog has the talent to make its opponent a match. New England might beat Detroit 97 times out of 100, but there will be those three games, and is maybe 25-30 New England wins, at least there is a contest. Otoh, in 20,000 tries, Troy will never beat Florida. I suppose this is called ‘parity’ – and while it is nowhere near as big a problem as it used to be in College Football, too large a percentage of college games are just not competitive.
I’d agree that at its very best college football is more fun than the NFL. I still voted for the NFL for being more consistently entertaining. ~
You Americans don’t appreciate world sports, nor, it seems, those you invented. College games score highly. So what? So do my kids’ street games. The level of skill in the NFL is superb stuff.
But please lose half of the ad breaks.
The Brit,
Watching sports is all about starting 40 minutes late and letting the Tivo work its magic.
Eric, the fun part about the 4th quarter was watching the second stringers play. I was really curious about the backup QB but unfortunately the score was so high he just handed it off to running backs most of the time.
The only disappointing part of BYU’s last game was that they knelt the last drive.
My suspicion is that Utah is going to fall to Oregon and that TCU could struggle against Clemson. I think there’s not a bad chance BYU won’t see another ranked opponent this season. If that’s the case, they’re going to need all the style points they can get. Total blow outs are the only thing that’s going to keep them above a one-loss Texas or Florida.
The best football is small college games which are untelevised. My daughter went to a 4,000 kid liberal arts college that played Division II football and we’d visit and go to a game or two each year. Totally fun—the rag-tag band, the cheerleaders, the witty and snarky kids, all the townspeople for whom it was a prime social event—and it greatly benefited from having no TV timeouts and no prima donna players with egos and attitudes, just kids playing football. I’d actually forgotten how much fun football could be to watch.
I went to a US college that didn’t even have football. We played hockey. Serious hockey (a few Division 1 national championships) over the years. Homecoming was a hockey game.
Eric,
I think that fans of any MWC school had better hope that the other MWC schools win all the games they can. Utah benefited a great deal last year from the fact that TCU and BYU had good seasons, and even that only got them to #2. If TCU and Utah don’t finish the season ranked then it will hurt a hypothetical undefeated BYU, and probably sink their always slim chances of getting to #1. Though I think that Utah’s two trips to the BCS have probably been enough such that if any MWC team goes undefeated this year they’ll go to a BCS bowl, style points or no style points.
JFD,
Are you quite sure that you didn’t go to college in Canada?
I love how BYU fans are already at the level of planning on an undefeated season and not playing another ranked team all year. Just keep counting those chickens, guys.
Please, don’t kid yourself.
I am sure now, but I wasn’t so sure then. In fact, it was sufficiently confusing that I married a Canadian women (two days before graduation), just in case.
The school with the unique athletic program is the University of Denver.
What does this sentence mean?
MCQ, I have no idea what your final line refers to. If you think I’m prognosticating that BYU will blow out every game, you’re misreading.
By the way, Brad Rock just published an article that says exactly what I’m saying.
Eric,
I am guessing that he means that it is unlikely that BYU is ever going to be ahead of Florida or Texas. That seems clear enough.
Eric,
Just read the article and he only says roughly a third of what you covered, but he used many more words, so consider yourself efficient!
MCQ, I actually agree. I remember ’90 too well and the end to Detmer’s Heisman season. There’s a ton of things that could go wrong still, even though the offensive play calling seems better, the depth is better than anyone expected and so forth. As I said punting and kicking are scary and can come to haunt us in big games. I also note that Florida has turned out to be pretty crappy so Saturday’s game won’t have the impact I think many fans hoped.
So every BYU fan ought be cheering that OK goes undefeated the rest of the season and hope TCU and Utah have good seasons as well (except against us). You can bet I’ll be watching the OK-Miami and OK-Texas games.
The most interesting thing about College Football is that there is no absolute champion. The arguments are passionate and exciting. Which conferences are over rated? No one can know for certain, but each fan can think they can.
Almost makes up for the inferior play.
I like the Sunday football better. The stories are less interesting, but the level of play is fascinating to watch.