Why the big league NFL reigns supreme over college football
By Noah Ram, Noah Constrictor
It’s a Saturday in the Fall, and you are sitting on your couch or in your apartment. You turn on the TV to see what games are being played on college campuses throughout the country. You see that perennial powerhouses like Alabama, Clemson and Ohio State are crushing their lower-level conference opponents like a wrecking ball slamming into an old building. Then, you realize you’re better off getting work done instead.
The next day, on Sunday, you turn on the TV to see what NFL games are on, and you realize there is a plethora of great games featuring teams with playoff chances. Then, you recognize the football played on Sunday is better than the one played on Saturday.
In the 2019 college football season, excluding conference championship games, there were only nine games played between teams ranked in the top 10. Compare that to the NFL, where there was a meeting between playoff teams every week during the season, with many weeks having more than one. I know that the NFL has more playoff teams, but that just increases the parity we see. With only four teams making it to the College Football Playoff, the same teams tend to make it every year. In six years, Alabama and Clemson have made it five times, Oklahoma four times and Ohio State three times. Since the College Football Playoff system began in 2014, no team has started the season outside the top 20 and made the CFP.
Meanwhile, the NFL has seen at least four new teams advance to the playoffs since 1990, and no team has repeated as champions since the New England Patriots in 2003 and 2004.
Not only does pro football see more turnover and new teams competing for a Super Bowl each season, the talent is worlds better. There’s a reason NFL players are called professionals and college players are called amateurs. NFL Sundays have a cornucopia of excellent players on both sides that college football Saturdays simply can’t match.
NFL games are also noticeably shorter than their college counterparts. While the average game length may not seem like a lot (3 hours and 8 minutes for the NFL vs 3 hours and 24 minutes for college football), in reality, the big-time college games are much longer. Anyone who has ever watched an “SEC on CBS” game or an ABC “Saturday Night Football” game knows that all too well. Even the biggest football game of them all, the Super Bowl, can be shorter sometimes than a major college football game, despite being arguably an entertainment event as much as a sporting event.
So basically you are watching a better product in less time. It’s a win-win and another reason the NFL sacks college football.
Follow Noah on Twitter @Noah_ram1 and contact him at nram@alligator.org
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College Football is Just Different
By Zachary Huber, Zach of All Trades
College football is unique.
Nothing in the world can compare to the pageantry, the traditions, the passion and the importance of every single game that fans witness every Saturday.
These are only some of the reasons why college football is special and outclasses the NFL in almost every area.
Except that NFL players are more talented and can perform a keg stand after a touchdown without an excessive celebration penalty.
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However, one sloppy performance by a team on Saturday in college football can ruin its chance at competing for a championship. No team has ever made the College Football Playoff with more than one loss.
In the NFL, a Super Bowl champion could have six or seven losses. Then, teams that have clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs can elect to rest their starters in the last game or two of the regular season to avoid injuries.
The fans in college football also make the sport remarkable. Most fans have a connection to their favorite school because they are current students or alumni. And most professors who don’t care about sports find themselves cheering for their team due to school pride.
In addition, college football traditions stand out more than its pro counterpart. For example, two of Florida’s most prestigious traditions happen before the fourth quarter in The Swamp.
Gators fans lock arms with friends and family, and sway while singing “We Are The Boys.”
Immediately after, fans hold up their smartphones and light up the sky like at a concert, singing to Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.”
Likewise, the Iowa Wave is one of the most touching traditions across college football.
At the end of the first quarter, fans at Kinnick Stadium, in Iowa City, Iowa, turn away from the field to wave to children watching from the windows of the University of Iowa’s Stead Family Children’s Hospital, which overlooks the stadium.
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Finally, one of the most prominent reasons why college football is superior because the players play for pride.
NFL fans are too accustomed to watching their team’s best player hold out from practice and even games for a new contract or leave their favorite team for a team with a bigger market.
To rephrase a famous quote from the SEC, college football just means more.
Follow Zachary on Twitter @zacharyahuber and contact him at zhuber@alligator.org
FILE - In this Sunday, Dec. 22, 2019 file photo, Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) passes against the Baltimore Ravens during the second half of an NFL football game in Cleveland. Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield plans to kneel during the national anthem this upcoming season to support protests of social injustice, police brutality and racism, Saturday, June 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane, File)
Noah is a third year journalism-sports and media student from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He has been with The Alligator since Spring 2019 and has covered men’s and women’s tennis, gymnastics and volleyball. When he isn’t on his beat, Noah is usually sadden over his beloved South Florida sports teams, such as the Heat and Dolphins.
