|
|
|
|
Home
Select a Conference to view Teams:
Information about College Football
The familiar college football rivalries of Michigan-Ohio State, Florida-Florida State, and Oklahoma-Texas would not be possible without Bradbury Robinson. Robinson, the quarterback for the St. Louis University football team in 1906, threw the first forward pass in a game against Carroll College on September 5th. The forward pass allowed the evolution of college football away from its roots in rugby and soccer into its own game. Robinson benefited from the increasing popularity of college football going back to the first recognizable collegiate game, a 1-0 contest between Tufts University and Harvard in 1875.
Read More...
College football fans are often attached to their favorite schools, playing up rivalries on autumn Saturdays in September and October. The 20th century saw the rise of major powers like Ohio State, Penn State, Oklahoma, and Florida State in parallel to the rise of the NFL. While the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) maintained its autonomy from professional sports, the NFL has drawn college football players into its ranks since the mid-1950s.
The college football season has evolved in recent years to reflect concerns about the number of games, the relevance of bowl games, and changes in conference membership. Every college football team holds spring practices to fight for positions, implement new systems, and ensure that conditioning programs are successful. After the summer break, college football players return to campus to get ready for the non-conference season.
The NCAA and individual conferences have eliminated preseason games and exhibitions in the last few decades to reduce the wear and tear on student-athletes. Every team has to schedule three to four non-conference games depending on the sizes of their conferences. These games are typically scheduled years in advance to sort out locations, payments, and ticket distribution. Mid-major and small schools will typically head to bigger schools like Penn State and Texas to earn hefty paydays for their athletic departments.
The conference season has expanded since the mid-1950s to reflect the increasing number of programs entering the top levels of college football. The memorable games between USC and UCLA, Michigan and Ohio State, and other rivals have taken place within the conference season. While most fans remember rivalry games, college football teams have to play every team in their conferences to ensure competitiveness for schools large and small. Individual athletic departments handle ticketing through their websites, stadium box offices, and third-party vendors.
The big breadwinner for college football teams comes with the end of the regular season schedules. The Big 12, Southeastern Conference (SEC), Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), and other conferences hold conference championships to choose their representatives in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS). The Bowl Championship Series was established in 1998 to decide the top two teams in the nation and settle disputes about the legitimacy of polling going back decades. The BCS not only selects the two teams that participate in the national championship, but it slots conference champions and at-large teams into the Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Sugar Bowl.
College football teams that do not qualify for BCS bowl games, but win more than six games, qualify for one of the dozens of bowl games played in December and January. The invitations are made by corporate sponsors and bowl organizers to schools that have fans at a national level, guaranteeing that seats will be filled in places like Detroit and Memphis. Bowl game tickets are distributed to participating schools and typically sold along with travel packages to decrease costs for diehard fans.
Between the end of the conference season and the bowl season, the best and brightest players in college football are celebrated during the awards season. The Heisman Trophy is the major award for any college football player, given each year to the most outstanding player in college football. Heisman Award winners are chosen by thousands of former players, coaches, and reporters through secret balloting. The awards season includes the Lou Groza Award for the nation's best kicker, the Outland Award for the best interior lineman, and the Maxwell Award for the best quarterback in college football.
Newcomers to college football may recognize a few differences between collegiate and professional games. The primary difference is the use of the option offense in the college game, allowing speedy quarterbacks to hand off, pitch, or run around hand to gain yards. Professional football teams do not use option offenses because of the wear and tear on high-paid starting quarterbacks. The college game uses alternating possessions in overtime rather than sudden death to eliminate ties, a rule that was changed in 1996. In terms of clock management, college football fans should be aware of the lack of a two-minute warning and the fact that the clock stops after each first down until the ball is spotted.
The future of college football will be determined by changes to the BCS. The major debate among college football experts rests on the legitimacy of the BCS in determining the nation's best team. While some coaches and players support the BCS, mid-major schools and other experts are pushing for a tournament system that would resolve these issues on the field.
Close...
|
