Weis Guy Blog
College football can't be beat
By Michael Weisman, Senior Sports Writer
October 9, 2007 | 10:39 a.m.
Saturdays are great. There's nothing better than waking up with the Saturday morning hangover, turning on the tube, chugging a Gatorade and watching “College Gameday” to get you set for the day's action. Don't get me wrong. I love the NFL, but there's just something (actually a lot of things) about college football that makes it special.
Just ask someone from Alabama or Arkansas. Or how about someone from Boone, N.C. (home of one Appalachian State)? I promise you they all would choose college football over the NFL. The people from cities and states such as these live and die for college football. People hours apart gather on Saturdays in Tuscaloosa, Auburn and Fayetteville to root on their team.
College football teams are everywhere, which allows football fans everywhere to have “their own” team they live and die with. And it gives everyone a chance to attend a game every Saturday. Even small towns like Alliance, Ohio, not far from here, fills the stands of Mount Union Stadium on Saturdays in hopes of a victory for Mount Union University, a Division III team.
As for the players, they're playing for pride and fun, not to be millionaires who do as they please. They have the pageantry you don't often see from NFL players. Perhaps it’s because professional players don't have much loyalty to a team. They just go where they can get paid. And the traditions — dotting the “i” in script Ohio, mascots such as a buffalo or a Seminole on a horse or a wagon leading their team on the field, or touching a rock as the team enters the stadium filled with 80,000 orange and purple fans — you just can't find that in the professional ranks.
But what really sets college football apart from the NFL are the upsets. Sure, the Chiefs beating the Chargers last week was an upset, a big one by NFL standards, but nothing compared to Appalachian State taking down my Wolverines in The Big House. In Boone, N.C., that was bigger than any Super Bowl victory could ever be for any fan.
And where else but college football could you find five of the top 10 teams in the sport losing on one weekend? That would be unheard of by NFL standards, and most sports for that matter, but not in college football — it happened last weekend, as upsets do every weekend in the land of amateurs. Not a weekend goes by where a ranked team doesn't get knocked off by an unranked team or a BCS conference school loses to the no-name school from the measly MAC or wimpy WAC.
To see the dedication and pride in college football, look no further than Tampa, Fla., home of the South Florida Bulls. Twelve years ago, South Florida didn't have a football team. Eleven years later, the Bulls have knocked off West Virginia twice, both while ranked in the top five, are favorites to win the Big East and are the No. 6 team in the nation. In five years of football, the Houston Texans are yet to break .500 for a season.
Speaking of pride, look at the rivalries in college football. Every team has one, even Division III schools. Auburn/Alabama, Army/Navy, Texas/Oklahoma — the list goes on and on. And college football includes the best rivalry in sports in Michigan/Ohio State. Sure, there's Pittsburgh/Cleveland and Washington/Dallas, but how about the Texans or the Jaguars?
One game can change everything in college football. One loss and you can be eliminated from the conference or national title race. A win can make you known (see Appalachian State) or make your season (see Boise State/Oklahoma). A loss in the NFL won't kill you, and a win certainly won't make your season any better. And hell, even if you win, you're not safe from falling in the rankings. Just ask USC after beating Washington last week. They're No. 2 now, behind LSU.
And three teams in the top 10 now weren't even ranked to start the season (South Florida, Kentucky, Boston College).
With exception to this season's Bengals/Browns showdown, the NFL lacks the high-powered offense seen in college football. An NFL team is lucky to score 50 points in a game once per season while the young guns are posting 50s and 60s on the scoreboard weekly. If that's not exciting enough for you, try overtime. In college, a coin toss doesn't decide the winner.
So to all you college football naysayers, stick with your Sunday game plan, but you're just wasting your Sundays until the play-offs (if your team makes it). I'll be tuning in every Saturday from sunrise to the wee hours of Sunday morning to watch points galore, upset mania and the hope that my team takes care of business in order to keep its season alive. And even if it loses a few games, there's always the chance of a bowl game.
I can't wait for my Saturday morning hangover!
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