NCAAF begins tonight!

[ET21]

College football kicks off tonight! Who else is excited and what teams will you be watching???

or who doesn't care? 

[corco]

BOISE STATE IS GOING TO CRUSH OLE MISS TONIGHT

I also root strongly for Ohio State and less strongly for Montana and even less strongly for Wyoming.

[Thing 342]

Technically, it kicked off last night, with Georgia State defeating Abeline Christian 38-37. I'm just hoping that South Carolina doesn't get upset by Texas A&M.

[nexus73]

Technically, it kicked off last night, with Georgia State defeating Abeline Christian 38-37. I'm just hoping that South Carolina doesn't get upset by Texas A&M.

You're wrong.  The college season began last Saturday when EWU beat Sam Houston State.  I watched it on TV.  Guess you missed it.

Rick

[golden eagle]

Technically, it kicked off last night, with Georgia State defeating Abeline Christian 38-37. I'm just hoping that South Carolina doesn't get upset by Texas A&M.

So much for South Carolina. 52-28 and being done in by a freshman QB who threw for 511 yards in a hostile environment in his first game! A&M's next three games are Lamar, Rice and at SMU. That kid might thrown for 1,500 yards after that stretch!

[CNGL-Leudimin]

or who doesn't care? 

I don't care at all due to obvious reasons . I think your guys do the same with handball, the team I root has its last pre-season match today and the season begins next week.

[agentsteel53]

or who doesn't care? 

nope.  football is the modern equivalent of gladiatorial combat.  and college football is the modern equivalent of throwing slaves to the lions.

[US 41]

Technically, it kicked off last night, with Georgia State defeating Abeline Christian 38-37. I'm just hoping that South Carolina doesn't get upset by Texas A&M.

You're wrong.  The college season began last Saturday when EWU beat Sam Houston State.  I watched it on TV.  Guess you missed it.

Rick

EWU will be a (FCS) championship contender especially since North Dakota St. lost a lot from last years squad.

[Brandon]

College football kicks off tonight! Who else is excited and what teams will you be watching???

Only two things for me to say:

GO GREEN! GO WHITE! Go Michigan State!

and...

Go Appalachian State!  Repeat 2007! 

[golden eagle]

BOISE STATE IS GOING TO CRUSH OLE MISS TONIGHT

I wish it could've happened. For three quarters, Boise was hanging in there. I don't know what happened in the fourth.

[Alps]

*waves goodbye to pesky App State*
Go Blue!

[Pete from Boston]

Help me out.  For real.  I want to understand the allure of the college game and don't.

I've been following the NFL for decades.  It's a discrete number of teams, a consistent schedule and playiff format, and players and rivalries I know from year to year. 

College has a seemingly limitless number of teams at all levels, from places I have no understanding of nor attachment to, and seemingly no particular end-of-season goal for a lot of teams.

Also, I live in the northeast, where there is really very little tradition of interest in college football.  And my own alma mater is a non-player, so no loyalty there.

So tell me about how and why I can and should be interested in college ball.  I sincerely want to get it.

[Brandon]

Help me out.  For real.  I want to understand the allure of the college game and don't.

I've been following the NFL for decades.  It's a discrete number of teams, a consistent schedule and playiff format, and players and rivalries I know from year to year. 

College has a seemingly limitless number of teams at all levels, from places I have no understanding of nor attachment to, and seemingly no particular end-of-season goal for a lot of teams.

Also, I live in the northeast, where there is really very little tradition of interest in college football.  And my own alma mater is a non-player, so no loyalty there.

So tell me about how and why I can and should be interested in college ball.  I sincerely want to get it.

I've never gotten the allure of the professional game (nor the NBA either for that matter).  The college game, to me, is much more fun.  Many of these men will never play the game ever again at any level past a pick-up game after they graduate.  Thus, they're in it to play this game and play it here and now, not for money, just a scholarship in some cases, and for a very limited time only.  I find you root for your alma mater or that of your parents or other family member.

Me, at the professional level, there's hockey (NHL) and there's baseball (MLB, specifically the AL).  The NFL means about as much as the NBA or the MLS.

[Alps]

Help me out.  For real.  I want to understand the allure of the college game and don't.

I've been following the NFL for decades.  It's a discrete number of teams, a consistent schedule and playiff format, and players and rivalries I know from year to year. 

College has a seemingly limitless number of teams at all levels, from places I have no understanding of nor attachment to, and seemingly no particular end-of-season goal for a lot of teams.

Also, I live in the northeast, where there is really very little tradition of interest in college football.  And my own alma mater is a non-player, so no loyalty there.

So tell me about how and why I can and should be interested in college ball.  I sincerely want to get it.

If you don't have a rooting interest, it's hard. I have two - Michigan and Oregon - which lets me follow the Big Ten and the Pac-12. I also hate the SEC, but since my cousin went to Georgia, I have a rooting interest in having them wallop the rest of the SEC and the SEC doing as poorly as possible otherwise. I don't and can't follow all of the conferences or games, but that's not the point. The point is to root for your teams and against their enemies, and to hope your team gets to the best bowl game possible in a given year.


When I was in Boston, the BC Eagles were another interest, and they happened to get good before I left. You might consider them.

[Roadrunner75]

I find you root for your alma mater or that of your parents or other family member.

My alma mater, Rutgers, was terrible when I was there.  They've since gotten better, to the point where they've probably gotten themselves in over their head now in the Big Ten.  If they were successful when I was there it might be a different story for me now, as I would've attended more games and gotten more into following the team later.  I still root for them to some extent, and will occasionally watch a game, but it's nowhere near my interest in the NFL and specifically a team from the northeast that wears green, is along the I-95 corridor and is known for their friendly fans.  And no, it's not the Jets.

[US 41]

To go further in depth division 1 is split into 2. The FBS (formerly 1A) and FCS (formerly 1AA). Teams like Alabama, Oregon, and Michigan are FBS. Teams like North Dakota State, Eastern Washington, and Sam Houston State are FCS.

I prefer FCS over FBS for a number of reasons. First off my favorite team (Indiana State) is FCS. Secondly the FCS has a 24 team playoff and every conference that wants an automatic bid gets one. (The SWAC doesn't play in the FCS playoffs, because they want to have a SWAC Championship game between the east division and west division winners.) The third reason I like FCS football more is because in the FBS teams like Boise State and TCU get jumped in the rankings because they're not BCS. (TCU is now.) BTW the winner of the FCS playoffs is the Division 1 National Champion. They're banner is hung up in the NCAA headquarters, not Florida State's (last years BCS champion).

What is BCS? Well in the FBS these are the conferences: Big 10, Big 12, Pac 12, SEC, ACC, American Athletic, Sun Belt, MAC, Mountain West, and the C-USA. The Big 10, Big 12, Pac 12, SEC, and ACC are BCS Confereces. Everyone else is a Mid Major. The American Athletic was BCS, but no longer are because the BCS ruled there are too many former mid majors in the conference (due to conference realignment). This is why teams like Boise and TCU always got screwed over. They are / were not BCS.

In the FCS all the teams are treated more equally and at least there is a playoff (a 4 team playoff in the BCS is a joke). Maybe the FBS should start a playoff and let all the conferences have an automatic bid. But some of the big schools might get shown up like in basketball and we wouldn't want that  .

[golden eagle]

This weekend was the craziest for college football in a long time. Five top ten teams fell.

[nexus73]

It was said that having five Top Ten teams fall on the same weekend was a record.

Check out the crazy Pac-12 finishes to the games Stanford-Notre Dame, Utah-UCLA, ASU-USC and especially Cal-WSU just to add more spice to what was one of the greatest college football weekends ever!

Rick