I usually don't like it when ESPN tries to manufacture a sporting topic but recently they have been running stories on whether college football or pro football is better. As a longtime fan of both there is really no question that the NFL is much superior to the NCAA.
First of all the NFL actually decides the championship on the field. For my money no college team can ever claim a legitimate national championship because they don't have to prove it against the best competition. Instead, it's the big schools who make the most money that get preferential treatment by higher preseason rankings and easier paths to the BCS games. The whole championship is political and it really hurts the game. Why they don't have a playoff system like every other sports league is beyond me.
My second problem with the college game is that there is not a level playing field. The same 15 teams or so dominate the landscape each year. If you went back and looked at the top 25 poll from 1986 I bet it would look almost identical to the current poll. On the other hand, The NFL is complete crapshoot. Who else besides myself picked the Steelers to win it all last year? And what about the Rams and Ravens and even the Patriots winning the superbowl all after non-winning seasons the year before? I like that unpredictability and it gives all fans hope and an interest going into the season.
The third reason that the NFL is better than college football is that you can start the season slowly and still win the championship. The format allows you to build a team along the way and it rewards peaking at the end of the season. Every year, I lose interest in college football as soon as Michigan loses their first game which is usually to Notre Dame in September. Why as a fan should I care about the remainder of the season if my team has little or no chance to win the championship? It's a joke. And to those who say this makes the regular season more interesting, I say look at the schedules this year. To avoid losing an early game the major programs are playing lousy teams instead of facing stiff competition. So instead of say Auburn and Michigan playing each other they play Southern Sisters of the Poor and Our Lady of SE Michigan. How that makes the regular season compelling is beyond me.
Finally, the real reason that the NFL is superior is fantasy football. The only reason I watch a lot of NFL games is because I have players involved. Why else would I watch the Titans Jets game? Well maybe if I had money on it but I don't wager that much anymore. I love fantasy football because it combines my love of sports and my love of competition together into one neat hobby. Often times, I watch the scrolling scoreboard more than I watch the actual game because I want to keep track of my team's performance. Until the NCAA comes up with their own fantasy league, which I don't think they can do because they cannot use the athletes names, the NFL will continue to be my favorite form of football.
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2 comments:
The only thing that could make college football better than the pros is the atmosphere. There are more attendees at Ann Arbor, than Detriot.
That being said give my Sioux hockey over the Pros
Usually it's not even fair to compare amateur athletics to pro sports. However, Division 1 football and basketball are professional leagues. The college athletes don't get paid beyond scholarships, publicly at least, but the coaches and colleges make millions and millions of dollars.
I'd like to see all the money that colleges make off of athletics go directly toward reducing general tuition costs.
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