Better Sports Fan: College or Pro Football?

Now, I'm not one who typically enjoys comparing sports fans to one another, but the truth is that some supporters just go a little bit harder than others.

Like someone who enjoys a party till dawn compared to one who leaves before the fun even begins, sports fans aren’t all created equal.

And with football season just kicking off, I have the arduous task of figuring out which gridiron fan is more impressive, college or NFL?

After breaking it down into a few categories, here’s what I came up with.

Upsets: College Football Fans

No offense to those rare occasions when the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Seattle Seahawks—for the record, it last happened in 2005—but NFL upsets pale in comparison to what we see in the college game.

For instance, back in 2007, did anyone really see Appalachian State going into The Big House and marching out of there with a victory over then-No. 5-ranked Michigan?

If you said yes, you’re straight up lying.

On the contrary, even smaller upsets like this past weekend’s Virginia Tech beating Ohio State in the Buckeyes’ home opener shakes everything in the sport up, with a greater emphasis on each and every game.

Gear: NFL Fans

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Sure, college football fans get the privilege of selecting the flashy, colorful unis that Nike, Under Armour, Adidas or one of the other big brands design, but there are a few huge problems with those.

First, the jersey usually changes every few years—especially at Oregon—meaning it’s outdated by the time your redshirt freshman quarterback is a suddenly a Heisman-worthy senior.

Second? Well, shouldn’t it be obvious? NFL fans might deal with free agents leaving, but for the most part, the big-named players stay in one place, whereas college kids make their legacy and then bolt for the pros.

And one last thing, the whole pink in October for breast cancer awareness that the NFL does? Yeah, that right there almost kills it in the gear game for NFL fans.

Pregame Hype: College Football Fans

With all due respect to the greatest pregame football show in the NFL—NFL on Fox—it still doesn’t stand a chance against ESPN’s College GameDay.

There’s just something about waking up early, hungover, making some eggs and have a hair-of-the-dog beer to get your Sweatpants Saturday started.

It almost makes a man feel like, well, he’s in college—even if he is 30 years old.

An abundance of wild signs, celebrity predictions, inspiring features and Lee Corso’s picks make the pregame hype for college football fans one that is unmatched in all of sports, not just in the sport of football.

Playoff Excitement: NFL Fans

Sure, the 16-game schedule offers a chance to crappy teams like a 7-9 team to snag a Wild Card berth, but seeing how the College Football Playoff haven’t technically started yet, I’m giving the edge to pro football fans when it comes to the postseason.

There isn’t a bigger spectacle in sports than the Super Bowl, where one play can make a guy a lifetime hero.

I love college bowl games as much as the next guy, but it can be tough to get amped up about some minute matchup in the middle of December.

That’s never the case with any NFL playoff game, where fans tune in with breathes gasping at nearly every snap.

Game Experience: College Football Fans

Forget just rushing the field at a college game—which will never happen in the NFL—the overall accessibility of players in college is a hell of a lot better than that in the pros.

Walking through The Grove at Ole Miss and giving high-fives to the players, running into the star wideout on campus or simply just posing for a picture with the head coach during a speaking engagement, college is where it’s at.

There’s a reason why people claim that college is the best part of someone’s life—and it’s because there aren’t as many rules holding them back from doing what they want to.

In the NFL, the wrath of Roger Goodell takes the fun out of some of those things guys could get away with while still in school.

Fantasy Sports: NFL Fans

This one isn’t even a contest.

There are few things during a football season—or life in general—that a fan obsesses over more than his or her fantasy team.

Always trying to get a leg up by picking up a rankings mag in late July or hoping they hear a reply to an email they sent to fantasy guru Matthew Berry, the obsession is so familiar that the TV show The League is a spot-on representation of our leagues with buddies and coworkers.

Tailgating: College Football Fans

Terry Gilliam/Associated Press

This one was probably the toughest category to declare a winner in, but I had to side with the college fans in the end.

While there’s great tradition, food and beer at both, one thing that the coeds on campus have in their favor is the fact that the majority of their fun comes on Saturdays and not Sundays.

Boozing it up and enjoying a Sunday Funday while grilling before a Cleveland Browns-Pittsburgh Steelers game is great and all, but the responsibility of rolling into work the next day holds most fans back from going H.A.M. while playing cornhole.

Knowledge: NFL Fans

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Just like college itself, one tends to be wiser after they graduate than they were when they first started.

Such is the case with football fans, too.

There’s great history in both the NCAA and NFL, but unless a person is a diehard fan of a specific school, they probably don’t know too much about things they didn’t see with their own eyes.

Not only that, but how many fans would immediately recognize a university’s athletic director if they walked into a room?

Probably not too many.

With NFL owners much more in the spotlight, that isn’t the case if NFL fans were picking people out of a lineup.

Traditions: College Football Fans

Homecoming, fight songs and an over century-long hatred for a school.

Those are just a few examples of why college football fans have the good life when it comes to tradition.

There are prime examples in the NFL of teams and players having beef with one another, but it’s often squashed fairly quickly.

The same isn’t said for college fans, who find that traditions play a major role in the experience of watching every down of their favorite team each season.

Recognizable Stars: NFL Fans

Steven Senne/Associated Press

For those who go to a small college, there’s very little chance ESPN is showing any highlight from your school’s game.

That’s not the case with every NFL game, with each big play not only replayed but also examined by a few analysts.

For that reason, NFL fans can typically name every single starting quarterback for each team, whereas a running back that just broke 2,000 yards on campus might not even get an invite to the Heisman Trophy ceremony.

Rivalries: College Football Fans

Much like the fantasy sports category in the NFL, rivalries in college sports are head and shoulders above what the NFL has to offer.

I respect the great annals of teams like the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers or the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys, but those matchups aren’t as salivating to watch as Ohio State-Michigan, Auburn-Alabama or even Army-Navy.

Homes and relationships are divided over college rivalries, not with NFL ones.

Year-Round Interest: NFL Fans

Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press

There isn’t a person reading this who doesn’t understand that the NFL is a billion dollar business.

For that reason alone, the league does what it can to help build intrigue for fans with anything they do.

Once the Super Bowl ends, fans turn their attention to the NFL Draft Combine and listen to month-long debates from analysts Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay over players rising and falling on draft boards.

Then comes the actual draft, offseason workouts, training camps, preseason games and then, finally, the regular season.

The schedules may be from September-late December, but we all know that NFL fans are engaged with their favorite teams for 12 months straight.

Passion: College Football Fans

Yes, NFL fans paint their faces and go shirtless in sub-zero temperatures, but there’s something about being a young, naive coed who doesn’t know any better than to run naked through the quad because it’s a tradition before playing a rival.

There’s no questioning the desire of NFL fans, but when comparing it to college fans, those damn kids are just so spry with their love for packing their 100,000-plus stadiums every single game.

Verdict: College Football Fans

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So was it an upset to see college fans come out on top? Who really knows?

One thing is for sure: For the next four months, football fans—college and pro—will be craving the excitemtnt of one sport nearly every single day in a week, sparing no love for big hits, unbelievable plays and last-minute scores.

Tis’ the season to be a football fan.