College Football Saturday: Five Reasons Everyone Loves College Football

There are very few things in my life that I enjoy more than College Football Saturday.

I recently graduated from the University of Oregon and returned to Eugene to watch the Ducks to take on the New Mexico Lobos. The Ducks won 72-0, and the game wasn't entertaining after the first quarter.

My friends and I left the stadium to go tailgate, but it was during that time that I realized why I College Football Saturday holds a special place in everyone's heart.

Here are the five reasons everyone loves College Football Saturday.

Reuniting with Old Friends

College is a special time in your life when you will meet many of your lifelong friends. Some of the fondest memories that you will make with these friends will be on College Football Saturday.

Unfortunately, everyone eventually grows up and will have to go their separate ways. But it seems that no matter what everyone has going on in their lives at that particular time, everyone seems to make it back for College Football Saturday. It's kind of like Christmas, but way better.

On a typical college football weekend, all of your friends will normally show up late on Friday night, make a mess out of your house, eat your food, and stink up your bathroom—and for a minute, just a minute, you might say to yourself, "Man, these guys are a pain in the ass."

But then you quickly snap out of it because you realize that these guys are your best friends and they can really only come visit you on the holiday that is College Football Saturday. You can sit down with everyone you haven't seen in a while and catch up and reminisce about all the good times that you all used to have together. College Football Saturday is the best excuse to go visit your old friends or have them come visit you.

The Game Day Atmosphere

Every college town comes alive for Saturdays. Everyone wakes up, puts their colors on, and heads to the stadium. It is truly a sight watching the masses of people make their way to the stadium.

People from all different walks of life partake in the event that is College Football Saturday. Young people and old people alike can go to the game and enjoy themselves. There aren't very many other events that people from ages five to 75 can go to and share the same enthusiasm.

Tailgating

Tailgating and college football are synonymous with one another. Tailgating can be just as awesome as going into the stadium itself.

In this day and age people will just sit in the parking lot and watch the game on their high-def televisions with their family and friends while enjoying cold beverages and eating delicious food.

Tailgating in itself is one big giant party. It's also the best party you have been to, and everyone is invited (as long as you have the home team's colors on). You can go around and mingle with everyone, talk with girls that you have no business talking to, and everyone else is on the same exact page as you. Everyone is just happy to be at the game.

The hospitality that everyone shows one another is amazing. If you're in need of a beer or a hot wing, odds are someone will offer one to you just because you're wearing the right T-shirt. There is nothing but good vibes on College Football Saturday.

My School Is Better Than Yours

A deep sense of pride and ownership comes with being a college student or an alum. Once you go to school, you become a member for life; the institution becomes a part of who you are.

You will put what college you went to on every job application you every fill out. When you finally graduate and get that dream job, you'll put your degree up on your office wall so everyone who comes in knows what you're all about.

The guys that you root for on Saturdays might be guys that you have math class with on Mondays and Wednesdays. They are college students just like you, and they probably aren't going play in the NFL. Most of them are there to earn a degree so that they can pursue a career in something other than football. They truly represent you and the school when they are out there on the field.

It's not just "my football team is better than your football team." It's "my school is better than your school, and the scoreboard says so."

Rivalries

College football has the best rivalries. Michigan and Ohio State, Texas and Oklahoma, Florida and Florida State, Oregon and Oregon State, Army and Navy, Cal and Stanford—I could go on and on.

The fact of the matter is that every major school has a major rival, and whoever wins the game that year gets to talk smack for the next 365 days.

Friends or even girlfriends that go to the rival school are not your friends for that week. The only reason you even allow them to visit you during rivalry week is to constantly berate them about how your team is going to destroy them on Saturday.

My personal experience with college football rivalries has been between Oregon and Oregon State. I'm a Duck through and through, and the Civil War game is always my favorite day of the year (not just game day, but my favorite day overall).

The last two years have been especially entertaining with so much riding on the line. If the Beavers beat the Ducks, then they were going to the Rose Bowl.

In 2008 the game was in Corvallis, and let me tell you, the people in Corvallis were very kind to us. When we went to the bar on Friday night, our beers were filled with pepper, and we received dirty looks from everyone. The funny thing is we weren't even wearing Duck gear; they just knew we didn't belong because we didn't have Beaver stuff on (apparently it's protocol to wear OSU stuff at all times there).

The following day on game day we were constantly cursed at and berated; even children were calling us names, and their parents encouraged it.

When the game finally started, the Ducks came out and throttled the Beavs 65-38. I didn't hear much from OSU fans after that.

The following year the two teams would meet in Autzen, and the winner of this game was going to the Rose Bowl. The game was everything that one would hope for. The game was constantly going back and forth, and the Ducks pulled it out 37-33, giving them their first Rose Bowl appearance since 1995. Everyone rushed the field and celebrated the monumental victory.

That day was everything that college football is supposed to be about. Sticking it to your rival team to go to a major bowl game—that's all you can ask for in your college career.