College Football: 25 Things To Love About College Football Even in the Offseason
The 2010 College Football season has been over for one month, and yet we still can't stop talking about it. No matter how much you want to, it's something that gets under your skin and you love it for whatever reason.
One thing that separates college football from all the other sports is the passion, pageantry and tradition that each and every school has. No two schools are the same, and we love to watch all the different university traditions.
But what are the absolute best things that we love about it, especially in the offseason?
Why can't we ever stop talking about it no matter what time of year it is?
Here are 25 things that we love about college football, even in the offseason.
It's Still Football...Duh
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No matter what time of year it is, it's a good time to talk about football. There are so many storylines to talk about going into the next season. Football is a whole different animal in this country. It's something that we have to talk about at any point in the year, it doesn't matter if it's May or October.
We have to talk football in this country, no matter what else is going on.
The Hope That The Offseason Brings Going Into The New Season
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Every year there is hope that this year your favorite team could come out of nowhere and be the next Auburn, a team that started the year ranked near the bottom of the top 25 and won the national championship. Or the next Boise State or TCU, the underdog schools that are able to run the table every year and take on the big schools in the big bowl games.
The time between February and August gives fans time to ponder everything that could go right for their team to win a championship.
Spring Games
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Our first real look at the teams going into the next season is during the spring game. It's our first chance to see how the returning players look, and if the incoming freshman are going to pay dividends right away. We love to see what the team could look like going into the next season and spring games are our first real chance to do so.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
National Signing Day
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The most important day of the college football season doesn't even take place during the season, it happens in early February. That would be National Signing Day. That's the day when teams are able to set up their future, and all the hope that all those five-star recruits will become instant impact players.
We love to talk about which teams had the best recruiting classes and who failed to deliver for their schools.
A Lot Of These Players Will Play On Sunday
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We are a football nation, no matter what anyone might try to tell you. We love it so much that college football is the second most popular sport in this country, behind the NFL. We love to talk about college football in the offseason because we know that a lot of the players we see every Saturday will take the next step and play on Sundays.
It's best that we get as acquainted with as many of them as we can.
The Coaching Carousel
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Every year there is a team that underachieves causing fans and Athletic Directors everywhere to flip their lid and make some changes in the coaching staff. After one coach is fired and the next guy is brought in everyone thinks that this is the best man for the job. The optimism reaches an all-time high and your favorite team is going to win a conference championship right away.
What Else Are We Going To Talk About, Hockey?
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No disrespect to hockey, I hear it's a fun sport, but no one wants to talk about that. College football is easy to love because there is so much national media coverage surrounding the game. Everyone in this country is an optimist in the offseason, and every team in the country has a shot to win the National Championship going into the season.
There Are No Labor Issues To Worry About
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As much as we love the NFL in this country, we are going to be inundated with a bunch of technical mumbo jumbo for the next few months until the owners and players can settle their labor dispute.
Regardless of how you feel about the NCAA and all their stupid rules, we know that there are no such disputes within college football. There's no negotiating necessary with college football, unless you are talking about how much the schools are paying the players to play there.
The Heisman Trophy
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There are prestigious awards, and then there is the Heisman Trophy. The offseason gives us a chance to talk about who could be in the mix for the award next season. We all do it, skim every team's roster to find one player who could jump into the race at some point in the season. Eventually we narrow the list down to five candidates and come up with scenarios in which they could win it.
Recruiting Season
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In the spirit of National Signing Day, recruiting is a year round process. Coaches talk to the best high school players throughout the year hoping to get them to sign with their program. We hear rumors and gossip everyday about a prospect who is going to commit to a school, and that increases the anticipation for the next season to hurry up and get here.
Recruiting Season (cont'd.)
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The lifeblood of college football is recruiting. It's basically college football's version of free agency. The top players in the country will hear pitches from the top coaches in the country about why they are the missing piece to the team. After hearing how great they are for so long, the player will decide where he is going to take his talents.
It's a long, scientific process that draws us in every single year.
The Top 25 Polls
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We love the college football polls in this country, even though the first one of the year is usually completely wrong. We have no idea what a team is going to be like going into the year, but that doesn't stop us from wanting to rank the best teams in the country anyway. When the first poll is released we all put a smile on our face because we know the season is right around the corner.
College Football Is All About Passion
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College football, more than any other sport, is all about the passion that it stirs up in fans. You can't just be a casual fan who watches the games. It's something that eats at you, and you miss it when it is not on television.
Reliving All The Great Moments From The Previous Year
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One of the best things to come along in the last few years was the ESPNU network. It's completely dedicated to all college sports, and they provide fans of collegiate athletics a network completely devoted to covering those sports. Throughout the winter and spring they run all the great games from the previous season, and they help lead us into the next season.
Incoming Freshman
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Another offshoot of recruiting and National Signing Day, all the incoming freshman provide the most optimism for your favorite programs future. They are going to be the players that lead the school for the next three or four years. We all love the incoming freshman, at least until they get on the field. If they can't play the story changes quickly.
Junior College Transfers
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More recruiting talk, this time with the players who don't get as much love as the high school recruits, but are just as vital to the success of the program. For instance, last year's Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton transferred to Auburn from a junior college. Make sure that you are paying attention to the incoming JuCo players, too.
National Signing Day Is Actually A Month Long Process
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This year National Signing Day was on February 3rd. While most of the top players recruited made their decision there are still a few high caliber players out there, including Jadeveon Clowney the top player in this year's class, who haven't made a decision yet. The anticipation for what they are going to do makes our stomachs ache.
Wondering If Anyone Can Stop The SEC
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The SEC has been king of the college football world for the last five years. They have the best players in the country every year. They have the most dominant teams.
Yet, for those of us that don't live in SEC country, we think that this is the year the dominance stops. We come up with scenarios and reasoning for why another conference is better.
Whether we want to admit it or not, the SEC is the best conference in the country.
The Senior Bowl
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Just when you think that there is no more college football to be played, along comes the Senior Bowl. Sure, it's a showcase for the top college seniors to play in front of NFL scouts, but it's also our chance to say goodbye to the players that we have gotten to know over the last four years, and who have provided us with a number of great memories.
East-West Shrine Game
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Another all-star game that's more of a showcase for NFL scouts, but this one features players that aren't only seniors. It matches up some of the best college players throughout the country and Canadian players, too.
Texas Vs The Nation Game
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The final game of the college football post-season, Texas vs The Nation is the unofficial end of the previous year's college season. It matches up some of the the lesser known talents who will be entering the NFL Draft and gives them a stage to shine on.
Position Battles
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One of the great things about college football, and the fact that there is so much roster turnover every year, is the position battles that it creates every single year. A lot of big time programs face significant position battles going into the new year. We love to discuss who should be the starter, and why, or how the new player can take the starting job away from the incumbent.
Building New Memories
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Every college football season provides at least a dozen classic moments and player performances. We don't always appreciate them in the moment, but after the season is over and we reflect on all that we have seen, the moments that we are able to add to our collective memories are something that we will carry with us forever.
The NFL Draft
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The NFL Draft is as big of an event as it is because of our passion for college football. We are able to love college football in the offseason because of the all-star games and the NFL Draft in April. The draft keeps these players fresh in our mind. It gives us a chance to become Todd McShay and Mel Kiper, and discuss why college players will or won't be successful at the next level.
It's Football!!!
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Sure, we started the reasons with this, but is there any better way to end it?
College football is, in some ways, even bigger than the NFL. There are alumni that stick with the program long after they have moved on to the NFL, or whatever they do in the future. That's why we see guys like Doug Flutie showing up at Boston College or Joe Montana at Notre Dame Stadium.
It's a large part of the fabric of America, and it's something that we have to have all year long.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
