The College Football Ball Dimensions
Because the size and dimensions of a college football can vary somewhat significantly game to game, I was curious if anyone knew the answer to this question? Looking at some of the rules below, I see that the home team provides the legal balls it chooses. Ok, sure, but then this rule says: The visiting team is responsible for providing the legal balls it wishes to use while it is in possession if the balls provided by the home team are not acceptable.
So, does this mean the dimensions of the ball can change during a game depending on which team is in possession. Or does the visiting have to provide the legal balls it wishes to use based on the dimensions the home team selected?
If anyone has an answer I would be curious to know: How does ball selection works home vs. away, because the rules below aren't entirely clear to me.
FYI, I only cherry picked the rules applying to ball dimensions and the team ball selection process.
I find the dimension variability in CFB as well as CFB vs. NFL pretty fascinating.
SECTION 3. THE BALL
Specifications
ARTICLE 1. The ball shall meet the following specifications:
1. Conforms to maximum and minimum dimensions and shape indicated in the accompanying diagram.
2. Inflated to the pressure of 12-1/2 to 13-1/2 pounds per square inch (psi).
3. Weight of 14 to 15 ounces.
Administration and Enforcement
ARTICLE 2.
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The game officials shall test and be sole judge of not more than six balls offered for play by each team before and during the game. The game officials may approve additional balls if warranted by conditions.
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The home team is responsible for providing legal balls and should notify the opponent of the ball to be used.
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During the entire game, either team may use a new or nearly new ball of its choice when it is in possession, providing the ball meets the required specifications and has been measured and tested according to rule (Exception: The official NCAA football shall be used for the Division I Football Championship Subdivision, II and III championships).
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The visiting team is responsible for providing the legal balls it wishes to use while it is in possession if the balls provided by the home team are not acceptable.
February 20th, 2024 at 10:37 AM ^
Please leave Brady alone he doesn’t play here anymore.
February 20th, 2024 at 1:23 PM ^
I don't think he had cheeseburgers either.
February 20th, 2024 at 12:15 PM ^
Home or away, I prefer to only play with my own balls.
(Sorry, OP. I don't know the answer but will be curious to see serious answers).
February 20th, 2024 at 12:53 PM ^
You hear stories about great college players that couldn't throw an NFL ball. So, that 3/4 inch circumference variability, as well as all the other adjustments, I suspect are more important for some than people realize.
February 20th, 2024 at 1:30 PM ^
I saw it with my son the past fall.
We bought a youth football at the start of the season that was labeled for his grade.
Took it to practice one week and noticed it was slightly larger than the ball provided by the team.
He could throw the ball we bought pretty well, but he got an extra few yards and a tighter spiral out of the smaller "official" ball provided by the team.
February 20th, 2024 at 2:11 PM ^
Yeah, same, I won an NFL regulation football (the maximum size) at a silent auction a long time ago and I remember playing catch with it and being surprised by the feel, velocity and spiral.
February 29th, 2024 at 1:36 PM ^
When Michigan went to East Lansing to play the Spartans a few times in the late 80s and early 90s, we had to use the balls we brought because Sparty's were shriveled.
February 20th, 2024 at 1:17 PM ^
My reading of it is each team is allowed to choose the size/weight/inflation of the football they would like to use for the game, provided they fall within the legal parameters.
The home team is tasked with supplying the footballs for the game (probably an old rule) but must notify the away team of the size/weight/inflation of the football they are providing so that the away team has the opportunity to provide their own if they do not like the size/weight/inflation.
It seems it is pretty common place now for teams to travel with and use their own footballs.
My assumption is that hasn't always been the case and the part about notifying dates back to whenever it was more common to share footballs.
I'm sure there is a football historian on here that has an actual answer based in facts, though.
February 20th, 2024 at 9:00 PM ^
My reading of it was similar to yours, but then the idea of the dimensions of the game ball changing on every possession seemed kind of bizarre to me.
February 21st, 2024 at 2:25 PM ^
tangential, but there's a really cool substack called "football archaeology" that recently had a few articles($) on the history of the football($). In addition to the shape changing from more rounded "soccer like" in the early days to rugby-like to the more pointy ball now used, football experimented with different colors and striping patterns. NFL balls were white for night games, and some High Schools used YELLOW footballs. Pictures from football archaeology or antique sport shop, which is affiliated with another site that looks cool but I haven't explored as much called antique football
February 22nd, 2024 at 10:32 AM ^
All I know about proper ball size comes from AC/DC, but one thing I've heard is that the two stripes up top were added to improve visibility for the receiver but don't actually help. That's why you get prototypes like the horizontally striped ball depicted above.
February 22nd, 2024 at 1:05 PM ^
Yea that's true - the white stripes were originally to make it easier to see, but around the same time the passing game developed and QBs complained that the stripes made their thumbs slip - hence the stripe sometimes not looping around the ball (and the NFL adopting a white ball). The NFL went away from white balls in the late '50s and went away from stripes in the '70s, mostly because lighting improved enough to not need them. I'll say that in HS, the ball would sometimes get lost in those lights so I wonder if a brighter colored ball doesn't remain a good idea at lower levels - but anyway it hasn't been the case for near 70 years now.
February 21st, 2024 at 2:59 PM ^
i'm surprised Day hasn't blamed two losses at Michigan on "weird balls"
February 23rd, 2024 at 9:48 AM ^
I believe that means when possession changes during play, the visiting team then has an opportunity to use their balls (immature giggle) if they so choose. As long as the balls provided are within spec yes, I believe the dimensions could change by an ounce, an inch, etc.
February 23rd, 2024 at 12:44 PM ^
Ok, thank you. My next question would be, how often do visiting teams bring their own balls?
Anyways, if these are the rules, I am sure everything has been done and attempted. There are probably some really funny backstories behind this rule though.
February 23rd, 2024 at 4:18 PM ^
I believe fairly frequently. There are usually ball boys for both teams on both sidelines carrying a duffle bag. The only reason to do that is if there are separate balls.
February 23rd, 2024 at 6:07 PM ^
For the P5 almost always. If you look closely during a game, you will see the logo of the school on the football. That way there is no confusion as to who's ball is who's...unless Michigan is playing Missouri.
February 23rd, 2024 at 12:38 PM ^
Each team brings their own ball for each possession so yes in theory you would have slightly different dimensions depending on who has the ball.
This would especially be true when teams are sponsored by different companies. For example Michigan uses a Nike branded Vapor Elite (I think) ball. Whereas Wisconsin uses a Wilson GST last time I looked. Both of these balls would be roughly the same but would have some differences in feel/sizing.
It's actually a bigger issue in basketball. There isn't a standard for brand of ball to be used throughout the NCAA so each home team will provide a ball for the game. So if you're a Nike school you're using Nike basketballs and non-nike schools use something else (Wilson).
To combat the potential feel differences, I imagine the Michigan basketball team has a variety of basketball brands on hand so that when they are playing at Wisconsin, they can use Wilson balls in practice to get used to that feel.
Here's an ESPN story talking about having to use a different balls on the road/NCAA tournament.
February 23rd, 2024 at 12:54 PM ^
Do schools just accept the Nike Vapor Elite as delivered, on the web it just says "official size" approved for Pros, which I assume to mean NFL. So I assume that is the biggest ball possible.
Why would you make your QB throw the biggest ball? Can a school order a custom range of dimensions of the Vapor Elite and see what ball the starting QB throws best?
I would probably have them custom trim that thing down to the margins. Most everyone will throw the ball missing an inch or so better right?
February 23rd, 2024 at 1:07 PM ^
I believe the Vapor Elite's come in slightly smaller than NFL balls. Like 1/2" shorter and 1" diameter smaller. NFL only uses their very specific Wilson "The Duke" balls so I'm not sure Nike even makes a replica NFL size. Even though the nike website says they are the "official" size which is good for high school, college and "pro" use (no indication on what level of pro but definitely isn't NFL use).
February 23rd, 2024 at 1:40 PM ^
The Tony Petitpe Dimensions:
1 inch long by 1 cm diameter
February 25th, 2024 at 11:59 AM ^
I posed a question on another thread about woman's basketballs vs men's basketballs and have since looked it up. The women's ball is 1" less in diameter and 2 oz lighter. That obviously makes it easier to handle and shoot the ball, but I don't see where anyone has attempted to analyze how much easier. I wondered about this as Caitlyn Clark has been setting records. Would her shooting percentage (assuming adequate practice) drop by 1 percent, 10 percent or something else if she was playing with the larger ball, everything else being equal?
February 26th, 2024 at 8:58 AM ^
So, in my own anecdotal experience occasionally shooting women's balls in gym class as a kid. Sometimes the gym teacher would roll out a mixed bin of balls, and everyone got whatever they got during a shoot around.
That being said, based on my experience, it is an 8.8% drop/gain between the two ball sizes. My data is not peer reviewed and some have questioned sample size and other testing methods.
February 29th, 2024 at 11:11 AM ^
I just like the stripes. Way cooler than the plain pro ball
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