Resolved: College Football is way more exciting than Pro. Pro Football Talk agrees.
So H/T to friend of mgoblog Jane Coastan, who retweeted this so I saw it: I think this position is not even debateable recently, College Football is in every way superior as a product. But I know there are many NFL elite types who would disagree. what do you guys think?
Currently, college football is genuinely exciting far more often than pro football is. NFL needs to be concerned about that.
September 15th, 2017 at 1:40 PM ^
RedZone disagrees.
September 15th, 2017 at 1:55 PM ^
Ugh what a terrible way of watching football.
September 15th, 2017 at 1:42 PM ^
Was this ever a debate? The NFL is terribly boring. Many NFL enthusiasts would argue, "Well, the quality of play is far superior in the NFL compared to the NCAA, so that is why it's better."
NO FUCKING SHIT, MATE?
Of course the quality of play is better. They are professionals. I would expect the quality of play to be better. That doesn't make the NFL more exciting, better to watch, and entertaining than the NCAA. College football is the best sport in the quadrant.
September 15th, 2017 at 2:27 PM ^
Many NFL games are played indoors, so weather isn't a factor. They all seem to run the same system / plays, and the teams are pretty evenly matched. It's just boring as shit to me.
September 15th, 2017 at 1:40 PM ^
me that there are people here in Charlotte who love going to Panthers games but don't care about college ball at all. and they'll spend $150-200 per game.
September 15th, 2017 at 1:43 PM ^
If they were paying me $150-200 I may consider going to a Panthers game.
September 15th, 2017 at 5:04 PM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 1:40 PM ^
love the tradition and passion of the college game...mildly interested in the nfl but outside of the playoffs, i don't usually watch a full game.
September 15th, 2017 at 1:41 PM ^
Down at the palace they are putting on an ice spectacle of the best skaters in the world and nobody cares.
To me its like that. Offer everyone of those players an extra 5% and they are all gone as they set their jerseys down and walk away. No band, no alumni, no campus, no student section. Just the best exhibition football in the world. To each their own but ill take the passion and fun of college any day.
September 15th, 2017 at 1:56 PM ^
I have a certain ... fondness ... for women's figure skating. But it has less to do with the sport than, well, other elements of the activity. ;-)
September 15th, 2017 at 2:29 PM ^
Their thighs can snap your neck.
September 15th, 2017 at 2:53 PM ^
Only in my dreams ... :-)
September 15th, 2017 at 3:16 PM ^
at my high school for some reason.
September 15th, 2017 at 3:24 PM ^
I hate you. :-)
September 15th, 2017 at 3:34 PM ^
that a lot.
September 16th, 2017 at 8:12 AM ^
While taking a looong shower... :-)
September 15th, 2017 at 1:41 PM ^
The professional game is a business, and its played like a business. The raw emotion of kids playing hard to win a game is non-existant in the NFL. Yet you see that from every team in every college game. Corporate NFL fans are corporate - reserved, nonchalant, seemingly uninterested until late in the 4th of a close game.
Give me a good high school or college game over the NFL any day...
September 15th, 2017 at 1:41 PM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 1:50 PM ^
Yup. I am the same way. I will watch just about any college game. I pay fairly close attention to any game that I am watching. The NFL games are sometimes on the TV on Sundays, but really just for background noise. I genuinely have fun watching any college game. The same cannot be said for ANY NFL game, even the Super Bowl. It's just a boring league.
September 15th, 2017 at 1:52 PM ^
Thursday Night is easily the dumbest thing the NFL has ever done, and an NFL GM eagerly chased Jim Harbaugh away from his team.
September 15th, 2017 at 1:59 PM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 1:57 PM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 2:02 PM ^
Cincinnati & Houston played last night? I must have missed it because i was watching Boise state and New Mexico.
September 15th, 2017 at 2:22 PM ^
And it was entertaining!
September 15th, 2017 at 3:51 PM ^
Same here. I always look forward to the Thursday and Friday night college football appetizers (main feast is on Saturdays, of course). I NEVER get excited for any NFL game. I half pay attention to the NFL playoffs and I'll always watch the Super Bowl, but I could die a happy person if I never saw another NFL game for the rest of my life. It just doesn't do anything for me.
September 15th, 2017 at 1:43 PM ^
It's a no brainer for me. College football by a lanslide.
September 15th, 2017 at 1:46 PM ^
The analogy I use is restaurants. The NFL is like burger franchises. Yeah you might like McDonalds more than Burger King but they are more or less the same.
College is like local mom and pop restaurants. In the south you'll have great bbq restaurants, in Michigan you'll have Coneys, etc.
College just feels more organic, which is why we react so strongly everytime the MBAs try to ruin it.
September 15th, 2017 at 2:24 PM ^
I grew up in Michigan and freely, repeatedly, and openly say that coneys suck. Those things are bad, man... Have never liked them.
September 15th, 2017 at 2:32 PM ^
I'm not a huge fan of the coney dog either (when sober), but the coney island is an excellent restaurant concept. Flaming cheese and a gyro, available 24 hours per day.
What could be better?
September 15th, 2017 at 4:40 PM ^
SHUN THE HERETIC
September 15th, 2017 at 1:46 PM ^
I agree. the NFL is trash now - the product on the field is terrible and the league, on top of being scandal-plagued, represents the worst of corporate America. I think what I resent most about the NFL is that it tries to be the most important f---ing thing in the world and I can't stand it. I gladly tune out now. My viewership has declined steadily in recent years and will likely be an all-time low this season. I was weirdly excited to watch the Giants-Cowboys the other night and was sorely disappointed. It sucked and I barely watched. Turned it off with like 8 minutes left.
College football rules.
September 16th, 2017 at 8:12 AM ^
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September 15th, 2017 at 1:47 PM ^
Been beating this drum my entire life. I always thought EA NCAA Football > Madden too. Just something about an open air stadium, a marching band, dominante or poorus defense. Offenses that run only, pass only, run to pass, pass to run, option, read option, RPO, or Tunnel screen you to death. And in any game that offense style can get you 50 points!
The NFL is so sterile. The schemes are too alike. The players are too even matched. 9-7 can get you a playoff spot. You the wrong game in college and your season might be over. The stakes are just so high.
September 15th, 2017 at 1:53 PM ^
College basketball vs. the NBA is similar: the college game is less technically proficient, but in its rough edges the excitement and drama is generated.
Or music ... a band can be masters of technique, and the music can be flawlessly executed, but it's not the same thing as a band with a rougher edge banging out the chords with energy and enthusiasm.
That's why I love college football ... it has an imperfect element to it. Every play has the potential for high drama, depending on a lot of things. Add to that all the history, tradition, and pageantry and the college game can't be beat. Paint all that Maize and Blue and ... well, then it's simply the best ever.
September 15th, 2017 at 5:35 PM ^
The closest enjoyment between pro and college is hockey. I really can't decide which is my favorite. The quality of play in the NHL is top notch, but the college atmosphere is unlike anything.
So simply put:
College Football > NFL
College Basketball > NBA
College Baseball < MLB (get rid of the aluminum bats!)
College Hockey = NHL
September 15th, 2017 at 6:05 PM ^
I've never really followed college hockey and haven't gotten to see what the atmosphere is like. Is it really that good? I mean a home game in detroit during the playoffs, especially a game 6/7, is absolutely nuts. Does it ever get that good in college?
September 15th, 2017 at 6:16 PM ^
The home regionals in 2002, featuring the Molly Game and the Denver game, were off the hook. The electricity in the building of that Denver game (I understand the North Dakota regional in '98 was just as lively, but I wasn't there) was as incredible an atmosphere as any I've ever experienced in any sport.
And I was at UM-OSU in '97, in the Shoe three times including '02, at peak power Tennessee and at LSU at night. I've also attended Wings home playoff games, including in '02. It's right there with the best, better than the NHL. College hockey is capable of incredible atmosphere.
September 15th, 2017 at 1:49 PM ^
That's the only opinion that matters.
September 15th, 2017 at 1:52 PM ^
CFB is much more exciting than NFL.
September 15th, 2017 at 1:53 PM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 1:56 PM ^
Y'all need to gamble, play fantasy, and never watch thursday games.
September 15th, 2017 at 2:17 PM ^
I quit Fantasy Football this year and in no way what so ever do I miss it. And gambling is not something I can do a lot of without it turning into an unhealthy habit.
September 15th, 2017 at 3:02 PM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 2:59 PM ^
If the game is not enjoyable without gambiling or a side intrest in certian players then by definition it is an inferior product.
September 15th, 2017 at 3:05 PM ^
delete
September 15th, 2017 at 1:58 PM ^
There are no good rivalries in the pros anymore. The last compelling one the NFL had was Pats v. Colts when Peyton Manning was in Indy. Everyone tuned into those games. Now nobody cares.
September 15th, 2017 at 3:02 PM ^
September 15th, 2017 at 5:39 PM ^
Kinda proving the point. That rivalry isn't particularly important anymore either, fading out over the last few years.
Comparing any rivalries to college football is unfair to the other rivalries. No North American sport* does rivalries like college football. The passion of the fans, the size of the fanbases and the crowds, the bands, the absolute year-making nature of each game (yeah, the OSU loss still stings, right now, and has never stopped stining) and the corresponding ability of a team to destroy the hopes of their rival... there's nothing like it.
Baseball, Red Sox-Yankees? Please. NBA? C'mon. College basketball, Duke-UNC? They typically play one of their games on the last weekend of the season when both are basically already locked into their high NCAA tournament seeds. Hockey? Wings-Avs was great... 15 years ago. NFL? There are passionate Vikings and Packers fans saturating my area, and it's really not a big deal at all.
*European soccer and an isolated rivalry or two in South America aren't included in this--hard for anything in America to match that. When a club like Barcelona is the main source of pride for an entire region oppressed by a dictator who supports and thumbs the scales for Real Madrid? When Celtic and Rangers are proxies for occasionally violent religious divisions in the UK? Hard for us to match that.
September 15th, 2017 at 5:27 PM ^
Granted, no huge rivalries that the whole country tunes into. NOTHING like what you get in college. But there's still a few pretty good ones.
Ravens-Steelers come to mind, and then almost any intra-divisional matchup in the NFC East is a big rivalry. At least as far as NFL rivalries are concerned. But you go anywhere in Dallas and they loathe NY, Philly and DC. Wear a Giants, Cowboys or Skins jersey at Lincoln Financial is equivalent to signing your last will and testament.
Even for a few years, San Francisco - Seattle was becoming a decent rivalry when it was Harbaugh and Carroll going at it. Then of course you've got everyone in the AFC North thinking they're rivals with the Pats, but the Pats view the Bills, Dolphins and Jets like Michigan views Illinois and Rutgers.
September 15th, 2017 at 2:00 PM ^
That's funny to hear since all I hear on the ESPN networks is that the NFL is being ruined by college football because the QBs can't play pro-style and the OL doesn't know how to block. Interesting that the product on Saturdays seems to have improved yet is also to blame for why the product on Sundays hasn't.....