Upon Further Review, College Football Rules

Saturdays or Sundays? NCAA Football or NFL? Where would you rather get your football fix? I’m writing this after spending the weekend watching both. However, I was in the state of North Carolina so I’m still trying to figure out if what I saw actually was football. But the question remains, if you had to choose, college or pro, is one actually better than the other?

Football in whatever form you can get it is great. Between the whistles, the game is pretty much the same. Blocking, tackling, passing, catching. The basics go back to high school two-a-days. So if the actual game is more or less the same, what makes the difference is very subjective. Here are some areas where the two games differ:

Overtime. College wins in this area big time. I don’t care if it takes two or three overtime periods to get a winner, just don’t let my fate be determined by a coin flip. And be real, that’s what the NFL is doing with that “sudden death.”

Rivalries. College wins again, hands down. I know there are good rivalries in the NFL, but nothing compares to the Iron Bowl, the Red River Shootout, the South’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party…and those are just the ones with cool nicknames. Bottom line, these games happen one day a year and the other 364 are spent talking about it.

Pageantry. The undergrads have it. Pep bands, student sections, and small family reunions at the tailgate. These are part of college football weekends and can be attempted to be reproduced on the pro level but the feeling just isn’t the same.

Replay. If you ask me, take it out all together. Neither has made it work perfectly. Each week you see calls made incorrectly even with the benefit of instant replay. If I had to go with one, the NFL does it better.

See? Not everything going on in the college game is better. But for my money, the amateurs still have that little something extra. The certain element that you can’t define, but you know when you see it. And you feel it on those Saturday afternoons.

I did not hit on everything, and there is room left for more. So if there’s something you feel makes one better, let me know.

I’d like to thank Mack Brown for stopping by last week to give us some insight. He was pretty dead-on in his predictions for what his team needed to succeed. Even though his Longhorns outgained Ohio State on the ground, turnovers and big plays were the difference in the game.

There will be more guests stopping by this week with insight and commentary so check back daily. We're off and running now and this week is packed with top-notch matchups!