College football has been called a pure game. College football is American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies. It was the venue through which American football first gained popularity in the United States. College football remains extremely popular today among students, alumni, and other fans of the sport.
According to "Bill Stern's Favorite Football Stories" (1948), the most people ever to attend a college football game was 114,000, for the Army-Navy game in 1926. It ended in darkness, in a 21-21 tie.
The players are out there on the field playing for glory and school pride. They don’t get paid and many of them are hoping to get a shot at the NFL. College football has no salary cap and there’s nothing stopping a school from signing many top recruits in the country. In fact, a recent report showing the top high school possible recruits revealed that a strong majority had USC and Texas on their list of college choices. Good players want to play at a good school. As a result good schools get better and poor schools get worse. Year in and year out hear the names of top programs like Ohio State over and over.
College football is a freer game than the NFL. Coaches are not afraid to try trick plays and run the option. As a result, the points can really add up. One trap that many college football bettors that also bet the NFL fall into is handicapping the game as if it was the NFL. In the NFL, each and every player—no matter how bad they seem—is one of the top players in the entire football world. In college football, there are handfuls of NFL type players with scores of just average players. In the NFL, you would never see a spread between two teams in the 40s. However, it’s a common occurrence each week in college football. Yes, those favorite teams cover too. One aspect of the game that must be on any bettors mind is motivation. If the game features two bitter rivals, the game could be a hot contest no matter what the talent level. If nothing else, the worse team could remain closer to the favorite. |
