College Football
Dorrie Ruplinger
College football is getting to be as popular as professional
football. In some areas of the country, college football is a
lot more popular than NFL football. In Nebraska for example,
Memorial stadium in Lincoln becomes the state’s third largest
city on home football game days. The stadium becomes a sea of
red as fans dress in the team colors in support of the
Cornhuskers.
Almost as popular as discussing the games themselves is
discussing the ranking systems. The BCS ranking system is used
to determine which two teams will play for the National
Championship each year. Data that is fed into several computers
along with the USA Today poll (also called the Coaches poll) and
the Harris poll are used to determine the BCS ratings each week.
The first BCS poll each year is published around mid-October even
though college football season starts in either late August or
early September.
The AP poll and the USA Today polls are the most common polls
used by the general public. There are several other polls. ESPN
has a Power Sixteen poll. Sports Illustrated publishes a poll
and so do CBS’s Sportsline and Athlon to name a few others.
The BCS ranking system has come under a lot of criticism. Almost
every college football fan has an opinion about it, usually a
strong opinion. Many people do not like the BCS ranking system
because they think there should be a playoff to decide which
teams will play for the National Championship instead of
computers deciding who will play.
Although the majority of college football fans are in favor of a
playoff, the majority of University presidents are against it
because they feel it would make the football season too long and
would affect academics.
College football has been around a long time. The first
intercollegiate college football game was played on November 6,
1869. The game was between Princeton and Rutgers University.
The score of the game was 6-4. Rutgers won.
The game played that day was much different than college football
as we know it today. During that first game each team had 25
players. The rules of the game were more similar to rugby than
to modern day football. The rules for that day’s game were
adopted from the rules of the London Football Association. Every
time one of the teams scored that day it counted as a game. The
contest ended after there were ten “games” or ten scores. Whoever
scored the most times won the match. That is why there is the
odd-looking score of 6-4 for that first game.
The game of football evolved over time. In 1875 the round ball
that had been used the first six years of play was replaced with
an egg-shaped ball. In 1876 a crossbar was added to the goal
posts. The height of that crossbar was 10 feet – the same height
it is today. In 1876 the large playing field was changed also.
It was made smaller – a size that is close to the size of today’s
playing field.
In the 1880’s the game started to resemble football as we know it
today. The rules that were similar to rugby rules were changed.
Instead of 25 players for each team being allowed on the field at
one time, it was changed to 11 players. More rules were changed
and added over time, many of those because of serious injuries
and deaths of players. By the late 1800’s some safety equipment
was part of the player’s uniforms.
Early football was a vicious game. By the late 1800’s the public
started to speak out strongly against the game. In the early
1900’s Columbia, which had been one of the early teams to join
the sport, decided to ban football because it was too dangerous.
Even President Theodore Roosevelt spoke out to say that changes
needed to be made to the game.
More changes in rules and safety equipment were implemented. In
1910, an association was formed to govern collegiate football.
That body is known today as the NCAA (National Collegiate
Athletic Association). The NCAA is responsible for the rules and
regulations of college football and is also charged with making
sure the member teams of the NCAA follow those rules and
regulations.
Changes in the rules, how the game was scored, and in the ball
itself in the 1930’s helped the game gain popularity.
Today, over 135 years after the first intercollegiate college
football game was played, there are over 600 collegiate football
teams in the United States. And, yearly attendance at those games
is in the tens of millions.
Dorrie Ruplinger is the publisher of
http://www.ireallylovefootball.com which provides information and
resources about college football.
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