From high school to college to pro, no matter what level, I love the sport of football.
Just recently, No. 4 ranked Clemson blew No. 1 ranked Alabama out of the water by a score of 44-16.
Despite the game essentially being over at halftime, I still loved watching the game. But, just like many, I have my preferences.
In the battle between college and professional level football, mainly the NFL, I choose the professional level as my go-to source for football. It’s not that I don’t enjoy college football, on the contrary, I really enjoy it, even though I don’t have a team I root for at that level.
I’ll admit to the fact that I don’t watch nearly as much college football as I do NFL football. But upon further analysis of both systems, I think that the NFL is better in terms of parity, storylines and skill level.
Before I start discussing how I think the NFL is better in my own mind, I will say that I really like how college games deal with overtime.
In the NFL, when a game is tied at the end of regulation, the two teams really just play more football with nothing to spice it up, which is made especially worse when the game ends in a tie.
The only way to end overtime in the NFL is to get a touchdown.
I wish the NFL would take some pointers from the NHL, my other favorite league.
In the NHL, overtime is only 5 minutes long and the number of skaters on the ice for each team decreases from five to three. This makes overtime faster and increases the odds of a goal being scored. If nobody scores in overtime, the game goes to a shootout until someone is declared a winner.
College football overtime provides me with that same kind of excitement. In college, they play “red zone” football, which is more intense and exciting. The NFL’s system seems bland in comparison.
The most obvious edge the NFL has on college football is skill level. NFL players, for the most part, came out of college football programs, are older, more physically mature and more experienced. This is by no means shocking of course.
In terms of parity, I think the NFL has college football beat. Sure, there are a lot fewer teams competing for the ultimate prize in the NFL, but to me, that adds to the excitement. The NFL has its fair share of bad divisions, most of which reside in the AFC, but the playoff format allows for the more intense games when you take into consideration storylines that the NFL offers.
Take a look at some of the storylines present in this year’s NFL playoffs. The Philadelphia Eagles are trying to defend their championship with backup quarterback Nick Foles stepping in for the injured guy again.
The New Orleans Saints are riding a record-setting season from sure-fire Hall of Famer Drew Brees to a potential second Super Bowl.
The Kansas City Chiefs are utilizing one of the best offenses the NFL has seen in a long time – an offense that just so happens to be led by young breakout QB Patrick Mahomes.
These are only a few of the storylines fans are being treated to this year.
When I watched this year’s National Championship, despite the enjoyment I had, I mainly saw two powerhouse schools beating up on each other. The sheer dominance of Alabama and the SEC has all but killed a lot of the enjoyment factor in my mind. Watching Clemson and Alabama play each other is like watching the Warriors and the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals same games, different days.
In terms of pure enjoyment, I prefer professional football over college football. College football is fun to watch and does have some upsides to it that the NFL doesn’t, but at the end of the day, I’m tuning into NFL.
Scoring a touchdown in the NFL is certainly not the only way to end overtime.
The only reason you have ties in the NFL is because they purposely limit the game. They could break the tie if they wanted.
I agree that the college system is more exciting.