Last weekend had it all: three of the top five and five of the top 8 went down, there was the Hail Mary heroics by Arizona State to upset USC with no time remaining, the four top Pac-12 teams were sent packing and much more. Perhaps the most fitting way to end the day, the Cal Golden Bears won a shootout 60-59 that stretched into the midnight hour (depending on your time zone), and no, Aaron Rodgers was not playing.
So, while the NFL is great and fantasy football is becoming more popular than Kim Kardashian's slip-ups, college has aspects that just can't be touched by the pros. Here are my top five:
1. Upsets
An upset in the pros is not that meaningful; people will discuss it for maybe a week tops. Why? Because they are all professionals and capable of winning without it being that big of a surprise. But, college football upsets take on a whole other meaning. And last week, they came in droves. Unlike the pros, a bevy of upsets in college sends a paradigm shift across the country. With one game or even one snap, teams can miss out on their big chance at a championship or a big bowl.
This urgency to win is what sends people off the edge of the seat, creating a week-to-week electricity and a swing of emotions that the NFL just can't touch.
2. School Pride
Being a part of the university makes you feel that you are part of the team, in a sense. You go to school just like the players (or like the players are supposed to), you immerse yourself in the same culture and you represent the same town. From the fight song to the painted faces, there's truly nothing like a college football atmosphere. For many, it's an out-of-body experience that can only be explained once you've experienced it yourself.
3. Rushing the Field
Want a real out-of-body experience? Your college team just pulled off an insane upset, and you run onto the field with thousands of other lunatic fans to celebrate. There's really nothing like it. As ridiculous as it may look on TV, it is a perfect representation of the epitome of college football chaos.
4. Amateurs
One of the best things about college sports is that the players really do play for each other and their families, friends and fans. They are not paid (or not supposed to be), so everything is a level-playing field. The sense of pride that is gained from that should be appreciated by everything involved, from the players to the onlookers. From a psychological standpoint, one could argue that is what makes college football so exiting, despite the fact that the business side of it is a major turnoff. And, maybe players should be compensated more as a result. But, that's a topic for another day.
5. Unpredictability
It's wild, it's chaotic and it's so much fun! As cliche as it sounds, anything can happen in college football. You can be in a completely different division like Appalachian State and take out Michigan, or you can be a cinderella and win a mammoth bowl game like Boise St. did against OU, or you can simply have a crazy upset like the many we saw last week. Unlike the pros, these are amateur athletes playing for something bigger than money. That mindset, the opportunity for mistakes and the nature of a bounce here or there, can make all the difference in a college game.
No team is truly a lock, making the college game such a fascinating show to watch. It's like Breaking Bad chaos before there was a Breaking Bad!
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