The College football Portal

College football refers to gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football first gained popularity in the United States.

Like gridiron football generally, college football is most popular in the United States and Canada. While no single governing body exists for college football in the United States, most schools, especially those at the highest levels of play, are members of the NCAA. In Canada, collegiate football competition is governed by U Sports for universities. The Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (for colleges) governs soccer and other sports but not gridiron football. Other countries, such as Mexico, Japan and South Korea, also host college football leagues with modest levels of support.

Unlike most other major sports in North America, no official minor league farm organizations exist for American football or Canadian football. Therefore, college football is generally considered to be the second tier of American and Canadian football; ahead of high school competition, but below professional competition. In some parts of the United States, especially the South and Midwest, college football is more popular than professional football. For much of the 20th century, college football was generally considered to be more prestigious than professional football.

As the second highest tier of gridiron football competition in the United States, many college football players later play professionally in the NFL or other leagues. The NFL draft each spring sees 224 players selected and offered a contract to play in the league, with the vast majority coming from the NCAA. Other professional leagues, such as the CFL and XFL, additionally hold their own drafts each year which see many college players selected. Players who are not selected can still attempt to land a professional roster spot as an undrafted free agent. Despite these opportunities, only around 1.6% of NCAA college football players end up playing professionally in the NFL. (Full article...)

Selected article

A football player wearing white pants and a red jersey runs with the ball as he tries to deflact a would-be tackler wearing orange pants and white and orange jersey.
The 2006 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the college football season of 2006-2007, winning the Big 12 Conference Championship. The team was coached by Bob Stoops, led on offense by quarterback Paul Thompson, and played their homes games at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

The previous year's team did not quite reach to the expectations that head coach Bob Stoops has set for his teams. The Sooners ended the previous season with eight wins and four losses, third in the Big 12 South standings and 22nd in both the Associated Press and USA Today polls.

This season saw the Sooners re-emerge to the forefront of college football. The season began when the starting quarterback and an offensive lineman were kicked off the team the day before fall practice started. They lost two of their first five games including a controversial loss to the Oregon Ducks and a loss to the defending national champion Texas Longhorns. They followed those losses with eight consecutive wins. The Sooners won their fourth conference championship under Bob Stoops to make 40 conference championships total. They played Boise State University in the Fiesta Bowl and lost in what many consider one of the "greatest" bowl games of all time. The Sooners' defense again ended the season nationally ranked finishing number one is several categories in the conference. Following the season, Adrian Peterson was selected seventh overall in the 2007 NFL Draft. In addition to Peterson, Rufus Alexander and C. J. Ah You were also drafted into the National Football League (NFL).

Quotes

Did you know...

Aerial view of Harvard Stadium in Boston, in the form of a letter U with a capital H in the center of the field and the words Harvard and Crimson at either end

Yale's original mascot, Handsome Dan

College Football DYK Archive

Selected image

Calendar

WikiProjects

  • WikiProject Sports
    • WikiProject American football
      • WikiProject National Football League
      • WikiProject College football
    • WikiProject College basketball
    • WikiProject College baseball

Subcategories

College football in the United States
College football in Alabama
College football in Arizona
College football in Arkansas
College football in California
College football in Colorado
College football in Connecticut
College football in Delaware
College football in Florida
College football in Georgia (U.S. state)
College football in Hawaii
College football in Idaho
College football in Illinois
College football in Indiana
College football in Iowa
College football in Kansas
College football in Kentucky
College football in Louisiana
College football in Maryland
College football in Massachusetts
College football in Michigan
College football in Nevada
College football in New Mexico
College football in New York (state)
College football in North Carolina
College football in North Dakota
College football in Oklahoma
College football in South Carolina
College football in Tennessee
College football in Texas
College football in Utah
College football in Virginia
College football in West Virginia
College football by conference
College football awards
College football coaches in the United States
College football competitions
College football teams in the United States by state
College football controversies
Defunct college football organizations
History of college football by team
Junior college football in the United States
College football-related lists
College football logos
College football mass media
NAIA football
NCAA football
College football officials
College football players in the United States
College football rankings
College football rivalries in the United States
College football seasons in the United States
Sprint football
College football standings
College football teams in the United States
College football venues
College football stubs

College football topics


Sports portals

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.