Why We Love College Football

College football is back.

Those are words as joyous to many as "it's Christmas!" are to a young child.

Notice the specificity -- COLLEGE FOOTBALL is back.

Not football. College football.

I know there are many out there who have entire weekends consumed by football, and that's fine. On Saturdays they roll with the college action while Sundays are set aside for NFL. That's understandable. The NFL, despite the heavy-handed mismanagement by commish Roger Goodell, is still king of the ratings -- not sure why, but it is.

The players are the best of the best, and seeing legends like Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers play is certainly something to relish.

But what is the NFL really? It's 16 games a week, all look the same, all have basically the same formations and plays. It's really gambling and fantasy football that drive the NFL engine, with followers simultaneously watching Red Zone and looking at their phones for live updates on their "games." They can't be bothered with which NFL team actually won the game -- hell, they probably don't even care, as long as their dude runs for a buck fifty and scores twice.

College football has many elements the NFL is missing -- pageantry, marching bands, idyllic settings, fans going apeshit for their teams, rivalries. You name it, in just about every aspect the college game beats the NFL.

Much of this may depend on where you grow up. For people raised in Columbus or Tuscaloosa or Ann Arbor or South Bend, there is something about being automatically attached to the hometown team. You grow up in the area, maybe your parents went there. You gain familiarity with the programs and traditions and coaches, you feel a part of something. You like the fact that some of the players on the team are from your town, from your state. You feel connected, like they are taking a part of you with them onto the field.

There are the traditions -- Script Ohio, Howard's Rock, Toomer's Corner, Touchdown Jesus, Hotty Toddy, Roll Tide -- the list could go on forever. You don't find too many people driving for a day or more to get to an NFL stadium, but they'll do it five or six times a season to get to their favorite college venue. RVs and tailgates are regular fixtures on college campuses, and fans line the street near the stadium to see their heroes making that walk. Only Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City comes close to replicating a college atmosphere. The settings, as much as anything, make the experience. Fight songs matter, too -- "Fight On," "The Victors," "Anchors Aweigh" and "Rocky Top" just add to the atmosphere. Or, if you're the visitor, add to the frustation if your team is losing.

Even the stadiums have nicknames -- The Swamp, The Shoe, Death Valley (two of those!), Home of the 12th Man, The Big House, The Cock Pit. NFL stadiums are known by their antiseptic corporate sponsorship.

And the rivalries -- Ohio State-Michigan, Alabama-Auburn, USC-Notre Dame, Texas-Oklahoma, Cal-Stanford, Clemson-South Carolina, Harvard-Yale, Lehigh-Lafayette ... every team has that one foe it cannot stand losing to, that one foe against whom victory soothes a lot of ills. Big time stakes, just once a season. It sends hearts racing.

Though Group of Five teams will dispute this, every game in college football has meaning. In the NFL, you lose once, no big deal. Lose twice, no big deal. You could lose seven, even eight times, and still have a shot at the postseason. Not so in college football. Every week is an elimination, as one loss puts you behind the eight ball and a second loss puts you out of the running altogether. Every game matters, every play matters. Think otherwise? Well, how many NFL regular season games do you know that have been named? In college there's "Wide Right" and "Kick Six" and "Catholics vs Convicts," and many more. Hell, a T-shirt was made of a frustrated Michigan fan after his Wolverines lost to Michigan State on a botched punt in the final seconds of the game a couple of years ago. Most of the memorable NFL moments have come in the playoffs.

Every college game has its own flavor. Over here you have one game featuring an Air Raid vs. an option, another with a spread team facing a Pro-Style, a team that goes empty, defenses that utilize more speed than size, that have nickel as their base. You pretty much find 3-4 and 4-3 in the NFL, and the offenses deviate very little, if at all. Oh, maybe there are some RPO principles, but by and large they make the players adapt to the system rather than crafting a system that can fit your players. The diverse offenses and chess matches are a big part of why college football is so appealing.

Conference pride is big, too. Have you ever heard fans chanting "N-F-C" at the Super Bowl, or "A-F-C South" in a matchup between the Colts and Jets? Of course you haven't. Because every team is its own entity. In college, even if you're an Alabama fan you pay attention to Auburn and Georgia and LSU, and don't mind when they knock off a Big 10 or Pac-12 foe. There's something soothing about solidarity.

There are other factors that swing in favor of college football -- coaching personalities, recruiting, defensive players playing offense, singing the alma mater in the end zone after the game, renewing friendships during homecoming, actual mascots (UGA and Mike The Tiger among the best), the fact that the team won't hold the city hostage for a new stadium or threaten to move.

Maybe I am in the minority, but I am seldom wowed after walking into an NFL stadium. There's loud music (usually techno) blaring from the sound system, a stark contrast to the brass of the marching band getting fans fired up before game time. If you don't feel goosebumps upon walking into Notre Dame Stadium or The Horseshoe, don't get amped when hearing "Enter Sandman" at Lane Stadium, don't go wild for the fourth-quarter "Jump Around" in Madison, then you, friend, need some help.

Welcome back, old friend. I've missed you.