CC's top ten college teams (early poll)

[WILLIAMS5232]

so, just wanted to see what the ncaaf cc fans think.

[macbone]

Man, I can't believe Alabama's at #3 in the AP! I haven't been following the season like I used to. Ah, the days of Mike Dubose and Mike Shula are only a dim memory. Honestly, I thought Nick Saban would leave after four years.

And holy cow, Auburn's #4? Wow!

And MSU is #1???

5 SEC teams in the AP top 10 right now. That's nuts!

There's no way Alabama's going through LSU, MSU, and Auburn unscathed, though.

[muy_thaiguy]

Just can't bring myself to vote for a So Everyone Cheats school or the Florida State Criminals led by Rapist Winston.

[Serbia]

My teams:
Mississippi State. A decent team right now, not sure they should be number one, when clearly that belongs to:
Arizona. Rich Rodriguez. NEXT QUESTION!
Utah. Might be the hottest team in the country right now.
Nebraska. Rumor has it, they're considering leaving the Big Ten for the ACC next year.
Kansas State. Far and away the best team in the Big 12. Would be odds on favorites to win the SEC if they were in that conference.
Arizona State. For my money, Armand Perry isn't only the best defensive back in the country, he's the best damn PLAYER in the country.

Bollocks.

[WILLIAMS5232]

i generally only care about SEC games, but i do like to watch the big games from other conferences.

that Florida State/Louisville game was a nailbiter.i thought Louisville was going to hold them off there for the majority of that game.

i can't believe how well miss. state has played. they just keep on winning. even though i'm a native mississippian, i still can't help but think this is short lived. but i do hope for the best there.

that LSU/Ole MIss game was a bruiser as well. lot of folks talking bad about Ole Miss because the loss, but that was just a dangerous game for them, they went to LSU and had to play them on homecoming. i wasn't suprised a bit. should have kicked that damn field goal in the end. (there's a lot they should have done but didn't) really the offense just played poorly.

lot of good games this week. can't wait to see what Oregon and Arizona make of their games.

[betiko]

Americans taking so much interest in university sports is genuinely a mistery for me. Is it true that it drains more audience than pro sports?

[WILLIAMS5232]

Americans taking so much interest in university sports is genuinely a mistery for me. Is it true that it drains more audience than pro sports?

not every one is a coolege fan. but i would say that college fans are truer fans than pro. in pro football you have a lot of people that pretend to like it because its like a socially awkard moment if you were to say you dont watch nfl football. my mother acts like she likes it, but when you are watching a game on tv and you have to ask "which team has the ball" or "whats the score" you unknowingly just blew your cover to a true fan. its fine to keep asking those kinds of questions to another pretend fan tho' that person wont know either.

with all that said, there are some big games in college ball. in my opinion i would say college regular season probably packs in more fans to the stadium, but the superbowl is almost fixing to become a national holiday here in the states. so for that reason i am going to say pro football is maybe a bigger deal. personally it bores the hell out of me. the only enjoyment i get out of it is keeping up with the college players that land in the nfl.

[muy_thaiguy]

Americans taking so much interest in university sports is genuinely a mistery for me. Is it true that it drains more audience than pro sports?

You mean attracts a bigger audience? Depends on the school. For example, the University of Michigan Football stadium is the largest stadium in North America, sitting 114,000 people. And there are several other schools that also have over 100,000 seat stadiums. Most NFL stadiums are between 50,000-90,000 in capacity. That said, there are a whole bunch of college football stadiums that seat fewer than 40,000.

Basketball, it varies. Some stadiums are little more than glorified high school gyms seating a few hundred to a couple thousand, while others are 20,000 to 30,000.

[betiko]

Well here in europe, we don t understand how being good at sports could pay your college fees.
People in universities that are in the university s team of any sport wouldn t have any sort of audience watching, not even their friends. It s just for the fun of playing.
If you are really good at a sport, well you enter a special school way before college where you study and train (when you are 14 or something). Or enter a club's youth program if you are recruited. People who go to college have no chance nor ambitions of becoming pros.
Basically, if you are old enough to go to college you should already be a pro. Our sports guy never go beyond high school, or if they do, it s after their pro career.
The thing is that sports for you go by franchise, so there are very few pro teams... For us there are hundreds of teams, ranked by division. If you are really good a scout will notice you and you will go to a bigger team.
University sports in the US for me is like liking more second division than first division because first division is too mainstream. Or to look cool when you can say to your friends while watching a pro game "yeah this number 8 about to enter the pitch is going to be one of the very best of his generation, i ve been watching all his college games"

And 110k for michigan state, seriously?? That is crazy. The biggest stadium in europe (fc barcelona) used to be that big but now i think it went down to 100k.
I think i heard that the NFL is the league (all sports including worldwide) with the most attendance in stadiums.

[Serbia]

And 110k for michigan state, seriously??

FUCKING NO. Get it right. It's MICHIGAN Stadium, home of the University of Michigan Wolverines. Largest college stadium.


I was at the stadium when it looked like this:


That's an outdoor hockey game played between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings. That was a great day.

Bollocks.

[muy_thaiguy]

Well here in europe, we don t understand how being good at sports could pay your college fees.
People in universities that are in the university s team of any sport wouldn t have any sort of audience watching, not even their friends. It s just for the fun of playing.

It's basically a chance for kids to get a college education where they normally wouldn't.

If you are really good at a sport, well you enter a special school way before college where you study and train (when you are 14 or something). Or enter a club's youth program if you are recruited. People who go to college have no chance nor ambitions of becoming pros.

Actually, kids start playing football and basketball as early as elementary school. That young, it's just kids in various local teams. When they get to Junior High, then they really start learning.

Basically, if you are old enough to go to college you should already be a pro. Our sports guy never go beyond high school, or if they do, it s after their pro career.

Football is a sport that can require years of training and developing. Plus, being a big guy is not a bad thing in football, with o-linemen averaging about 300lbs (if not more) in the NFL.

The thing is that sports for you go by franchise, so there are very few pro teams... For us there are hundreds of teams, ranked by division. If you are really good a scout will notice you and you will go to a bigger team.

There are quite a few pro and semi-pro leagues. The NFL is the ultimate goal, yes, but far from the only option. There's also the CFL (Canadian Football League), which, while not as big as the NFL is (and the NFL is REALLY big), it still attracts large crowds.

University sports in the US for me is like liking more second division than first division because first division is too mainstream. Or to look cool when you can say to your friends while watching a pro game "yeah this number 8 about to enter the pitch is going to be one of the very best of his generation, i ve been watching all his college games"

If anything, it weeds out guys who can be bad to pretty good in college from the ones who are not only good in college, but also at the pro level. And there is no "pitch" in American Football, BTW.

And 110k for michigan state, seriously?? That is crazy. The biggest stadium in europe (fc barcelona) used to be that big but now i think it went down to 100k.

Uh, the University of Michigan is quite a bit different than Michigan State (their stadium seats around 80,000), as you can see from Serbia's reaction. They are long time rivals.

I think i heard that the NFL is the league (all sports including worldwide) with the most attendance in stadiums.

Maybe. But Michigan Stadium is the largest in North America. The largest in the world seats around 200,000 and is in Asia somewhere.

[betiko]

I think the 200k stadium is in calcutta for cricket (and now they host a football team too as India has just started their football league)
regarding the pitch -> it's because I was talking about sports in general, not just american football. The college detection thing works for all sports in the US.
And I had no idea there were two big universities in michigan that were rivals!

Anyway, not saying this american system is worse, actually I think it's better, because as you say it gives a college education. Nevertheless this couldn't apply to the popular sports over here as you become pro much earlier (a footballer typically has a pro career between 17 and 33)

And to answer the first question: I'm a san josé spartans fan, as I used to go to college there! (I guess they suck if they aren't even mentioned). I worked a few times in their stadium as a student job, for american football games played by the spartans, or football games played by the US female team or the SJ earthquakes