College America

College America Summary

College football is American football played by teams of students fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies. Modern American football has its origins in various games, all known as “football”, played at public schools in England in the mid-19th century. The first ball game played between teams representing American colleges was not an ancestor of today’s college football, rather it was played under rules derived from the 1863 rules of the English Football Association, the basis of the modern form of association football (soccer). The game, between teams from Rutgers College (now Rutgers University) and the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), took place on November 6, 1869, at College Field (now the site of the College Avenue Gymnasium at Rutgers University) in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The American experience with the rugby-style game that led directly to present-day college football began in 1874 at a meeting in Cambridge, Massachusetts, between Harvard University and Montreal’s McGill University. Teams from Harvard and Yale met for the first time in 1875 and played the first game of American college football. Prior to the founding of the National Football League and for many decades thereafter, college football was the predominant venue of American football. Innovations in strategy and style of play originated in college football and spread to the professional game gradually. Even with the emergence of the NFL, college football remains extremely popular throughout the U.S. Because the accessibility of professional football is limited to major urban areas, the college game is especially popular in predominantly rural areas. Although the college game has a much larger margin for talent than its pro counterpart, the sheer number of fans following major colleges provides a financial equalizer for the game, with Division I programs — the highest level — playing in huge stadiums (four of which have seating capacity exceeding 100,000). Unlike the early years of college football, the upper echelons of the college football are now dominated by public schools. The regular season continues through early December, ending with the annual Army-Navy Game and several conference championship games on the same weekend. The postseason consists of a series of bowl games that showcase top college teams. Bowl games generally match two teams of similar standing from different conferences, although some pit a high ranked team from a smaller conference against a lower ranked team from a more prestigious one. The game is played after completion of the BCS Bowls and the site rotates every year between the four BCS Bowls: the Rose Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Sugar Bowl. The NCAA Football Rules Committee determines the playing rules for Division I (both Bowl and Championship Subdivisions), II, and III games (the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) is a separate organization, but uses the NCAA rules). A bowl game is a post-season college football game, typically in the Division I Bowl Subdivision. They are then invited to a bowl game based on their conference ranking and the tie-ins that the conference has to each bowl game. For the 2006 season, there are 32 bowl games, so 64 of the 119 Division I FBS teams will be invited to play at a bowl. These games are played from mid-December to early January and most of the later bowl games are typically considered more prestigious. After the Bowl Championship Series, additional all-star bowl games round out the post-season schedule through the beginning of February. The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) is designed to pair the top two teams in college football against each other for a National Championship game. The top-ranked and second-ranked teams are pitted in the BCS National Championship Game in order to crown an unofficial NCAA Division I FBS national football champion.

Summary content courtesy of Wikipedia.