5 Reasons to Love College Football

April 7, 2017 by CFP Staff

With spring trying to poke its tentative head out and failing miserably, is it too early yet to start looking forward to next year's college football season? In my humble opinion, it is never too early to start looking ahead: the upcoming 2017 season is very slowly inching closer.

It's safe to say the dust has finally settled on last year's nail-biting final between Alabama Tide vs Clemson Tigers. The showdown saw Clemson narrowly beat the Crimson Tide (35-31) in the dying seconds of the game. The Tigers exacted revenge on the Tide machine from the previous year and upset both odds and expert pundits predictions, who on paper had Alabama running out narrow winners yet again.

The reasons Clemson gritted out this epic encounter can be put down to the hurt they carried over from the previous year's narrow defeat, a near perfect performance by quarterback Deshaun Watson, and the head coach'sDabo Swinney's infectious character and ability to get the best out of his squad.

On the other side, Tide fans will remember this game as being one defensive stop to many. Coach Nick Saban and the Alabama Tide powerhouse he has built will still be the team that fans want to see beaten more than anything next year.

These epic finals are great viewing but are only one of the reasons why college football is on the menu for football fans each year. According to Casinos.co, even European sport fans have finally come around to appreciate the glory of this all-American sport and are starting to invest themselves in it. In fact, the article states that the online gambling stakes tend to get really high around peak season for sportsbook casinos.

So what else makes us just love the college football season?

Different playbooks

College teams are willing to experiment with a wide variety of offensive styles. You get to witness Auburn's Hurry Up, No Huddle philosophy, Army's No-Throw-Em, Alabama's Pro-Style, Mike Leach's Air Raid campaign at Washington State, Georgia Tech's Crazy Run and Navy's Triple Option Flex to name a few. Whatever type of football floats your boat you will find it in college football.

Shimmering rivalries that are set in stone

College football rivalries are based on years of history, factor in that some of these battles do really matter when determining the National title chase or a Conference title then it takes on a whole new dimension and is not just about bragging rights between the concerned colleges. Take for example when Auburn face Alabama or Michigan play Ohio State, a win or loss can define the whole season for the respective teams, it is easy to see that these games really matter.

Making a bad team good in quick time

In college football, a change of coaches and a couple of years of decent recruiting and a team can go from limited or downright dreadful to great and capable of contesting for its respective divisional honors. This potentially quick upturn makes fans believe anything may be possible for the forthcoming season.

A new star is born

Every sport is on the constant look out for the next bright thing. Last year's Heisman Trophy winner, Lamar Jackson was only known to hard-core fans before last season started. A few games in and every college football fan was discussing his mercurial ability and talent. The Louisville quarterback went on to become the all-time youngest winner. Jackson has a very credible chance of retaining the trophy and is priced at 13/2 to do just that.

If he were to succeed, he would become only the second player to achieve this. Jackson would follow in the footsteps of Archie Griffin, the running back from Ohio State. One added bonus for college football stars is that they leave their college on a high rather than fading into obscurity.

Tricky to predict

College games are difficult to call, college kids are more prone to making mistakes and can crumble under pressure but they can also go on to do some amazing things on the field. You often find yourself asking "Where did that come from?"

Also, some systems upset others, teams have real bad games for no apparent reason and all this leads to great opportunity for sports investors when betting on these games. This all adds to the excitement.

Worth quickly noting are college football's different traditions, an exciting overtime system and that to win the CFP Championship you have to be good all season. A few good reasons to keep coming back for more college football.