Online Encyclopedia
College football
College football was the venue through which American football first gained popularity in the United States. College football remains extremely popular today among students, alumni, and other fans of the sport.
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History
The first game played between teams representing different colleges or universities was played on November 6, 1869 between Rutgers University and Princeton University, at College Field (which is now the parking lot behind the College Avenue Gym, as well as the site of the Gym itself), New Brunswick, New Jersey. Rutgers won, by a score of 6 to 4. As the score would indicate, the game bore little resemblance to the game of today. The rules of that game were the 1863 rules of the London Football Association , which later adopted the general rules of soccer.
The development of the modern game can be traced to a meeting between the Harvard University and McGill University football teams in 1874. The two teams were used to playing different brands of football--the McGill team played a rugby-style game, while Harvard played a soccer-style game. The teams agreed to play under compromise rules, and from this meeting the game of football began to evolve in both the United States and Canada.
The game increased in popularity through the remainder of the 19th century. It also became increasingly violent. President Theodore Roosevelt threatened, in 1906, to ban the sport following a series of player deaths from injuries suffered during games. The response to this was the formation of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which set rules governing the sport. One of the rules changes to emerge from this attempt at alleviating the violence of the sport was the introduction of the forward pass. Another was the banning of "mass momentum" plays (many of which, like the infamous "flying wedge", were literally deadly).
Prior to the founding of the National Football League, and for a few decades thereafter, college football was the predominant venue for American football. Innovations in strategy and style of play originated in college football and spread to the pro game gradually. It was not until the post- World War II era that the pro game achieved ascendancy in the eyes of the average American sports fan.
The season schedule
Unlike the NFL season (which runs from September to the end of December), the college football regular season has a different schedule. It begins two to three weeks earlier, towards the end of August. Until 2003, the regular season was officially ushered in by the Kickoff Classic, held in recent years in New Jersey (although other pre-season games such as the Eddie Robinson Classic and the Pigskin Classic have also been played), but recent NCAA sanctions eliminated some of these games, and so the season starts right off with regular games. The regular season then continues through early December (generally with the annual Army-Navy Game).
The college post-season is ushered in by the annual presentation of the Heisman Trophy Award, considered the most prestigious award in all of college football, given to the top player of the year. This is then followed by a series of successful bowl games that showcases (in some situations) the top college team in a particular conference, as well as the mythical "national champion" (determined usually during the New Year's holiday in January). A series of all-star bowl games round out the season for the balance of January, including the East-West Shrine Game, the Senior Bowl (for many decades the official final game of the season), the Hula Bowl, and the Gridiron Classic (in recent years, the Hula and Gridiron have alternated as the final game of the season).
National championships
- NCAA Division I-A national football champions
- NCAA Division I-AA national football championship
- NCAA Division II national football championship
- NCAA Division III national football championship
- NAIA national football championship
NCAA divisions and conferences
NCAA Division I-A
- Atlantic Coast Conference
- Big East Conference
- Big Ten Conference
- Big Twelve Conference
- Conference USA
- Mid-American Conference
- Mountain West Conference
- Pacific Ten Conference
- Southeastern Conference
- Sun Belt Conference
- Western Athletic Conference
- NCAA Division I-A Independent Schools
NCAA Division I-AA
- Atlantic Ten Conference
- Big Sky Conference
- Big South Conference
- Gateway Football Conference
- Great West Football Conference
- Ivy League
- Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
- Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
- Northeast Conference
- Ohio Valley Conference
- Patriot League
- Pioneer Football League
- Southern Conference
- Southland Conference
- Southwestern Athletic Conference
- NCAA Division I-AA Independent Schools
NCAA Division II
- Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
- Eastern Conference
- Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
- Great Northwest Athletic Conference
- Gulf South Conference
- Lone Star Conference
- Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association
- North Central Conference
- Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference
- Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference
- Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
- South Atlantic Conference
- Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
- West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
- NCAA Division II independent schools
NCAA Division III
- American Southwest Conference
- Atlantic Central Football Conference
- College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin
- Centennial Conference
- Freedom Football Conference
- Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference
- Illini-Badger Football Conference
- Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
- Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association
- Middle Atlantic Corporation
- Midwest Conference
- Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
- New England Football Conference
- New England Small College Athletic Conference
- New Jersey Athletic Conference
- North Coast Athletic Conference
- Northwest Athletic Conference
- Ohio Athletic Conference
- Old Dominion Athletic Conference
- Presidents' Athletic Conference
- Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
- Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
- University Athletic Association
- Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association
- USA South Athletic Conference
- Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
- NCAA Division III independent schools
NAIA Conferences
- Central States Football League
- Dakota Athletic Conference
- Frontier Conference
- Great Plains Athletic Conference
- Heart of America Athletic Conference
- Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference
- Mid-South Conference
- Mid-States Football Association
- Upper Midwest Athletic Conference
- NAIA independent schools
Conferences that formerly sponsored football
- Big Six Conference
- Big Seven Conference
- Big Eight Conference
- Big West Conference
- Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association
- Indiana Collegiate Athletic Conference
- Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
- Nebraska-Iowa Athletic Conference
- Pacific Coast Athletic Association
- Southwest Conference
- Wisconsin State University Conference
College football bowl games for 2003-2004
- Alamo Bowl - San Antonio, Texas, (since 1993)
- Aztec Bowl - San Diego, California
- Blue-Gray Football Classic - Montgomery, Alabama (1938-2001), Troy, Alabama (since 2003)
- Capital One Bowl - Orlando, Florida, (since 1947) (was Tangerine Bowl and Florida Citrus Bowl)
- Continental Tire Bowl - Charlotte, North Carolina, (since 2002)
- Cotton Bowl - Dallas, Texas, (since 1937)
- East-West Shrine Game - Stanford, California (1925-2000), San Francisco, California (since 2001)
- Emerald Bowl - San Francisco, California, (since 2002) (was San Francisco Bowl )
- Fiesta Bowl - Tempe, Arizona, (since 1971)
- Fort Worth Bowl - Fort Worth, Texas, (since 2003)
- Gator Bowl - Jacksonville, Florida, (since 1946)
- GMAC Bowl - Mobile, Alabama, (since 1999)
- Hawaii Bowl- Honolulu, Hawaii, (since 2002)
- Houston Bowl- Houston, Texas, (since 2000)
- Holiday Bowl - San Diego, California, (since 1978)
- Hula Bowl - Hawaii (different cities since 1946)
- Humanitarian Bowl - Boise, Idaho, (since 1997)
- Independence Bowl - Shreveport, Louisiana, (since 1976)
- Insight Bowl - Phoenix, Arizona, (since 1989) (was Copper Bowl)
- Las Vegas Bowl - Las Vegas, Nevada, (since 1992)
- Liberty Bowl - Memphis, Tennessee, (since 1959)
- Motor City Bowl - Detroit, Michigan, (since 1997)
- Music City Bowl - Nashville, Tennessee, (since 1998)
- New Orleans Bowl - New Orleans, Louisiana, (since 2001)
- Orange Bowl - Miami, Florida, (since 1946)
- Outback Bowl - Tampa, Florida, (since 1986) (was Hall of Fame Bowl)
- Peach Bowl - Atlanta, Georgia, (since 1968)
- Rose Bowl - Pasadena, California, (1902, continuously since 1916)
- Senior Bowl - Jacksonville, Florida (1950), Mobile, Alabama (since 1951)
- Silicon Valley Football Classic - San Jose, California, (since 2000)
- Sugar Bowl - New Orleans, Louisiana, (since 1935)
- Sun Bowl - El Paso, Texas, (since 1936) (was John Hancock Bowl)
- Tangerine Bowl - Orlando, Florida, (since 1990)
Bowls no longer played
- All-American Bowl - Birmingham, Alabama (1977 - 1990) (formerly Hall of Fame Classic)
- Aloha Bowl - Honolulu, Hawaii (1982 – 2000)
- Aviation Bowl - Dayton, Ohio (1961)
- Bacardi Bowl - Havana, Cuba (1937)
- Bluebonnet Bowl - Houston, Texas (1959 - 1987)
- Bluegrass Bowl - Louisville, Kentucky (1958)
- California Bowl - Fresno, California (1981 - 1991)
- Camellia Bowl - Lafayette, Louisiana (1948)
- Cherry Bowl - Pontiac, Michigan (1984 - 1985)
- Delta Bowl - Memphis, Tennessee (1948 - 1949)
- Dixie Bowl - Birmingham, Alabama (1948 - 1949)
- Dixie Classic - Dallas, Texas (1922, 1925, 1934)
- Fort Worth Classic - Fort Worth, Texas (1921)
- Freedom Bowl - Anaheim, California (1984 - 1994)
- Garden State Bowl - East Rutherford, New Jersey (1978 - 1981)
- Gotham Bowl - New York, New York (1961 - 1962)
- Great Lakes Bowl - Cleveland, Ohio (1947)
- Harbor Bowl - San Diego, California (1947 - 1949)
- Heritage Bowl - Atlanta, Georgia (1991 - 2000)
- Los Angeles Christmas Festival - Los Angeles, California (1924)
- Mercy Bowl - Los Angeles, California (1961; 1971)
- Oahu Bowl - Honolulu, Hawaii (1998 - 2000)
- Oil Bowl - Houston, Texas (1946 - 1947)
- Pasadena Bowl - Pasadena, California (1967 - 1971)
- Presidential Cup Bowl - College Park, Maryland (1950)
- Raisin Bowl - Fresno, California (1946 - 1949)
- Salad Bowl - Phoenix, Arizona (1948 - 1952)
- San Diego East-West Christmas Classic - San Diego, California (1921 - 1922)
- Seattle Bowl - Seattle, Washington (2001 -2002)
- Shrine Bowl - Little Rock, Arkansas (1948)
College football awards
- College Football All-America Teams : originally selected by Walter Camp.
- Chuck Bednarik Award
- Fred Biletnikoff Award
- Buck Buchanan Award
- Dick Butkus Award
- Gagliardi Trophy
- Grantland Rice Award
- Lou Groza Award
- Heisman Trophy
- Harlon Hill Trophy
- Lombardi Award
- Maxwell Award
- Bronko Nagurski Trophy
- Davey O'Brien Award
- Outland Trophy
- Walter Payton Award
- Dave Rimington Trophy
- Jim Thorpe Award
- Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award
- Doak Walker Award
External links
- NCAA football official site
- NCAA football section
- NCAA football stats
- An account of the first game
- Don Hansen's Football Gazette