Another SEC alum and parent here - Geaux Tigers! SEC football is so much more fun than pro football!
@eb23282 lol Newcastle United is the only professional football I’ve ever seen live.
To clarify, I am boycotting the NFL. My HS and college teams are killing it!
@gosmom said:
DH loves to have that on TV at our house on Saturdays. He turns it on in the family room (downstairs) as well as the man cave outside his office (upstairs) so that he doesn’t miss anything as he goes about his morning.
@eyemamom said:
Other than Vince Young scoring the winning touchdown for my alma mater in the Rose Bowl, my favorite ending ever is the one where Chris Davis ran back Alabama’s missed field goal for the winning touchdown in the Iron Bowl a few years ago. I loved watching all the Youtube videos of fans reacting as they watched that play. A classic!
@sushiritto said:
But that’s exactly why I prefer college ball. These players do some crazy stuff! Some of the stupid mistakes they make are what makes it so entertaining. And the enthusiasm of the fans blows NFL out of the water. Love the bands, the general atmosphere, etc. so much more in college ball.
I started going to UT football games when I was four years old and continued until I moved to Maine when I was 24. I really miss those! I’ll get to see UT play Iowa in Austin when I’m there in November. 
My dad is connected to UT athletics (he was chair of the Men’s Athletic Council for years), so I like getting the inside scoop.
Northwestern (and the USMNT).
The only places in the US where you find the level of passion for their teams that you regularly see among soccer fans outside the US is in the college game (and a handful of NFL franchises like GB and Pittsburgh). Both college football and college basketball.
@MaineLonghorn One small correction that I hope you will not be disappointed in (I know I would be). You will not see Iowa in November, you will see Iowa State. As a Hawkeye fan it is my pet peeve that the two schools seem to be interchangeable in many people’s minds. It doesn’t seem to happen with other states, no one confuses MI and MSU or NC and NC State but Iowa and Iowa State are always viewed as the same, no idea why since Iowa has been the much better program (at least in football) over the last 40 years.
I love college football compared to the NFL but someone noted above that the passion of the players for their school has a lot to do with it, specifically referencing the SEC. I would disagree with this in the SEC and in most power 5 programs. The players, for the most part, are there to get to the NFL and could often times care less about what school they attend, it is a means to an end. Take the Clemson QB situation as an example. The starter lost his starting job 2 weeks ago to a freshman and the next day announced he was transferring. Fast forward 6 days and that new QB was injured and the team was left with the QB that started the year as 3rd string. The original starter did what was best for him as he did not care about the school and in hindsight may have hurt his NFL chances.
@iaparent, thanks for that. I must have glanced at the schedule too quickly, because I know the difference between the two schools.
It happens in Texas, too. Someone saw the UT decal on my car and said, “Oh, Texas A&M!” OMG no!
@iaparent, some of the players. But many know they won’t have much of a shot at the next level anyway and almost all love their school. Very few could care less what school they attend (the transferring Clemson QB felt the benching was a slap in the face given that he had waited his turn). The NFL is a (brutal) business where the players and management generally have an adversarial relationship (because the players have no job security). You won’t see a college player give the finger to their sideline when being carted off after an injury (which you’ve seen in the NFL), for instance. On a P5 college team, these days, an injured player will almost certainly still keep their scholarship even if he doesn’t play another down of football. NFL players can be (and are) cut for any reason.
The only one I ever get confused with is Mississippi and Mississippi State. One of them is Ole Miss.
@sly123 hopefully it was at St. James. But they are simply awful this season.
Nevada household, we bleed silver and blue - go Pack!
Thankfully DD is attending a non football school, no conflict there, I am learning Men’s DI Hockey
I’m a born and raised 49’er fan but honestly, until play-offs, I rarely pay attention.
Hubby is a born and raised Patriots fan, DS has followed in Hubby’s footsteps.
College, whether the academics or sports, prepares you for your future career. Kelly Bryant, the former starter for Clemson, I think, did the right thing for his career. He would sitting behind a true freshman for probably a very long time. Sitting on the bench is not good for a career in football, when you have to show what you can do on the field in order to get drafted higher and earn more money.
With the relaxing of the transfer rules, school transfers are more common nowadays anyway. Shea Patterson transfered this year from Ole Miss to Michigan, as another example. He thought he had a better opportunity at Michigan. Then there’s the case of Jalen Hurts of Alabama. Tua T., the QB that replaced him in last year’s championship game, is now the starter, but Hurts decided to stay as the backup, at least for now. I’m not so sure sitting on the bench is good for your draft stock.
The “stupid mistakes” frustrate some of us. If you want to see the highest skilled players, then you watch professionals.I enjoy watching both, college and the NFL, but I’m not going to watch Eastern Ipswitch State play, even though they may have enthusiastically engaged fans. Alabama OTOH has a near-professional team, but I’m also not going to watch them beat Louisiana Lafayette 56-14 either.
We are leaving tomorrow for DH’s 40th college reunion, and the forecast says thunderstorms in Ann Arbor all this weekend. I don’t love the Wolverines enough to watch a game (any game) in the rain. Poor hubby will have to cheer without me, but I’m betting there will still be thousands of crazy fans who will ignore the weather.
Our son sat through this one last year:
Would you sit through heat, rain, snow, or freezing temps to watch your team? Where do you draw the line?
I’ve sat through a couple of very hot UT games. I would prefer cold and snow!
I edited to add “heat,” @MaineLonghorn.
The only ones that frustrate me are the ones made by my alma mater. 
Otherwise, bring it on. I love it.
Nope. Give me a comfy couch and a good TV and I’m happy.
YES! If you have any doubts, go watch the Georgia Bulldogs and then go watch the Atlanta Falcons. Same state, totally different experiences.
Not as applicable in football, but I’ve always wondered how rookies in the NBA feel. They leave crazy environments like Duke, UNC, Kentucky, etc where packed houses scream their names, and then end up in Atlanta (no offense if you live there) riding the pine in front of a half empty arena with fans who could care less about you. I guess the money helps, but it’s got to be really depressing.