American college football is my favorite sport, followed closely by English soccer. The edge has much to do with feeling a direct connection to the college football game through my university years in Oklahoma. Games still to come at the end of November and early December could put my alma mater, Oklahoma State, in the national championship game. The ominous doubt comes from a single loss, last week in double overtime.
Unlike the NFL, American college football is and always will be a mess. Part of that is the nature of the game. Even the most skilled players are young and not yet professional. Plus, players graduating or jumping early to the NFL forces coaches to deal with constant turnover of personnel. Good teams develop players to replace those who leave, but the best schools don’t have four full years with amateurs. The most talented players are often barely “students” and leave early for the NFL either by choice or due to academic ineligibility.
