Why do some people prefer college basketball and football over the NBA and NFL?

[Reyes47]

I never understood why people prefer college sports over pro sports. The pro sports are the best college athletes so why do some people like college which has worse talent. On top of that so many games are just lopsided. I know occasionally some pro leagues have blow outs but they’re not nearly as blatant as college especially when no names like Citadel go against Clemson or whatever. I will admit March Madness is better than almost all pro sports but CFB playoffs just suck

[GhostOfNormMacdonald]

I think the style is more fun. Theres way more variety in the types of offenses you'll see. Theres also more underdogs and with the "every game counts" aspect, when an upset happens its way more dramatic. Like when Illinois beat Wisconsin last year, it hurt them more than when the WFT beat the Steelers today. It's just higher stakes. I think the smaller playoff makes it more intense (I still think it should be expanded to 6 or 8 teams though)

 

I think the sense of community and the rivalries are way more fun as well and can be clashes of culture within a state. Colleges are ingrained in a community more than billion dollar corporations are.

[The_Admiral]

MOD EDIT

[4_tattoos]

For some people it's location. For the most part NBA and NFL teams are in big cities. If you live in a state without an NFL or NBA team, you're more likely to support the major college program in said state than whoever the closest pro team may be. 

[Reyes47]

48 minutes ago, NormMacdonald said:

I think the style is more fun. Theres way more variety in the types of offenses you'll see.

Except all the top teams run basic formations. When was the last time the triple option won a championship 

48 minutes ago, NormMacdonald said:

Theres also more underdogs and with the "every game counts" aspect, when an upset happens its way more dramatic. Like when Illinois beat Wisconsin last year, it hurt them more than when the WFT beat the Steelers today. It's just higher stakes. I think the smaller playoff makes it more intense (I still think it should be expanded to 6 or 8 teams though)

Those occasions are very rare and it hurts the playoffs. Why should i care about the season if my team loses one game?

48 minutes ago, NormMacdonald said:

 

I think the sense of community and the rivalries are way more fun as well and can be clashes of culture within a state. Colleges are ingrained in a community more than billion dollar corporations are.

well i disagree. i don’t feel any kind of community at colleges. Also rivalries are overrated and arbitrary. Why should I as a florida fan hate FSU? Because they’re kinda close?

[Dilbert]

Some people prefer to see young, raw, talent influenced by their ability and not by  a big paycheck.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

38 minutes ago, Dilbert said:

Some people prefer to see young, raw, talent influenced by their ability and not by  a big paycheck.

 

That ain't college football or basketball though.

 

I think the pro game is better -- because it functionally is -- but I get the allure of collage sports. If you live in Wyoming or North Dakota or wherever, you're never going to get a pro team. Big-time college sports is a pretty good alternative.

 

[sportsfan7]

1. Nothing the NBA does will ever top March Madness

2. I love the history, pageantry, rivalries and all of the off-the-field things with college football. The NFL, especially without fans, feels soulless.

[Red Wolf]

Two main things come to mind for me

 

1. The silliness

2. Information overload

 

College sports are sillier than pro, but are more fun than high school sports and I enjoy flipping between a thousand college games because my attention span is broken. That last point kind of gets killed when watching football games in person, but not so much basketball. 

[dont care]

College sports are more fast paced, big play oriented than the pro game. It’s a lot more of shootout especially between more competitive teams. I prefer the pro game because I like the methodical approach but I can see why some fans prefer collages style. 

[GhostOfNormMacdonald]

11 hours ago, Reyes47 said:

Except all the top teams run basic formations. When was the last time the triple option won a championship 

If your understanding of differences in offense is "basic" and "triple option" then I can't help you

11 hours ago, Reyes47 said:

Those occasions are very rare and it hurts the playoffs. Why should i care about the season if my team loses one game?

1. Beat rival teams for bragging rights 2. Get a good bowl game

11 hours ago, Reyes47 said:

well i disagree. i don’t feel any kind of community at colleges. Also rivalries are overrated and arbitrary. Why should I as a florida fan hate FSU? Because they’re kinda close?

Well just because you disagree doesn't mean that millions of Americans can't feel that way. I don't get why geography would make a rivalry arbitrary. Why ask questions about why people think a certain way if your just going to try and invalidate it instead of understand?

[Sport]

  

13 hours ago, Reyes47 said:

I never understood why people prefer college sports over pro sports. The pro sports are the best college athletes so why do some people like college which has worse talent.

 

Because functionally it's a different game. If you want to watch the sport played at it's absolute peak by its best athletes then there's a pro league to watch. That's fun for its own reasons. 

 

If you want to watch the sport played at a still high level, but with some limitations then it opens things up to more unpredictability. And that's fun for its own reasons as well. Example: everyone in the NBA can handle the ball and hit open shots (for the most part). In college basketball open shots are less automatic and goofier stuff tends to happen on defense. If someone likes that brand of basketball better then that isn't right or wrong.

 

You also get more variety in type of team and coaches are more likely to try zanier things. Plus people like that the rosters have to change more frequently. And there's the pageantry, history, rivalry, school pride stuff that is less present in pro sports. 

 

I am a hockey snob, but it's fun to go watch the Cincinnati Cyclones because their passes aren't as crisp, their breakouts aren't automatic, and the goalies aren't as good so it tends to be a weirder game than the NHL. Obviously I'd rather watch the NHL where the athletes are bigger, stronger, faster, and better at the sport, but you can enjoy a game because it's not being played at the highest possible level. 

 

13 hours ago, Reyes47 said:

On top of that so many games are just lopsided. I know occasionally some pro leagues have blow outs but they’re not nearly as blatant as college especially when no names like Citadel go against Clemson or whatever.

 

Most college sports fans don't like those games either.

 

13 hours ago, Reyes47 said:

I will admit March Madness is better than almost all pro sports but CFB playoffs just suck

 

The college football playoffs are still relatively young and I can think of a bunch of good games off the top of my head. I'd be willing to bet the percentage of "good" games in the CFB playoffs is about the same as the percentage of "good" games in the NFL playoffs. 

 

 

Also, THERE IS NO RULE THAT SAYS YOU CAN'T WATCH BOTH.

[Red Wolf]

I will add that I do not prefer college basketball to NBA. Most of my time flipping between college games is getting pissed at these kids taking shots from NBA-plus distances like they think they're Steph Curry. I know Curry played at Davidson of all places, but odds are good that some guy from Charleston Southern is not the next Steph Curry. College basketball games do go by faster which is nice, compared to the slogs that college football games can easily turn into.

[Reyes47]

2 hours ago, NormMacdonald said:

If your understanding of differences in offense is "basic" and "triple option" then I can't help you

Alright then when was the last time the triple option won the natty? Unique doesn’t equal good. It would be unique to have the draft be decided by the best records but that would make it impossible for bad teams to get top plays so it would not be good

2 hours ago, NormMacdonald said:

1. Beat rival teams for bragging rights 2. Get a good bowl game

Why should i care about bowl games they’re basically participation awards. and sure bragging rights for beating one opponent rather than bragging rights for being champion

2 hours ago, NormMacdonald said:

Well just because you disagree doesn't mean that millions of Americans can't feel that way. I don't get why geography would make a rivalry arbitrary. Why ask questions about why people think a certain way if your just going to try and invalidate it instead of understand?

and just because everyone agrees with you doesn’t make it true. colleges are no different than corporations. 

 

geography makes a rivalry arbitrary because it isn’t special or unique and has no real basis. Like UF plays in the sec and FSU in the ACC. why is florida not rivals with any other acc team besides FSU? 

 

I am trying to understand. me bringing up objections doesn’t invalidate your point 

[Reyes47]

41 minutes ago, Sport said:

You also get more variety in type of team and coaches are more likely to try zanier things. Plus people like that the rosters have to change more frequently. And there's the pageantry, history, rivalry, school pride stuff that is less present in pro sports. 

I don’t understand how zanier equates to better. Would it be zany for the bengals to start a chimp at QB? Yes would that make it a quality product no. Like is there any other form of entertainment where you have this mentality?

 

And I disagree for pageantry and school pride. First off CFB has existed for about 50 more years than pro football. Is that really that massive of a difference? That’s not even mentioning newer schools. And from my experience the biggest ‘fans’ of college teams are either tee shirt fans or old alumni. This is especially bad for smaller colleges. Lastly spectacle can only get you so far and generally ages very poorly. Once again looking at movies would you say a michael bay movie is better than something like Ben Hurr or Shining because it has better special effects? It’s flash no substance 

 

Also this is kinda cherry picking. what about schools with bad sports cultures like Kansas football or Vanderbilt? You can’t just cherry pick good examples and say it applies for the whole thing

41 minutes ago, Sport said:

I am a hockey snob, but it's fun to go watch the Cincinnati Cyclones because their passes aren't as crisp, their breakouts aren't automatic, and the goalies aren't as good so it tends to be a weirder game than the NHL. Obviously I'd rather watch the NHL where the athletes are bigger, stronger, faster, and better at the sport, but you can enjoy a game because it's not being played at the highest possible level. 

So like i already asked in this post is there any thing else, entertainment, food, drinks, antiques or anything else where you prefer something inferior over a superior product?

[mania]

MOD EDIT

 

Fair point, but let's not feed the fire.

[GhostOfNormMacdonald]

MOD EDIT

 

Let's dial it down a little.

 

[infrared41]

Let's keep it civil, kids.

[infrared41]

29 minutes ago, Reyes47 said:

I don’t understand how zanier equates to better. Would it be zany for the bengals to start a chimp at QB? Yes would that make it a quality product no. Like is there any other form of entertainment where you have this mentality?

 

And I disagree for pageantry and school pride. First off CFB has existed for about 50 more years than pro football. Is that really that massive of a difference? That’s not even mentioning newer schools. And from my experience the biggest ‘fans’ of college teams are either tee shirt fans or old alumni. This is especially bad for smaller colleges. Lastly spectacle can only get you so far and generally ages very poorly. Once again looking at movies would you say a michael bay movie is better than something like Ben Hurr or Shining because it has better special effects? It’s flash no substance 

 

Also this is kinda cherry picking. what about schools with bad sports cultures like Kansas football or Vanderbilt? You can’t just cherry pick good examples and say it applies for the whole thing

So like i already asked in this post is there any thing else, entertainment, food, drinks, antiques or anything else where you prefer something inferior over a superior product?

 

You asked the question and people answered. If you keep arguing with people simply because you don't like their answers, this thread isn't going to last very long. Dial it down and right quick.

 

Thanks.

[GhostOfNormMacdonald]

54 minutes ago, Reyes47 said:

Alright then when was the last time the triple option won the natty?

Why does that matter? There's many different types of offenses if you pay more attention than just how they line up

 

54 minutes ago, Reyes47 said:

Why should i care about bowl games they’re basically participation awards. and sure bragging rights for beating one opponent rather than bragging rights for being champion

Why watch the NFL if your team doesn't win the super bowl?

 

54 minutes ago, Reyes47 said:

and just because everyone agrees with you doesn’t make it true.

Not everyone agrees with me. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and you don't need to try and drag people down for theirs. Opinions aren't true or false so why do you feel the need to invalidate people with different opinions? Its like if I asked you what your favorite color was then mocked you because it wasn't the same as mine.

 

54 minutes ago, Reyes47 said:

geography makes a rivalry arbitrary because it isn’t special or unique and has no real basis. Like UF plays in the sec and FSU in the ACC. why is florida not rivals with any other acc team besides FSU?

Tallahassee and Gainesville are 2 and a half hours away and they've played each other for almost 60 years. You could argue any rivalry is arbitrary but that doesn't mean it isn't real or intense