How to Understand College Football

College football is an all-American past-time full of tradition and history. Whether the school is large or small you can almost always find a team near you to root for. Understanding college football is easy and can make your game watching experience more exciting.

Instructions

    • 1

      Know the basics. General football guidelines apply to college play. The field is 120 yards long and 53 1/3-yards wide with end zones and goal posts located on each end. The field is broken into marked 10-yard intervals descending from the 50-yard line. The goal of the game is to score points by crossing the opponent's end zone line with the ball (touch down) or kicking it through their goal post (field goal).

    • 2

      Understand the differences in play rules between college and professional football. In college play a player is considered down if any part of his body (other than his hands and feet) touches the ground. He only needs one foot to land in bounds for the play to be considered complete, and a two-point conversion is attempted from the 3-yard line.

    • 3

      Recognize that there is "special time" and "overtime" college guidelines for play. Each of the four quarters is fifteen minutes in length; there is no two-minute warning in college play. Overtime is played with both teams getting one possession from their opponent's 25-yard line. The team that has the most points after each possession wins the game (if the game is still tied, this process continues.)

    • 4

      Be aware that most college football is overseen by the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association.) College teams are broken into divisions and conferences by size, location and other specifications.

    • 5

      Be familiar with the BCS (Bowl Championship Series), which was created to pit the top two college football teams against each other in a bowl championship game in order to declare a national champion. The BCS ranks teams throughout the year and also holds four other BCS games (called Bowl Games) for other top teams.