The major differences between College Football and NFL

The football season is approaching fast, and it's time for football fanatics to show their support to their respective teams. NCAA football season is scheduled in the last week of August, and the NFL starts in the second week of September.

The excitement for both seasons is almost the same. It's because football is part of American culture, and fans have strong bonding with the teams. In the NFL, it's about representation, while in NCAA football, it's about pride and community traditions. It's the favourite time of the year for fans.

With college football games on Saturdays throughout the fall and NFL games on Sundays and Mondays, there is plenty to keep everyone entertained. While passion and commitment are the same across the fans, there are differences between both leagues. These discrepancies vary in rules, playing conditions, ball, fields, etc. Below we have explained the key differences.

Along with fans, the season attracts sports betting enthusiasts. Their primary focus is on the big boys league, and the NFL spreads are the centre of interest for them.

History

The first major difference between both leagues is age. College football is way older than the NFL. The first match took place over 100 years ago. Not many modern football fans would know this, but Rutgers faced New Jersey in 1869. It's probably the first ever football match in American history. The NFL started in 1920, not so long ago compared to amateur football.

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Playing fields

As mentioned, college football has a loud fan base, and in some parts, it's more famous than the NFL. Maybe it's the reason the stadiums of colleges are bigger than the NFL fields. Some NCAA stadiums can draw over 100,000 people. LSU, Ohio, Alabama, Texas, etc., have a space of such capacity.

The only stadium closest to their capacity is MetLife stadium of the New York Giants and New York Jets. It's the biggest NFL stadium, with a capacity of around 82,000.

Playing rules

Professional and college football have similar fundamentals. But they differ in a few ways.

• A college football game cannot end in a tie, while an NFL game can end in a tie apart from a playoff game.
• In the NFL, contact is necessary for a rule down to be called, but not in college football.
• For a pass to be considered completed in college football, there must be at least one foot down, whereas, in the NFL, both feet must be down.
• After the first down, the clock in college football stops. In the NFL, it continues to run.
• The NFL defensive penalty holding is 5 yards, not 10 yards, as in college football.
• College can review all plays, but the NFL reviews only scoring plays, turnovers, and plays during the last two minutes.

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Size of teams

The squads in the NCAA are twice as in the NFL. Each NFL team is restricted to having 53 players and only 12 in their practice. In the NCAA, every college has a roster of 105 players, but it can go to 125 players. 

Pay structure

In the NFL, the players have lucrative monetary packages, whereas, in the NCAA, students are not paid to play. However, since the new rule, NCAA players can have brand deals and sponsorships.

On the other side, coaches in the NFL are underpaid compared to college coaches. Some college coaches make more than $10 million per annum, which makes sense because players are not getting paid by the state.

Teams

In addition to squad size, the number of teams in both leagues varies. There are 32 teams in the NFL and 131 colleges separated into ten conferences. It gets challenging to keep up with the season and follow every match as each team plays 12 regular games per season.