In 2023, what separates pro football from college football?

The Champ

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You’ve hit the nail on the head. That’s why I’m hopeful that some new league like the XFL will take off. Another avenue for these elite 5 star players to jump into, get paid and not deal with the “school work”. Maybe bring College ball down to earth a little bit and even out the competition. But only time will tell.
Don’t think many are quitting college football to make $59K. That is a destination for players that can’t make an NFL practice squad.
 

TampaBayJacket

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There is a HUGE difference between NFL and CFB and that is called the SALARY CAP. Everyone has the same budget so you have to be smart with your money and can't simply buy the best players unlike CFB. In the NFL, with nearly all rosters equal in talent, you will have to have an elite QB and a great coach to win. You can't stock three five-stars at QB and run with the hot hand in the NFL. The NFL rules are there for a reason and that is if you allow a few of the richest franchises to spend unabated, you will get the same teams over and over again and become a regional sport, not a national sport.
 

gt2690b

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Why is it irrelevant. There are what? 32 NFL teams? Saying that 32 can beat 1 but 135 can’t beat 1 isn’t exactly apples to apples.
Hell 56789 can't beat 123 in college
 

RamblinWreck92

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Why is it irrelevant. There are what? 32 NFL teams? Saying that 32 can beat 1 but 135 can’t beat 1 isn’t exactly apples to apples.
Lack of parity, as YJ4Life said above. I think the NFL is a better sport to watch right now, esp. now that NIL and the Portal are turning CFB into minor leagues. With the NFL, you don't know who's going to be great next year but we can already put 'Bama, Ohio St, Michigan, and the mutts into the final 4. It's just boring and predictable.
 

coit

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Lack of parity. There is no Jacksonville Jaguars or NY Giants pulling upsets in college football. There's a clear divide between the haves and the have nots.
TCU beat Michigan, who beat Ohio State, who should've beaten UGA.

Given the TCU/UGA result, I'd say it is clear that TCU pulled an equivalent upset in beating Michigan.
 

GTLiebs

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TCU beat Michigan, who beat Ohio State, who should've beaten UGA.

Given the TCU/UGA result, I'd say it is clear that TCU pulled an equivalent upset in beating Michigan.
And in the end, it didn't matter. To continue in the analogy, if the 30th ranked NFL team (let alone the 4th) met the 1st in the Super Bowl, would they also lose 65-7?

As to the original point where this started, you have to go back to 2017 to find a national champion that even lost a regular season game (Bama losing to Auburn who finished season ranked 10/12). For the kind of losses you are talking about (outside the top 20), if you go back to Paul Johnson's first season the national champion had such a loss 2 times (out of 15), in both cases that teams only loss of the year.

The average margin of victory in the playoff final has been 15 points, Not including this year, and in general it's been trending higher over time. Sure, there's still some parody but it has been drying up.
 

LongforDodd

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Tangentially related but a bit of fun history none the less. The college all-stars vs a pro team back in the day. That last game looks like it would have been a good time with the appropriate amount of Beam.
Interesting memories. How about that goal post crossbar over the goal line?
 

coit

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And in the end, it didn't matter. To continue in the analogy, if the 30th ranked NFL team (let alone the 4th) met the 1st in the Super Bowl, would they also lose 65-7?

As to the original point where this started, you have to go back to 2017 to find a national champion that even lost a regular season game (Bama losing to Auburn who finished season ranked 10/12). For the kind of losses you are talking about (outside the top 20), if you go back to Paul Johnson's first season the national champion had such a loss 2 times (out of 15), in both cases that teams only loss of the year.

The average margin of victory in the playoff final has been 15 points, Not including this year, and in general it's been trending higher over time. Sure, there's still some parody but it has been drying up.

NFL has more parity from best to worst team because of the draft. College football has no draft, and the collective Bama/UGA/Clemson/OSU/Mich/and a few others essentially get ALL of the first round picks, leaving no first round picks for all of the other teams.
 

YellowJacket4Life

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TCU beat Michigan, who beat Ohio State, who should've beaten UGA.

Given the TCU/UGA result, I'd say it is clear that TCU pulled an equivalent upset in beating Michigan.
Yeah, but that's more a one-off. Aside from that 1 example, look at the same 4-5 teams dominating the CFP.

Cincinnati, of all teams, made the Super Bowl last year and nearly won it....
 

RamblinWreck92

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TCU beat Michigan, who beat Ohio State, who should've beaten UGA.

Given the TCU/UGA result, I'd say it is clear that TCU pulled an equivalent upset in beating Michigan.
yeah and then the TCU Broncos/Bills got blasted by the '90s Cowboys. Yawn.
 

RamblinWreck92

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Tangentially related but a bit of fun history none the less. The college all-stars vs a pro team back in the day. That last game looks like it would have been a good time with the appropriate amount of Beam.
That Steelers game at the end.... :eek::eek::eek:
 

gt9589

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TCU beat Michigan, who beat Ohio State, who should've beaten UGA.

Given the TCU/UGA result, I'd say it is clear that TCU pulled an equivalent upset in beating Michigan.
I think we all agree that #120 (say, Rice Univ or some other losing program), wouldn't beat a program in the Top 10. While TCU certainly shouldn't have been in the playoff, they did beat Michigan. College football is more of a game of match ups at times. I think TCU Certainly is a Top 10-15 team but they matched up horribly against UGAY's personnel. Plus they were missing their starting RB too.
 

LongforDodd

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I think we all agree that #120 (say, Rice Univ or some other losing program), wouldn't beat a program in the Top 10. While TCU certainly shouldn't have been in the playoff, they did beat Michigan. College football is more of a game of match ups at times. I think TCU Certainly is a Top 10-15 team but they matched up horribly against UGAY's personnel. Plus they were missing their starting RB too.
Don't forget...TCU beat Mich when Mich was down their RB1.
 

GTCrew4b

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The “in-between” nature of college football attracts different participants as well. You have some players who are truly attempting to be student athletes and you have others who aren’t. Various time and practice requirements make sense in an environment full of student athletes. In a quasi-professional setting they do not make sense.
 

Buzzilla

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NFLPA, league minimum contracts, age requirements, rosters about half the size of college football, more credentialed medical staff, healthcare benefits, 401ks AND pensions, players get a share of revenue, the use of a practice squad to manage costs. Lots of differences in how a professional and what is still called an amateur league function
These differences you highlight are likely the roadmap for what's to come in college football starting with some kind of a college football players union. This might normalize the extremes and provide a better distribution for the player collective as a whole. I'm not generally a fan of unions and I usually side for individual freedom and meritocracy but the current conditions left unabated will torpedo the game in time and everyone will lose. One way or another something needs to be done, and likely the sooner the better.

An interesting take on a college football players union here: https://www.oklahoman.com/story/spo...-would-hurt-court-ruled-freedoms/65385701007/
 

Buzzman72

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Don’t think many are quitting college football to make $59K. That is a destination for players that can’t make an NFL practice squad.
I was saying if a league like XFL does take off the allure to play, get an agent and sign deals to promote things it could be viable. 18 and playing with no school BS to put up with. idk, if you’re that elite the NFL will find you. stranger things have happened. Just my opinion though.
 
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