A Woman’s Guide To College Football

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Most of my friends know that when September rolls around, DO NOT CALL ME FOR RELATIONSHIP ADVICE, SPA DATES, SHOPPING TRIPS, OR BEACH EXCURSIONS.

In fact, if the 2-time National BCS Champion LSU Tigers are playing…I’m just gonna turn my phone off.

None of my friends really like college football (hmm…must re-evaluate friendships JK). And none of them get why I love it so much.

I think it all goes back to growing up:

*most of my friends were guys, I was quirky, goofy, and nerdy. We always watched sports together.

*my dad wanted 2 boys, but had 2 girls…however, that didn’t stop him from sharing his love of sports with us

*I went to 3 different colleges (LSU, UGA, and Clemson), 5 if you count 2 year schools.

I was fortunate to experience the pride, tradition, and legacy carried on throughout colleges (tailgating, school rivalries, fight songs, etc). This is part of what makes college fooball so exciting.

The college  guys play with extreme heart and passion and much less ego and attitude as seen in NFL.

If you’ve never been into college football, but  your kids are, it’s time to get on board mommies!!!

Here is some VERY BASIC football info just to get you started. I promise it really is much more exciting than folding laundry and changing diapers…So GET WITH THE PROGRAM!

THE BASICS

*2 teams in each game: Home and Visitor (hopefully this is self explanatory…if not, just stop reading now…you are a lost cause)

* 11 players are always on the field for each team

*Offense- the guys with the ball trying to score

*Defense- the guys trying to stop the offense from scoring

*There are 4 15-minute quarters in a game, they are broken into 2 halfs. After the first 2 quarters (1st half), there is a halftime break. This is when the band comes out on the field and everyone usually goes to the bathroom. UNLESS, you are at a HBCU in which the band is typically a greater attraction than the game…this is a whole nother story though. Don’t think the game will only last an hour…factor in timeouts, play challenges, injuries, and general goofing off .

*At the end of 4 quarters, whoever has the most points wins (W) and the other team loses (L). In the event of a tie, the game goes to overtime to determine a winner.

Football is really confusing to me and I generally ignore all the nit-picky boring stuff like downs, yards, penalties, flags, punts…*YAWN*. Here’s the fun stuff in football I love:

COOL STUFF

*Mascot– a symbol, animal, or person who represents a college team

*Touchdown- the offense scores and gets 6 points

*Extra points- after a touchdown a field goal gets 1 point, or 2 points are earned for a conversion (it’s kinda like a lil baby touchdown where they run or throw it in the end zone).

*Field goal kick- these are actually kinda boring, but a team earns 3 points for one of these and they are normally kicked as opposed to getting a touchdown.

*Interception- an oopsie…a pass thrown to the offense that the other team (defense) catches.

*Fumble- a player goofs up and fumbles/drops the ball. If the defense recovers, they gain control of the ball and put their offense in to try and score.

*Sack- the quarterback is tackled by the defense before he gets rid of the ball

FAVE POSITIONS

Umm…I’m referring to players on the field

*Quarterback- the guy who leads the offense and distributes the ball. Duh…ok, we have all heard of the QB (it is not a refund)

*Wide Receiver- skinny fast guy who catches the ball for touchdowns

*Running Back- stocky fast guy who runs the ball for touchdowns

*Cornerback- usually the fastest guy on defense, they guard the wide receivers and try and stop them from scoring (shout out to Patrick Peterson, one of my favorite college CBs).

*Defensive End- one of the fastest big guys…he usually rushes the quarterback

*Safety- Farthest on defense from the line of scrimmage. Covers the open field from long passes.

*Punt Returner- guy who catches a punt and tries to get upfield for a touchdown/good field position

Here’s a cute lil chart that gives you a visual of all the positions:

COLLEGE CONFERENCES

Southeastern Conference (SEC)

*Eastern Division
                Florida
                Georgia
                Kentucky
                Missouri
                South Carolina
                Tennessee
                Vanderbilt
*Western Division
                Alabama
                Arkansas
                Auburn
                LSU
                Mississippi
                Mississippi St
                Texas A&M
Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) 
*Atlantic Division
                Boston College
                Clemson
                Florida St
                Maryland
                North Carolina St
                Wake Forest
*Coastal Division
                Duke
                Georgia Tech
                Miami FL
                North Carolina
                Virginia
                Virginia Tech    
Big 10 Conference
*Leaders Division
                Illinois
                Indiana
                Ohio State
                Penn State
                Purdue
                Wisconsin
*Legends Division
                Iowa
                Michigan
                Michigan St
                Minnesota
                Nebraska
                Northwestern 
Big 12 Conference
            Iowa St
            Kansas
            Kansas St
            Baylor
            Oklahoma
            Oklahoma St
            Texas
            Texas Tech
Big East Conference
            Cincinnati
            Connecticut
            Louisville
            Pittsburgh
            Rutgers
            South Florida
            Syracuse
            West Virginia
Conference USA
*East Division
                Alabama-Birmingham
                Central Florida
                East Carolina
                Marshall
                Memphis
                Southern Miss
*West Division
                Houston
                Rice
                SMU
                Tulane
                Tulsa
                UTEP
Mid-American Conference
*East Division
                Akron
                Bowling Green
                Buffalo
                Kent St
                Miami OH
                Ohio U.
                Temple
*West Division
                Ball St
                Central Michigan
                Eastern Michigan
                Northern Illinois
                Toledo
                Western Michigan
Mountain West Conference
            Air Force
            Boise St
            Colorado St
            New Mexico
            San Diego St
            TCU
            UNLV
            Wyoming
Pacific 12 Conference (PAC 12)
*North Division
                California
                Oregon
                Oregon St
                Stanford
                Washington
                Washington St
*South Division
                Arizona
                Arizona St
                Colorado
                Southern Cal
                UCLA
                Utah
Sun Belt Conference
            Arkansas St
            Florida Atlantic
            Florida Int'l
            Louisiana-Lafayette
            Louisiana-Monroe
            Middle Tennessee St
            North Texas
            Troy
            Western Kentucky
Western Athletic Conference
            Fresno St
            Hawai`i
            Idaho
            Louisiana Tech
            New Mexico St
            Nevada
            San José St
            Utah St
Football Bowl Division Independents
            Army
            Brigham Young
            Navy
            Notre Dame

If you wanna watch good football, check out any SEC game.

The SEC has won 6 consecutive BCS titles and will go for their 7th title this year.

Bank on LSU. IJS 🙂

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