The Rebirth of College Football

In the midst of one of the wildest college football seasons in history, it begs the question– just how big is college football, really? And is it bigger than the NFL? 

As college football winds down this season, the toilet paper rolls come down from Toomers Corner in Auburn, Alabama; Howard’s Rock in Clemson, South Carolina goes untouched for another year; Beaver Stadium in Happy Valley, Pennsylvania returns to blue, not white; and Ralphie returns to his pasture in Boulder, Colorado, the college football scene quietens. That is, it quietens for all but twelve teams. In Oklahoma, Boomer and Sooner get ready to run, and drama flies as Ole Miss loses its coach to its bitter rival, Lousiana State University (LSU). At the end of the 2025 season, college football concludes just its second run with a twelve team playoff, but will enter next season even bigger. Over the past few years, college football has done nothing but grow— grow its teams, grow its fanbase, and grow its playoffs. And a question has emerged: is college football bigger than the NFL? 

J.B. Long is a broadcaster known for covering both professional and collegiate football. Long is a play-by-play radio host for the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL, but as far as collegiate goes, he is the lead broadcaster on TNT radio, covering the Big 12 conference, as well as formerly covering the Pac-12 conference. Few people are as well-placed to know the difference between college and the pros than him. So, what is that difference, exactly? 

“You know, I was just watching Lane Kiffin trying to board his private plane to Baton Rouge and getting booed and cussed out by the Mississippi fanbase, so that’s part of it,” says Long. “There’s the sense that it’s more than just a professional arrangement, right? That there’s some sort of loyalty attached to it that runs deeper than just the contractual agreement.”

College football fans are some of the most loyal fans out there— logically, that makes sense. If one goes to a school for four years, they ought to feel some sense of loyalty to that program. In certain regions, particularly in the south, Saturday is for football as much as Sunday is for worship. 

(Photograph: Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)

College football is, physically, much bigger than the NFL. “The fact that there are more than just 32 teams means they are more divided than ever,” Long said. Not only that, but it is older. “The long-standing rivalries predate a lot of those in professional sports,” he said. The Iron Bowl, the game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Auburn Tigers, has been played ninety times— 31 more times than the Super Bowl. The Game, played between Michigan and Ohio State, has been played annually— with the exception of during COVID-19— since 1918. “The venues are bigger, the pageantry, the tailgating, and the bands,” he said. The fourteen largest stadiums in the United States, after all, are college football stadiums. 

A common rhetoric among fans in the football world is that the NFL has declined, and college football has grown. Long, however, disagrees. “Has the NFL product declined? I don’t think so,” he said. “I actually think the NFL product is so good, and so clean, and so precise, it can almost skew towards sanitary at times, whereas college football can be a glorious hot mess,” Long said. 

“I am drawn to that dimension of it [college football]. Seldom do you see the truly boneheaded moments in professional football, because they devote their whole week to it. It is their sole focus— they are the best at what they do,” he said. 

Long argues that college, however, is a different animal altogether, and one in a different environment. “In college football, you still have walk-ons. In college football, you still have class, and you are dealing with 18, 19, 20-year-olds who have all sorts of things on their mind. I think when that spills over onto a football field, the unpredictable can happen, and the gloriously stupid is still what I relish about tuning in to a college football game,” he said.

Constance Schwartz-Morini, an agent for sports personalities like Erin Andrews, argues that both the NFL and college football are stronger than ever. “I think the NFL is stronger than ever. I started my career there over thirty years ago and to see the growth and what they are doing focusing on global growth, and a flag league, and the broadcast contracts, and the licensing contracts, it just goes on and on,” Schwartz-Morini says. 

She added that college football has grown, too. “I think college football is also as popular as ever, even with some confusion,” she said.

(Photograph: Penn State Football)

As a sportscaster, calling an NFL game versus a college football game is as different as calling hockey and baseball. 

“I think the sheer volume of it, first of all, makes the difference. In college, you have to prepare for eighty, ninety student athletes that could impact any game. There’s always the potential for a fifth string walk-on senior to make his college debut on a particular Saturday. Whereas in the NFL, when we kickoff we know specifically what 48 players are eligible to impact a game,” Long said. 

“Saturday has a different feel than Sunday— the uncertainty, the student section, the bands,” he said. Schwartz-Morini agrees, but sees it as an organizational difference. “The NFL is one organization with one governing body, led by Commissioner Goodell, and all 32 teams have parody. So, in a smaller market, they are able to stay competitive. With college football, you have four conferences and you have no regulation, and even though the NCAA in theory governs it, it is the wild, wild west, especially with collectives and NIL,” Schwartz-Morini said. 

Smaller markets in college football, however, don't fare as well. It’s why programs like Alabama and Texas see continued success. “The schools that have the most affluent or dedicated fan bases are going to be contributing the most dollars into the collectives. It’s hard to stay competitive if you are in a smaller market or collective,” Schwartz-Morini said. 

So, in the end, college football is not the NFL. Nor is it any bigger or smaller. “Even though they are similar, I actually find they are more distinct than they are alike,” Long said. “I almost think of them as two different sports that divide the weekend.” College football has not overtaken the NFL. It probably never will. But stand in any Power 4 stadium, in any corner of the country, on a Saturday in the fall, and you very well may feel it has.