1. Professional Football is the highest level of play. It literally is a College All-Star Game every single game. The best of the best competing on the same field. The worst player on an NFL team may have been the best player on his college team.
2. Playoffs. What a crazy idea. Perhaps my stance would change if they would have a Div-I-A Playoff. It's been obvious they should for years, but there has been no movement. I wonder if the government is controlling it...
3. In the NFL, if you have a bad day in the regular season you're not out. For a collegiate player, if you lost a regular season game, you just lost your chance to be a National Champion. You then can try and have a good year and play Navy or Boston College in the Meineke Car Care Bowl at Bank of America Stadium.
4. More Player Continuity. NFL players get shopped around but many players do stay put for long periods of time and become fan favorites. Examples: Peyton Manning has been a Colt 10 years. Isaac Bruce has been a Ram 14 yeras. Michael Strahan has been a Giant 15 years. Brett Favre has been a Packer 16 years.
5. Fantasy Football. Just one more way to find interest in NFL games. All of a sudden, the 49ers-Cardinals game matters.
6. In any given decade, every NFL team "should" have a shot at winning a championship. Even the Browns made the Playoffs once in the last decade (2002). At least half the college teams don't have a prayer in a given decade (or century in many cases). So if you're an Illinois fan, at least you have the Bears.
Here are some counter arguments, and my reaction to them:
* "College players are more motivated. They are focused on winning. Not money."
- NFL players became NFL players because they are competitors. They don't like to lose. They are football players who take a lot of pride in how they perform. That's why there is so much trash talking amongst players. There are no easy weeks in the NFL like there is in college. Players need to be ready to compete every game, every play. Also, if they perform well they can earn more money. What do you think the college player's end goal is anyway? A degree in Criminal Justice? Do they care more about winning than money? You'll notice the ones who can leave before they graduate. College players are motivated all right. Motivated to get to the NFL.
* "Professional sports are rigged."
- Right. The rigger must really, really, really, really, really hate Cleveland. Think of the mess this would cause in Vegas. Dead bodies everywhere.
* "We can take more pride in college teams because they include mostly boys from our home state."
- In that case your local high school football team should be tops. Right?
Here's a cool idea relating to that last point. Wouldn't it be cool if the 32 NFL cities could instead be divided up into 20ish geographic regions. The rule would be that you could only play for a team if you either were born in or have lived in that team's region for 5 years. Imagine, the best of the best from Ohio versus Texas. Obviously some states like Montana, Idaho, and the Dakota's would have to join forces, and states with larger populations may need to be split up. The fan interest would be huge! It actually would be similar to international soccer, where Spaniards get very emotional behind the team representing their country in a game against Austria.
Appended 1/11/08: After hearing all the banter about how the SEC is vastly and undeniably superior to the Big Ten, I may change my tune on this one. The reason it's so bothersome is that rankings, in large part, are based on perceptions, and if a team is perceived as weaker they are ranked lower and do not get to play for the national title. This then creates a broader competition that extends beyond what your favorite team can do alone. Your team needs the help of the other teams in their conference. If the conference as a whole appears weak, then the rankings for the teams in that conference will reflect that. Movement in these perceptions most notably occurs in the bowl games where all teams play non-conference opponents.
