First Things First


Welcome to the first class of College Football 101, my attempt to break the world of college football down so that anyone can learn how to appreciate the game. We'll be talking X's and O's (that's football-ese for how the game is played), as well as the things that make college football special - pageantry, marching bands, cheerleaders, tailgate parties, Heisman Awards, bowl games. It's going to be a long process, but a fun one.

Before we begin, let's clarify what exactly it is to which we're referring in this series. There are hundreds - possible thousands - of colleges and universities throughout the U.S. with football programs. In this series, we will be concerning ourselves with Division I-A football. This is the division of college football allowing the most scholarships, and is considered by most to be the "highest level" of college football. These schools usually have the best players and the most money, and they are what a majority of football fans think of when they think of college football.

College football is divided into many divisions (I-A, I-AA, I-AA non-scholarship, II, and III). Division I-A has 117 schools, sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which provides the overall structure and standard set of rules. The teams are further divided into conferences, which maintain most of the day-to-day operations of running college football.

Schools that belong to the same conference compete against one another to win that conference's championship (only the Big 12, SEC, and MAC have championship games - the rest are decided by the best record against other conference teams.) Not all teams in a conference necessarily play each other every year, and teams play non-conference games against schools in other conferences. The conferences, and schools belonging to them, are listed below.

KEY
School name (What everyone calls them)
Mascot (Unofficial mascots)
City and state

Atlantic Coast Conference
Clemson University (Clemson)
Tigers
Clemson, SC

Duke University (Duke)
Blue Devils
Durham, NC

Florida State University (Florida State)
Seminoles (Noles)
Tallahassee, FL

Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech)
Yellowjackets (Jackets, Ramblin' Wreck)
Atlanta, GA

University of Maryland (Maryland)
Terrapins (Terps)
College Park, MD

North Carolina State University (NC State)
Wolfpack (Pack)
Raleigh, NC

University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill (UNC, North Carolina)
Tarheels (Heels)
Chapel Hill, NC

University of Virginia (Virginia, UVA)
Cavaliers
Charlottesville, VA

Wake Forest University (Wake Forest)
Deamon Deacons
Winston-Salem, NC

Big Ten Conference
University of Illinois (Illinois)
Fighting Illini (Illini)
Champaign, IL

Indiana University (Indiana)
Hoosiers
Bloomington, IN

University of Iowa (Iowa)
Hawkeyes
Iowa City, IA

University of Michigan (Michigan)
Wolverines (Blue)
Ann Arbor, MI

Michigan State University (Michigan State)
Spartans
East Lansing, MI

University of Minnesota (Minnesota)
Golden Gophers
Minneapolis, MN

Northwestern University (Northwestern)
Wildcats
Evanston, IL

Ohio State University (Ohio State)

The copyright of the article First Things First in College Football is owned by Grimace Boyer. Permission to republish First Things First in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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