Say no to Bieber, yes to college football

I wish more teenage girls watched American college football.

That way I might be able to find a season preview magazine amongst the dozens of Justin Bieber Teen Beat covers adorning all of the local bookstores, grocery stores and pharmacies.

Alas, my search for the elusive information last week was for naught. But it also provided me with the incentive to provide a list of reasons why people should watch NCAA college football this fall and ensure these stores will have a myriad of magazine options come next year:

• Number one is the unbeatable atmosphere. On any given Saturday, between September and the first weekend in December, more than one million fans will fill stadiums across the U.S. There are six stadiums that seat more than 100,000 people and six more that seat more than 90,000. And since they can’t serve alcohol inside, due to NCAA regulations, the ensuing tailgate parties have become legendary.

• Next up are the rivalry game names. A sample of the best are The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party between Florida and Georgia, The Battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe and a Slab of Bacon between Minnesota and Wisconsin, Oregon and Oregon State in The Civil War, The Backyard Brawl between Pittsburgh and West Virginia, The Battle for the Jeweled Shillelagh between Notre Dame and USC, and Texas and Oklahoma’s Red River Shootout. What other football league can boast such irreverent and hilarious names for its games?

• Thirdly, it fills the void between attending local high school games on Fridays and watching NFL on Sundays.

• Fourth, there are plenty of Canadians playing, including Calgary’s Riley Nelson at BYU and Leduc’s Curtis Dublanko at North Dakota, as well as the addition of Simon Fraser into Division II’s Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

• Number five is the quality of play. These are all amateur athletes competing for the pride and history of their schools, as well as the chance to make it to the NFL, become rich and retire before age 40. (Insert your own Brett Favre joke here.)

• Next, consider it scouting for next year’s NFL fantasy drafts.

• Number seven is the most unique names you’ve ever heard. Baylor’s LeQuantum McDonald (plenty of LeQuantum Leap or LeQuantum physics headlines available) tops the list this year. Honourable mention to Mississippi State’s Co-Eric Riley and BenJarvus Green-Ellis from Ole Miss.

• Next, the unpredictability and constant shifting of the top 25. With 117 Division I football programs competing in 11 conferences, as well as three independents, inter-conference and out-of-conference games, it really comes down to the fact that every game matters. If you want a chance to win the national championship you have to go undefeated. Sometimes that doesn’t even ensure it. (See Boise State’s 14-0 season from a year ago.)

• And finally: bowl games, bowl games, bowl games. During the fantastic three-week period beginning around Dec. 21 there are 35 post-season bowl games. Random Christmas television viewers get to tune into such whimsical contests as the Beef ‘O Brady’s bowl, the Chick-fil-A bowl and the Little Caesars Pizza bowl.