High school football games under the Friday night lights are filled with socializing high schoolers as they scream the night away. But college football is filled with real football fans with immense excitement each Saturday as they cheer for the place they spend four long years at.

 On Saturday, Dec. 31, the four team College Football Playoffs started. At 4 p.m. in the Fiesta Bowl number two ranked Michigan faced number three ranked Texas Christian University and at 8 p.m. number one ranked Georgia faced number four ranked Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. 

The Fiesta Bowl was a high action, high scoring game. TCU led at the half 21-6, but a second half push brought Michigan back into the game. The Horned Frogs ended up winning the offensive battle 51-45. 

The Cotton Bowl was just as exciting. Ohio State had the lead for a large majority of the game but a fourth quarter comeback gave Georgia a one point lead with just under a minute left. Ohio State ended up missing a potential game winning field goal to lose 42-41.

The College Football National Championship between TCU and Georgia was played on Monday, Jan. 9. TCU completely fell apart leading Georgia to dominate the entire game. The game ended with a 65-7 score, quarterback Stetson Bennett was named the MVP of the game and the game made history by being the largest margin in a bowl game ever.

The overall excitement of the College Football Playoffs is immense, four schools each with  thousands of students, alumni and other fans all watching, supporting, and going all out for their team, with hopes they will win the national championship. These diehard fans make the game atmosphere unmatched. According to Sports Media Watch all CFP games average over 15 million viewers per game.

College fans are known for their loud stadiums that you can hear from miles away, massive crowds causing earthquake-like activity in the area, unique chants and cheers, and storming the field after big wins. When Tennessee upset Alabama on Oct. 15, 2022, Tennessee fans stormed the field, tore down the field goal post and took apart the uprights. According to 247sports, the stadium hit a volume level of 125.4 decibels. The CDC says the noise level that is considered safe for humans is between 70-80 decibels. 

Many colleges have an iconic chant, team entrance or tradition. One of the most well known team entrances is the Virginia Tech Hokies. The crowd lights up the stadium as Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” plays. The fans in the crowd jump to the beat of the song as the Hokie players run onto the field. It is one of the most electric college football traditions, and it gets the fans loud and excited for the games. Team entrances are one of the most underrated aspects of football, and they really make the game experience better.

Another great tradition is Wisconsin’s “Jump Around,”  the same song played as CHS football players run onto the team. The Wisconsin fans jump up and down to the iconic background music and “Jump Around” chant. The overall energy and adrenaline levels of college football games is so much higher than any other sport in the country.

Every year of the college football season schools save the last week of the regular season for “Rivalry Week.” Each team will play their biggest rival in high intensity and high excitement games. Some of the biggest rivalry games are Ohio State and Michigan in “The Game” and Auburn and Alabama in the “Iron Bowl.” Traditions that bring extra excitement to the college football season before the playoffs, make the season more enjoyable and keeps fans involved for longer.

When it comes to the NFL, not many teams have traditions. The two most well known are the Minnesota Vikings  “Skol” chant, where the fans clap their hands above their heads, chanting “Skol”. The Buffalo Bills fan base known as “Bills Mafia”, is most well known for their crazy antics. The most known antic is when they jump off of a high object and land on a table. As fun as NFL games can go, the college games have more passion and excitement than any NFL fan base.