• Bowl games bring a measure of importance to the regular season un-matched by any other sport.

• The National Championship begins with the season's first game in August and continues every week until early December.

"In basketball there is far less interest in the regular season than there is in the tournament. Everyone gets March Madness for the tournament. You don't want everyone to get January madness for football and forget about everything else that's happening in the regular season." — Bob Stoops, Oklahoma Head Coach

"In Division I-A football, every game is a playoff. Once you lose one game, you're mostly out. If you lose two, you're definitely out. We got 12 playoff games. Teams take that approach. That's probably why there's so much interest. You stub your toe, you can never get back in." — Rich Rodriguez, Michigan Head Coach