Many people across the US and the world have some level of interest in the sport of football. Some will be die-hard fans supporting their team wherever they go, and some will be those that enjoy watching the occasional game with friends and family, enjoying the vibes and atmosphere more than the sport itself. However, football is not just about the NFL, in fact, there is a lot of enjoyment that can be gained from watching different leagues and divisions throughout the sport. The divisions in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA, for example, are a very popular choice for football fans, especially those at college or in a town or city with a skilled collegiate-level team. If you’re interested in getting into the NCAA, there are a few things to learn about as it is somewhat different from the bigger leagues. Here’s what you should know about the NCAA as a beginner.

What Is The NCAA?
First off, it’s important to understand what the NCAA actually is. This is a nonprofit organization responsible for regulating athletics such as baseball, basketball, football, ice hockey, soccer, and even more niche sports like wrestling, rowing, lacrosse, volleyball, and skiing. They regulate these athletic sports and directly organize the collegiate athletic programs for over half a million students in over a thousand schools around the USA. The NCAA has a board of governors which makes up the primary body of the NCAA’s structure, and those individuals will elect a president among themselves to oversee proceedings, with the current president being Mark Emmert, who will be stepping down in 2023 after what will be thirteen years in that position.

When Did Intercollegiate Sports Start?
Sports among colleges around the USA first became a thing in the 1850s, when Yale and Harvard students began to meet up and compete against one another in rowing races, akin to the races that take place outside London in the UK, between Oxford and Cambridge students. In the early 1900s, after individual organizations handled specific sports regulations in colleges for the past few decades, a unified body was created to handle all sports regulations at a collegiate level. This was authorized following two conferences involving President Theodore Roosevelt. The primary reason that this became a thing was due to the wild nature of individual college regulations, resulting in the careless deaths of a number of college sports players, and so there was a measurable need for focused regulation and accountability in the world of sports.

Where To Watch A Game
Today, for those that are interested in watching college football, the obvious answer is to watch a game at a specific college football ground. As a student, the chances are that you will know when big games are being played at your college, and you’ll likely get into that tribal mindset of supporting your college team. For those that live around college towns and cities but aren’t students, most will welcome local residents to the grounds to support their team. The atmosphere here can be even more exciting than some of the games in the bigger leagues, too, due to the younger, passionate fanbase. As well as watching at a college football field or stadium, you’ll also find that many college games are broadcast on TV, as you’ll likely be aware. These are generally shown on local TV stations, so be sure to tune into your local state network to see some of these great NCAA-level games.

Are Games As Enjoyable As The NFL?
As mentioned before, these college-level games can be as enjoyable, or even more so, depending on a number of different factors. College rivalries often influence this, bringing swathes of fans from around the country. The atmosphere can be incredibly high-octane and energetic, but of course, it can also lead to scuffles and disagreements in the crowd, so be wary of this. You could even make watching a big game on TV more enjoyable by making a day of it with your friends. Grab yourselves some great food and drink, and maybe consider placing a few bets on the game. You can see this page for information on some of the better gambling sites out there, allowing you to earn betting bonuses and use the many promotions that gambling sites offer.

What Are Conferences?
The NCAA divides schools and the sports they play into three different categories or conferences. These are referred to as divisions, and each contains many other sub-divisions. This is where it can get somewhat complex, however. The divisions themselves, starting from Division I to Division III, actually decline in their overall size. A specific college will generally belong to one specific conference in their area, which covers all of the athletic sports that are being played there at a competitive level. So, for example, Colorado State University belongs to the Mountain West Conference (MW) and competes in 17 different sponsored sports against other colleges, including football, basketball, golf, and tennis. But what is the difference between the three divisions in the NCAA?

• Division I
  The schools that are part of Division I are the ones with the largest athletic budgets, the most scholarships, and the largest student bodies. There are over 350 different schools around the US that field thousands of sports teams in Division I.

• Division II
  This is essentially a middle-ground between Division I and III, as there are still scholarships on offer here but far fewer than in Division I. In fact, most of the scholarships in Division II are partial scholarships. Schools here have lower budgets, and teams in Division II are usually more regional-based than national, with teams competing against neighboring towns and cities rather than opposing state universities.
• Division III
  This division comprises the rest of the colleges and schools around the USA and is understandably the largest division. With nearly 200,000 student-athletes participating in Division III sports across nearly 450 learning institutions, one of the major differences between this division and the larger ones is that there are no scholarships on offer. The primary focus of sports in Division III is the benefits that playing sports has for younger people, such as improving skills like team building. Naturally, there is a lack of focus on doing these sports into spectacles for locals and generating income for the school itself, compared to those schools in higher divisions.