In a few days it'll be upon us, the only sport left in America that still gets the nips hard. On Thursday night the college football season kicks off, meaning every Saturday until December will give the masses reason to turn on ESPN for reasons beyond Johnny Football lunch updates or the other crap that panders to the lowest common denominator fan. You can blame ESPN all you want, but all it did was mirror the very leagues it covers in an effort to follow them all to the bottom. Because of this, it's no coincidence that one of the few things left that ESPN does unequivocally well is broadcast and cover collegiate football.
Now I hate to do it like this, but the easiest way to explain why college football is the last great sport standing is to explain how other sports went wrong. That’s because, on the surface, all leagues should be exciting. But one-by-one they fell for the allure of year-round coverage, massive playoffs, elongated seasons, way-too-long preseasons, and unrestricted, manufactured hype. In short: they all sort of blow.
Since I hate overly long introductions, I'll just jump right into it. After all, you know what the article's about, it's summed up in the headline. So with that, here's a point-by-point look at why NCAA Football is the last compelling league standing.