FANS ARE BACK!

Once again, College Football is back. Fans across the country are ecstatic because in a world where normality has become a rarity; it seems that the wheels are beginning to turn as far as America’s favorite sport coming back to the form they love. Last year, we saw a season like no other, luckily though, the season went through. A National Champion was crowned in the Alabama Crimson Tide, but had to take many painful cuts to get there. Such as conference-only schedules, capacity limits in stadiums, positive COVID-19 tests for athletes, lesser games, and much more. It has made the College Football we know and love not the same.

The most significant aspect from the list provided is the lack of fans at the games. Depending on the school and the state the given school was in, there were either no fans or limited capacity that usually capped off at 50% or lower. This had an effect on the game more profound than the surface. Yes, it hurt ticket sales, but worse, it made games less exciting for the players, no home-field advantage, and lifelessness in stadiums that are supposed to be full of cheer and tradition. It hurt the game on this level, and there was quite a hole in the hearts of fans last season because of it.

No fear for this season, though! Almost all of the restrictions from last year are gone! Due to vaccinations and more knowledge on the pandemic, the NCAA can ensure that their athletes are safe and healthy without putting restrictions on the fans. Chairman for the NCAA Mark Emmert made it known that Universities and Conferences can decide on their own attendance policies. In response, almost every team in the NCAA does not have restrictions that bind attendance like it did in 2020.

Full stadiums were very [resent in week 1’s action. There was also a return of neural-sited kickoff games that were an absolute spectacle. The full stadiums truly helped bring the true feeling of college football back.

Here are some week 1 views that we loved here at PSF:

Virginia Tech crowd in their 17-10 victory over #10 North Carolina! This crowd was electric and played a huge role in the Hokies win!

Texas A&M did their thing and did their red, white and blue game in honor of the 20th anniversary of 9/11. It was quite a spectacle in their 41-10 win over Kent State

The Rose Bowl was packed in UCLA’s 38-27 win over #14 LSU. It feels right for the Rose Bowl to be jam packed again. There hasn’t been a game in this stadium since January of 2020.

Bank of America Stadium played host to the undisputed game of the week the Duke’s Mayo Kickoff between #5 Georgia and #3 Clemson. it was jam packed full of red and orange for a game that will most likely have College Football Playoff implications.

The 2021 Chick-Fil-A Kickoff game between #1 Alabama and #14 Miami was no close contest but it drew in a full house.

Their were plenty more games that had full crowds such as these. Fans should look forward to more jam packed games this year. Attendance should be high this year across the country this season because of the pandemic caused the college football fans to get college football fever!