Given the constantly-changing structure of the college football season, it can be difficult to establish a pattern that will be accurate for any given year. However, in general, college football has four relatively well-defined distinct time periods: the regular season, the conference championships, the postseason bowl games, and the final all-star games. As the season approaches it’s about time to get out your football blankets and all the layers of sweaters, long sleeve shirts, vests and jackets to keep you warm during the games for all those of you who live in the cooler climates. If you are looking for some especially stylish yet toast outer wear, check out North Face fleece jackets online. The North Face is one company that definitely gets it right when it comes to cool looking yet great performance in jackets, hats, scarves, base-layers and even shoes. Their prices might be a bit on the high side for some folks, but The North Face products are fully warranted to the original owner against defects in materials and workmanship for the lifetime of the product. Now that is really saying something. I love the fact that if an outerwear product ever fails due to a manufacturing defect, even after extended use, they will repair the product, without charge, or replace it, at their discretion. Of course there is a caveat: their warranty does not cover damage caused by accident, improper care, negligence, normal wear and tear, or the natural breakdown of colors and materials over extended time and use. I have never gotten cold at a football game, particularly in those last post season playoff games, when wearing my North Face fleece jacket!
- Labor Day Weekend (the three-day weekend ending with the first Monday in September) is the official start of the college football season. Cheers to all with beer, snacks, popcorn, and champagne gift baskets. You might pause and ask: Did you say champagne gift baskets? Sure, why not. Football always seems to be about beer etc, but why not champagne as well. No other wine is so closely associated with joy and celebration as Champagne. The ladies will love it. And champagne gift baskets don’t just contain the bubbly. Some of these gift baskets include an assortment of savory delicacies and sweets, including rosemary garlic pairing crackers, Godiva milk chocolate cashews, Amaretto fudge truffles, Lindt Gold Truffles, the Ghirardelli Masterpiece Collection, Moonstruck Mayan milk chocolate, Moravian cranberry orange cookies, camembert cheese, gourmet seasoned popcorn,and much more. Hey, it never hurts to bring a little upscale bubbly to the game and a lot of the savory treats go great with beer as well! Who knows: champagne gift baskets might even become a tradition at the start of the season.
- Regular season — Labor Day to the 2nd Saturday in December (the new, later date of the annual Army-Navy Game). The first two weeks of December see a number of rivalry games and conference championships.
- Historically, there were eleven regular season games; this has been expanded to include a twelfth game as well as an additional game for Hawaiian and Alaskan colleges.
- Not all conferences participate in a championship game; at this time, only Conference USA (C-USA), as well as the Atlantic Coast, Big 12, Mid-American, and Southeast Conferences offer championship games — which adds at least one extra game for the teams involved.
- December (postseason) — 34 Bowl games featuring the top 64 college teams. Since 1998, the Bowl Championship Series has been used to determine the best college teams, but is as yet unrecognized by the NCAA (as are the annual championship polls).
- Early January — BCS National Championship (usually January 1st or 2nd, if the 1st falls on a Sunday, but has been played as late as January 8th). As we’ve said, this is not an official part of the NCAA college season, but has been widely recognized to be at least as meaningful as the championship polls which it was intended to replace.
- All-star Bowls — later in January, featuring the best college seniors. Only players who are not eligible for further college may play — underclassmen departing for professional football careers are officially excluded.
** Update ** There have been some changes to this information since it was first posted. The correct information is being researched & should be posted as soon as possible. This page is maintained as a hobby along with many other things interests.
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