The National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA, is made up of 1,281 organizations and conferences that orchestrate the athletic programs of colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. As of August 1973, the NCAA has been divided into three specific divisions, Division I, II, and III. The first two divisions can offer college sports scholarships to athletes while Division III schools cannot offer any athletic scholarships. You will mostly find larger schools, such as large state colleges and universities competing under Division I, while smaller schools fall under Division II and III.

“In college football, I think Division I teams playing Division II teams is not fair because the Division II team will always get killed,” senior Ryan MacAfee said.

Football, basketball, baseball, softball, cross country, field hockey, bowling, golf, fencing, lacrosse, soccer, gymnastics, rowing, volleyball, ice hockey, water polo, rifle, tennis, skiing, track and field, swimming, and diving, and wrestling are all sports that are sponsored by the NCAA.

“I think that the top schools in Division I playing the bad schools in Division II is fair because the better team from Division I will get the practice, and the bad team will get the feeling of playing one of the top teams,” junior Kameron Clemons said.

In order to achieve a sports scholarship through the NCAA, a prospecting athlete must meet the eligibility standards. Student-athletes must match a minimum academic standard and amateurism criteria. Some athletes might even be selected for a scholarship through recruitment by the NCAA Eligibility Center administers.

College athletics is a positive way to bring spirit and union to the school and its scholars no matter what sport it is. Rivalry between schools is a huge presence in the air on game days.

“The best rivalry in college football is OU and UT,” senior Billy McKinney said. For example, college football is a Saturday ritual for some diehard fans. For Alabama it’s about the ‘Bama Red’, for Louisiana State it’s all about ‘Gaux LSU Tigers’, and who can forget the Texas Longhorns over at the University of Texas at Austin.

“My favorite rivalry is Jackson State versus Memphis,” Clemons said.

When a game date is set, fans from all over, students of the college, alumni, family and friends, or just plain fans of the school, come out to support the sport of the day hoping to get enough tailgating in before kick-off or before the first pitch is thrown.

“Tailgating is my favorite part of the game, along with grilling the hot dogs,” MacAfee said.