|
NCAA SPORT |
|
|
|
Much of the real passion that exists in American sporting fans can be found at American university campuses around the country. Instead of rooting for a franchise team where its players may not even live in the city for which they play, many fans understandably have a greater attraction for supporting their old college teams. For some of the bigger University’s and teams, tickets can be very hard to come by. However, there are so many events and colleges with sporting teams that if you look hard enough you should be able to find a suitable event. The two most popular NCAA sports are basketball and football. The big tournament for both men’s and women’s basketball is affectionately known as the ‘The Big Dance’ (officially the NCAA Championships) – a knockout tournament where the highest ranked 63 teams in the country play off in a knockout format. To reach this stage, each Division 1 ranked NCAA team is grouped into regional divisions and tries to garner as good a record as they can so as they can be voted in the Top 63. Another tournament for Division 2 NCAA schools is held and the winner of this makes up the 64th team and instantly becomes the crowd underdog and favourite for the tournament (which usually only lasts one match). College Football is much more complicated than this. There is no tournament, as such, to determine the best team. Teams play in regional divisions to also garner a record that helps them get voted the best team (based on games won and quality of opposition). At the end of the regular season, the teams are matched together into Bowl Games and this is where it gets complicated. There is something like 25 Bowl Games of different standing played between various standards of ranked teams from two different divisions, which are organised well before anyone knows who are the best teams. The Rose Bowl or the Orange Bowl usually holds the ‘championship’ game of the two highest ranked teams from the strongest divisions. In any case, it is almost impossible to get tickets to many of the Championship Games or Bowl Games. It is much easier to catch some of the regular season divisional matches, which are sometimes played at some of America’s famous arenas, stadiums and bowls. The other professional sports of Baseball and Ice Hockey also rely on talent from the NCAA as a future supply for players. In fact the NCAA has its own NCAA World Series Baseball. Other sports include men’s and women’s soccer, athletics, gymnastics, golf, lacrosse, swimming and diving, wrestling, field hockey, rowing, softball, tennis and volleyball. It is worth checking the websites of the Universities mentioned below for further information on other sports that they have. |