Over the past decade, no hobby has grown as quickly as fantasy football. What was once a geeky hobby of a few dorky sports fans who couldn’t actually compete in sports due to an over reliance on asthma inhalers, has become big business and as wide spread as herpes on the set of The Hills. Nothing this side of fetish porn has benefited from the internet as much as fantasy football. Ironically, another hobby that used to be mainly enjoyed by sickly guys in dark rooms.
Today, it could be argued that fantasy football is nearly as big as the NFL itself, as it continues to attract players that previously didn’t closely follow the NFL. Suddenly young and old, male and female are deeply invested in who scores a touchdown in the second half of a Lions/ Rams game. An event that before fantasy not even Lions and Rams fans cared much about. Heck, I don’t think Lions and Rams players even cared that much.
As fantasy football continues to grow, the hard cores are looking for new ways to enjoy the game and challenge themselves. If any soccer mom knows to draft Chris Johnson first overall, then someone that has been playing for decades is going to look for ways to prove their superior knowledge. Auction drafts, salary caps, keeper leagues. All were born from an attempt to separate the true believers from the Johnny-Come-Latelys that believe spending all of their draft picks on kickers is a legitimate strategy.
NOTE: That last comment sounds like a joke, but it was actually told to me as a strategy used by a guy in a league. His theory was that every other player would be desperate for kickers and willingly trade him real players later to access his cache of kicking talent. Seriously. Alas, he isn’t in my league.
Of all the different strategies for identifying real fantasy players, there is one that hasn’t gotten much traction but seems to me to be the most obvious next frontier in fantasy football.
College fantasy.
This past weekend was my second college fantasy draft. And it drove home how different college fantasy is from the pros. Just a few of the differences that make the college game that much more challenging:
- An ever-changing cast – The top 3 draft picks in some order in fantasy last year: Tebow, McCoy, Bradford. Not a single one is back this year. Basically the entire draft starts over from scratch every couple of years. Where NFL drafts have default picks for years at a time (how many years was LaDanian a top-3 pick? How many more years will Adrian Peterson be?), in college the top players can turn over nearly every year. A lot more studying and knowledge is required to build a competitive team. Which at least partially explains my 2 wins last season. As does the name of my first round draft pick: LeGarrett Blount, he of the near riot in Idaho/9 game suspension on opening night.
- So many more teams – You think tracking how the Rams / Lions game is going takes effort? Wait until you are tracking a Vanderbilt v. South Florida game online. Our league is limited to only BCS conferences, Mountain West and Notre Dame yet a fantasy team’s performance is often wholly dependent on random games that no one cares about, unless they are alum. One of my quarterbacks last year was Russell Wilson of NC State. Did you watch any NC State games last year? Can you even tell me what happened in any NC State games last year? Put your hand down Mrs. O’Brien I wasn’t talking to you.
- The draft is only the beginning – In NFL fantasy, the draft can make or break a team. Get a deep team with a couple break-out stars and a group of consistent performers and you are set. Sure, you can suffer an injury, luck into a player via the waiver wire or trade on occasion but for the most part 80% of your team is set on draft day. College is different. The rise of unknown freshmen, surprise teams or injuries to a starter can all thrust complete nobodies into the spotlight. Last year, Dion Lewis came to the Pitt campus just another undersized freshman running back. He ended the season as one of the top five fantasy scorers in the country.
- Complete Changes in Teams – In the NFL, you pretty much know what you get. The Chargers are going to be the Chargers whether Marty Schottenheimer or Norv Turner is leading them to perennial pre-mature playoff exits. Not so, in college. The last few years, Texas Tech was the darling of college fantasy. I think last year the quarterback, at least 2 running backs and probably 4-5 wide receivers were all drafted in my league. This year, after Mike ‘Black Beard’ Leach locked the wrong TV personality’s son in a closet and was fired, Tommy Tuberville has arrived on campus and changed the offense from Leach’s wide-open passing attack to a conservative run-first offense. Gone is TTU’s VIP status in fantasy. Now they are just a mediocre team with a dull offense playing in the middle of nowhere. Making them indistinguishable from most of the rest the Big Ten and Big Twelve.
- Additional Factors – So you know the coaches, you have scouted the players. You are all set right? Wrong. Unlike the pros one of the single biggest factors to consider in your team is their schedule. No one has ever said ‘I can’t take Chris Johnson because the AFC South is playing the NFC East this season’. Yet, no matter how great your players are in college, the schedule can completely change their value. Would you rather have Heisman trophy winner Mark Ingram versus the LSU defense or Roy Helu of Nebraska against Eastern Washington? Exactly. This season, my first week opponent’s players have games against the following teams: Fresno State, South Carolina State, UC-Davis, Miami of Ohio and New Mexico. Assuming his players don’t get benched or punch a guy in the face, he is going to score a lot of points. I could have the greatest college team ever assembled but if they are playing decent opposition I am screwed.
There are many other reasons to love college fantasy but probably the biggest is this: It essentially doubles your fantasy quotient per weekend.
People are excited about the NFL expanding to 18 games so they can get 2 extra fantasy weeks per year. I already play at least 20 games each season before the playoffs even start.
For those of you out there pining to prove your fantasy genius, there really is only one answer.
Go back to college.
