Both the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) and the NFL are popular forms of football entertainment in the US, but some may wonder, what’s the difference between the two?

Only division one college football teams will be included in this, since it is the most popular division and has the most players that are likely to go pro, and thus, is the most comparable to the NFL team. Also, there are different rules for both NCAA and NFL, some of the major ones including:

• Number of feet a receiver must have in bounds for a completed pass: NFL requires both feet and NCAA requires one foot
• Down by contact rule: NFL player is active until he is tackled or forced down by opposing team. NCAA player is ruled down when any part of his body other than feet or hands touches the ground.
• Defensive Holding: NFL 5 yard penalty, automatic first down. NCAA 10 yard penalty, repeat the down unless 1st down gained by penalty yardage

College football has also been reported to make slightly more money than the NFL. In 2003, retail sales for the NFL were $1.3 billion while the NCAA was $2.35 billion.

But in the end, the NFL is more popular because of the amount of viewers, having an estimated 200 million viewers per season, the NCAA having only 52.89 million viewers for a single season.