Customer Reviews

The USA Today College Football Encyclopedia: A Comprehensive Modern Reference to America's Most Colorful Sport, 1953-Present

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book simply has a stunning amount of information on college football -- 1400 pages of facts and figures that you won't find anywhere else. If you're interested in the history of the college game, this book is a must have.

This book basically stops at around 1953. It doesn't go back further, which is surprising since there's another 60 years of CFB that's not covered. This book goes into greater detail for each covered season than the ESPN encyclopedia, but the ESPN one has more raw data.

I'll never read this entire book but that's not the point. It is a definitive reference for the last 50+ years of college football. Although only the major (70 or so) programs are covered, I have discovered facts I never knew. It's also a great book if you just have 10-15 minutes to read as you can browse a season or a few key games & then just leave it. Additionally, it makes a wonderful gift for the younger fans who can find a storehouse of information on why some of the greatest rivalries exist. Thorough, yet concise; reverent, yet with nuggets of humor. I recommend it without reservation.

Since I'm a huge fan of college football, this book is perfect for me. Comprehensive and enjoyable reading for the trivia nut. My only complaint is size of the book i which makes it somewhat cumbersome to read and store.
Would strongly recommend the book to any devotee of college ball for statistics on favorite college teams, games, and individual players (70 teams in all). I found it to be a real 'blast of the past'

For the college football fan, this is an excellent reference work. It covers the game for each year from 1953 with game recaps, poll standings, and conference standings. There is also a year by year lineups and records for 70 major colleges. I recommend it highly.

The book starts out with inaccurate statistics. This has to be on the part of the authors. It is easy to find the winningest teams of all time the list should be accurate. Coverage of the selected teams is poor. For 15 years of research this is garbage. The selection of teams is poor. The top teams are included as they should be. Some of the teams included should rarely be mentioned in the discussion of college football; while some of the of the teams that have been at the heart of the college football discussions over the last ten years are excluded. If you need kindling here you go. If you are interested in college football DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!

I enjoyed the book but I do have one problem. The USA Today currently is the home for the weekly USA Today Coaches Football Polls, yet this book only published the weekly polls from the Associated Press. If USA Today is going to put their name on it, the least they could do is include the past weekly polls from their own newspaper.