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First College football game played between Rutgers and College of New Jersey (Princeton). The first game inspired other colleges to join in and form football teams. -
The first rules of college football were established, being created by representatives from Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Princeton. Set a starting point of rules that people kept building on for years to form modern day rules. -
The first radio broadcast of a game occurred, showing Pittsburgh and West Virginia Universities, broadcasting on Pittsburgh Radio Station KDKA-AM. Set the standard for distribution of games going forward. -
The Southeastern Conference is introduced, including schools such as Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisiana State (LSU), Mississippi (Ole Miss), Mississippi State, Sewanee, Tennessee, Tulane, and Vanderbilt. This conference was created from the split of the larger Southern Conference, creating a league with a tight culture that exists to this day. -
The first Associated Press Poll with the first official college football rankings released. -
The first Heisman Trophy was awarded to Jay Berwanger of Chicago University, being created by the New York Downtown Athletic Club. -
The first game on TV between Fordham University and Waynesburg University. Broadcasted by NBC. Because the game was on TV it was available to a greater number of viewers, therefore, leading to a greater popularity of the game -
SMU’s football program received the NCAA “death penalty” in 1985–86 for paying players, resulting in a two-year competition ban and scholarship cuts. The punishment devastated the team, and recovery took about a decade. -
The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was first introduced, pitting the 1st and 2nd teams against each other in a “National Championship game,” utilizing a combination of human polls and computer rankings to establish the standings. -
The College Football Playoff selection committee released the first ever College Football Playoff rankings, replacing the existing BCS ranking system, which was less reliable with a formula-based system with a human committee, offering more teams a chance to compete for the national title and a larger, more inclusive playoff format with four teams compared to the BCS's two-team championship game -
NIL (name, image, and likeness) rights were introduced in college sports, following a Supreme Court ruling that allowed athletes to profit from their personal brands through commercial endorsements and other ventures, creating a significant shift from the NCAA's previous stance on amateurism. This led to athletes being paid for their skill in collegiate sports, creating a culture of competition unlike any other with a monetary aspect being added to the recruiting scene -
The first 12 Team College Football playoff bracket was introduced, giving a larger pool of teams a chance to compete for the highest trophy in college football.