Alabama tops Clemson 45-40

Could the best college football teams of all-time beat the worst NFL teams of all-time?

Could the best college football teams of all-time beat the worst NFL teams of all-time?

Daniel Hansen: In the right circumstances, yes.

Let’s be honest, there is a talent difference between the NFL and the NCAA. But talent does not necessarily equate to an automatic win. The talent at certain positions like QB factors heavily as well as the coaching. Hypothetically, if you’re pitting the 0-16 Lions against one of the best Alabama teams of the last few years, you have to factor in how much better of a coach Nick Saban is compared to Rod Marinelli. Talent matters, yes. But it means very little if coaching errors, terrible scheming and bad play-calling don’t give players a chance to showcase talent. You also have to factor in the playmakers for the teams. In that scenario, the Lions are relying on Dan Orlovsky and Kevin Smith to make plays. The 2009 Alabama team, for example, would have Mark Ingram, Julio Jones and Mark Barron. The talent level at skill positions is similar but the coaching edge heavily favors Alabama. If the game is also played in Tuscaloosa, how difficult is it to see Alabama winning several games out of every hypothetical ten? I’ve learned to never rely on Detroit, and never bet against Nick Saban. I wouldn’t do either here.

Jaden Johnson: Absolutely not.

It is absolutely insane to believe that a college team could beat an NFL team, and the game wouldn’t even be close. I’m talking about a 30+ point victory for the NFL team on any given day. Even the very best, most stacked college football teams usually have around 8-10 guys who actually make the final 53 man roster of an NFL team, and only a few of those are put into starting roles where they actually contribute. The worst NFL team is still made of up 53 players who were some of the top players in all of college football. Beyond that, a professional team is built up of players who have years of additional playing experience under their belts, and that playing experience is against the most elite competition in the world. Time and time again, rookies who are adjusting to NFL play have talked about how enormous the gap in talent, size, and speed is from playing in college. If the best college team played the worst NFL team 10 teams, the NFL team would win every one of them by 30 points or more.

For a more in-depth debate, listen to this week’s football podcast from Section 119 sports. You can find Section 119 on twitter @119sports and on aggieradiosports.podbean.com



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  1. Nathan

    I don’t think the best college team could regularly win but to say the best college team of the last ten years would lose to the worst NFL team in the last ten years by 30+ points in every game of a 10 game series is ridiculous. I think the NFL team would win more often but I think the college team would have a chance to win a few of the games.

    It also isn’t right to say only 8-10 players on the best college teams make the NFL. I think your best teams have 20+ players, not all going the same year but through the classes.

    I would think depth would be the biggest factor, in that I think the college team would play close to start but may wear down over the course of the game.

    One of the harder things to determine would be which set of rules to play under. NFL goal posts are narrower. NFL requires two feet in bounds on a catch. Clock doesn’t stop to move the chains in the NFL. Whichever rules were chosen would have an affect.


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