There’s a saying in the NFL that “no player is bigger than the shield.” It sounds like something Roger Goodell would say, especially considering what some of the NFL’s quarterbacks are doing nowadays, but I’m not sure who said it. Whoever said it was wrong. There are players bigger than the shield. People watch the NFL for the superstars. Remember when the NFL went on strike in 1987 and used replacement players? I don’t, I was too young but I heard the football was scarier to watch than Friday the 13th.

Now, when it comes to college football, no player is bigger than the game. The fans, the tradition, the stadiums, the pageantry, and then the players all hold stake in the prodigious entity we call college football.

Have you ever heard anyone say I’d love to go to an Arizona Cardinals game one day? Have you heard anyone outside of Detroit talk about dreaming of one day going to a Detroit Lions game? I bet you have heard someone talking about wanting to go to a University of Michigan football game so that they can see what it’s like to hear the crowd explode after a punt return touchdown. I’ve never heard anyone say they’d love to watch the Indianapolis Colts play in Lucas Oil Stadium, but I’ve heard several people say they want to go to Notre Dame Stadium and revel in the presence of Touchdown Jesus. Even in the NFL, fans don’t feel like they have to watch the best teams in person. In college, it’s different.

You’re not going to a college football game JUST for the players. You’re going for everything that comes with college football. If you plan on taking a tour of college football games or you just happen to be in the area, here are some games, stadiums and rivalries you need to check out this college football season. These are The Best College Football Games Right Now.