College Football Encyclopedia: The Authoritative Guide to 124 Years of College Football

Library Journal

For all those fanatics who love college football, Ours has compiled a definitive guide featuring the complete game history of 87 NCAA Division 1-A teams. Alphabetically arranged by conference, each university's most notable teams, bowl summaries, league titles, top 20 AP and UPI rankings, major rivals, coaches, and miscellany are outlined. Further details include photographs and appendixes on individual records, national champions, all-time coaching records, top ten teams, and other statistics. A number of books deal with college football, but few offer the broad scope of Ours's study. One drawback is the absence of an index by school. Because armchair quarterbacks will be interested, this source is a recommended purchase.-- L.R. Little, Penticton P.L., British Columbia

From The Critics

In the fall of 1994, college football will mark its 125th anniversary. Author Ours has selected eight of the most competitive conferences in Division I-A to include in this book: the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big 8, Big 10, Pacific 10, Southeastern, Southwest, and Western. He also has a chapter on the independents Those colleges' libraries and many a Saturday-afternoon sports fan or proud alumnus will want to keep this book handy for browsing and ready reference. It includes a chapter on each conference, with a description and history followed by a complete list of conference champions. Thereafter, each school in the conference is arranged alphabetically with nickname and colors, followed by capsule information on winning seasons: won-loss record, stars, noteworthy accomplishments. The team's bowl summary and record, conference titles, top-20 rankings, major rivals, coaches, and miscellanea complete the summary. Appendixes include award winners (Heisman Trophy, Coach of the Year, etc.), team national champions, all-time coaching records, and other team statistics (teams with 20 or more bowl appearances, 10 largest stadiums, etc.). There is no index In this book the author has updated and rearranged many of the facts from his 1984 "College Football Almanac", which covered 105 teams compared with this encyclopedia's 87. The arrangement by conference here is more suitable for sizing up the competition and the history of the conferences than the straight alphabetical arrangement of the "College Football Almanac" The word "Encyclopedia" in the title promises more than it delivers. More than 500 colleges and universities participate in NCAA football; more than 100 compete in Division I-A, but only 87 are covered here. Since the sections for each college include only winning years, statistics for each college are incomplete. Fans would have appreciated individual statistics such as most points scored and rushing records for each school and conference. Additional statistical information is included in "Official NCAA Football" ["RBB" N 1 91], which covers all divisions from 1937 through 1990 In spite of these disappointments, "College Football Encyclopedia" will be useful wherever there is interest in the schools included.