For any sport that is predominantly featured in a professional and collegiate setting, fans have their own personal opinions on which version of the sport they enjoy more. There have been lifelong debates when it comes to football about whether individuals prefer the college game over the NFL. The same debates have translated over to basketball, with many people preferring the college format compared to the NBA. With the Premier Lacrosse League finding its footing and now officially having some years under its belt, it’s safe to say the league is going to stick around for quite some time. While the PLL has been very successful and has generated many fans, I wonder what percentage of fans prefer the college game to the pros. I personally fall into this category for a number of reasons, but that does not mean I do not enjoy the PLL. The PLL offers its own variety of lacrosse, especially in the summer offseason, but there’s always going to be something about the college game that intrigues me more. I’d like to list out my reasons as to why I prefer to watch college lacrosse compared to the PLL.
There is something so special about a college atmosphere. The prestige of conferences, along with historic rivalries that translate across all sports, makes the games just mean a little bit more. The spectacle of the many different venues that each team plays at, along with the dedicated fans filling the stands, is truly special. It is this character and culture that comes with college lacrosse that cannot be replicated at a professional level. This is one of the many reasons why individuals prefer college football compared to the NFL. While you will have dedicated fan bases on both sides, there is something much more connecting and traditional that comes with the college game for both lacrosse and football. I’ve been to multiple Ohio State men’s lacrosse games, and the atmosphere there is unreal, especially in their new custom stadium. While I think the PLL is doing a good job at giving us quality professional lacrosse, I think it is a lot more difficult for professional sports leagues to garner the same level of tradition and atmosphere that you get at the college game.
At the college level, every year brings a brand-new team. With seniors graduating and freshmen coming in, paired with developing sophomores and juniors, it truly is a new team every year. This brings so much excitement as fans have something to look forward to when it comes to recruiting and knowing that the upperclassmen only have so many games left to bring home glory to their respective schools. The professional game typically features the same players year after year with incremental inclusions from the draft. While it is still fun to have your favorite PLL team bring in some new talent, nothing is better than seeing a college player get better year over year. Having only a four-year window to play for your respective school adds a sense of urgency to win now and validity to their playing career. At the pro level, much like any sport, pros will play for 10-plus years and have multiple opportunities to hopefully win a championship. It is so fun knowing that every year at the college game your team could look completely different from last year, and trying to see how the coaching staff will adapt to these changes leads me to my next point.
From an X’s and O’s standpoint, the college game just brings so much more when it comes to game-day schemes. At the professional level, you just have the best players in the world going out there and playing lacrosse. Don’t get me wrong, there still is coaching involved as teams have different actions they are looking to run or areas of the field they are looking to attack, but nothing compares to the college game. There are so many different sliding packages and offensive principles that hundreds of coaches across the country have that differ from one another. This makes every college game so enticing as there is something to pull from every game. Teams have to get way more creative in how they are going to play opposing teams on a week-by-week basis, whether it is to play to their strengths or hide their weaknesses. As a coach, I love watching the college game and being able to pull away tidbits of information and try to get a better understanding of why teams are doing the things they are doing. This is not a diss on the pro game, but when you have the best players in the world, you kind of just let them go out and play.
