College football refers to gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football first gained popularity in the United States.
The history of American football can be traced to early versions of rugby football and association football. Both games have their origin in multiple varieties of football played in the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century, in which a football is kicked at a goal or kicked over a line, which in turn were based on the varieties of English public school football games descending from medieval ball games.
The Columbia University Lions are the collective athletic teams and their members from Columbia University, an Ivy League institution in New York City, United States. The current director of athletics is Peter Pilling.
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are the athletic teams that represent Rutgers University's New Brunswick campus. In sports, Rutgers is famously known for being the "Birthplace of College Football", hosting the first ever intercollegiate football game on November 6, 1869, in which Rutgers defeated a team from the College of New Jersey with a score of 6 runs to 4.
The Columbia Lions football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Columbia University. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Ivy League. The Columbia football team is the third oldest college football program in the United States: Columbia played Rutgers University in the fourth college football game, on November 12, 1870, in New Jersey. It was the first interstate football game. The first three college football games were played between Princeton and Rutgers in 1869 and 1870. Columbia plays its home games at the 17,000-seat Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium in Inwood, Manhattan, the northernmost neighborhood on Manhattan island.
The Princeton Tigers are the athletic teams of Princeton University. The school sponsors 35 varsity teams in 20 sports. The school has won several NCAA national championships, including one in men's fencing, three in women's lacrosse, six in men's lacrosse, and eight in men's golf. Princeton's men's and women's crews have also won numerous national rowing championships. The field hockey team made history in 2012 as the first Ivy League team to win the NCAA Division I Championship in field hockey.
The Princeton Tigers football program represents Princeton University and competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level as a member of the Ivy League. Princeton's football program—along with the football program at nearby Rutgers University—began in 1869 with a contest that is often regarded as the beginnings of American football.
The 1869 college football season was the first season of intercollegiate football in the United States. While played using improvised rules more closely resembling soccer and rugby than modern gridiron football, it is traditionally considered the inaugural college football season. The 1869 season consisted of only two games, both between Rutgers and Princeton. The first game was played on November 6 at Rutgers' campus, and the second was played on November 13 at Princeton's campus. Both games were won by the home team.
The 1870 college football season is regarded as the second United States intercollegiate football season. The season involved only three teams and two known games which took place in November 1870. As in 1869, the season's two games occurred about fifteen miles apart in New Brunswick and in Princeton, New Jersey.
The Princeton University Rugby Football Club is the college rugby team of Princeton University. The team currently competes in the Ivy Rugby Conference, an annual rugby union competition played among the eight member schools of the Ivy League.
The Yale Bulldogs men's soccer program represents Yale University in all NCAA Division I men's college soccer competitions. Founded in 1908, the Bulldogs compete in the Ivy League.
The 1869 Princeton vs. Rutgers football game was played between Princeton and Rutgers on November 6, 1869. The rules governing play were based on the London Football Association's 1863 rules that disallowed carrying or throwing the ball. Therefore, the game more closely resembled soccer than gridiron football. Moreover, the match was played with a soccer ball. As a result, it is considered the first collegiate soccer match and the birth of soccer in the United States.
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's soccer team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Rutgers University–New Brunswick in New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States. The team is a member of the Big Ten Conference, which is part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. Rutgers's first varsity's men's soccer team was fielded in 1938, although organized soccer has been played at the university since at least 1869. The team plays its home games at Yurcak Field in New Brunswick. The Knights are coached by Jim McElderry.
The 1869 Princeton Tigers football team represented the College of New Jersey, more commonly known as Princeton College, in the 1869 college football season. The team finished with a 1–1 record and was retroactively named national champions by the Billingsley Report and National Championship Foundation, and as the co-national champions by Parke H. Davis. Princeton's first captain was William S. Gummere, who was 17 during the season.
The 1874 Harvard vs. McGill football game was a two-game series between the Harvard Crimson and the McGill Redmen held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 14 and 15, 1874.
The early history of American football can be traced to early versions of rugby football and association football. Both games have their origin in varieties of football played in Britain in the mid–19th century, in which a football is kicked at a goal or run over a line, which in turn were based on the varieties of English public school football games.
The Intercollegiate Football Association (IFA), also known as the American Intercollegiate Football Association, was one of the earliest college football rules-making and scheduling organizations in existence; it was active from the 1873 to 1893 seasons. The IFA teams, Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, are now members of the Ivy League.
The Stevens football team represented the Stevens Institute of Technology in college football.
The Boston game, also known as the Boston rules, was an early code of football developed by the Oneida Football Club, formed in 1862 and considered by some historians as the first formal "football" club in the United States. Rules allowed carrying and kicking and is considered the first step to the codification of rules for association football, rugby football, or American football. After Oneida disbanded, former members established the Harvard University Football Club, which continued to play football under those rules.
