The nation will gather around the chicken wings today as the NFL takes center stage with Super Bowl 50 between the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos.

As the NFL basks in its glory, real fans know the truth. In the end, college football is better than its professional offshoot.

Here are 10 reasons why college football reigns supreme over the NFL.

Ticket Prices – You can buy four season tickets to Vanderbilt football for the same price as the average cost for taking a family of four to one Denver Broncos regular season game. Price tag: about $480. Enough said.

Conference Pride – Have you ever heard a fired-up stadium repeatedly chant “N-F-C Cennn-tral!!” You haven’t because fans don’t root for NFL divisions like they do for their favorite college conference. Conferences instill pride and formulate an unspoken bond. Fellow conference schools are like that jerk friend who hangs out with you and your circle of friends. Yeah, it’s OK for you to make fun of them and wail on them, but if someone outside your friends tries anything, you got their back. They might be a jerk, but they’re our jerks.

Fight Songs – Who sings the “Bear Down” fight song better, the Chicago Bears or the University of Arizona? Put your money on the latter. College fight songs are more melodic, less idiotic, and one of the first things alumni teach their children to sing when they’re young.

Fun Note: Lance Briggs played for only the Wildcats and Bears, meaning a version of “Bear Down” stalked him throughout his career.

Less Prima Donnas – Yes, all prima donnas got their start in college, but the collegiate game doesn’t suffer showboating gladly. Must be something about a million-dollar paycheck and everyone constantly telling you how great you are that makes a guy think it’s OK to run around for half a game with a Sharpie pen in his sock. There is one form of prima donna-ism that’s acceptable in college and that’s…

Heisman and its Pose – Nothing’s more iconic than a player striking the Heisman pose. After the Stanley Cup, the Heisman might be the most-revered trophy in North America. Players imitate its classic style and a nation tunes in annually to see it doled to the best player in the country. No one truly cares who wins the NFL MVP honor, as it usually isn’t much debate in choosing the worthy player. Cam Newton this season, for example, was a no-brainer. But the Heisman never fails to build intrigue and contentious debate in the run-up to its announcement.

Fourth-and-Crazy Happens – Philadelphia Eagle fans love to crow about the (in)famous fourth-and-26 play in which Donovan McNabb hit Freddie Mitchell to set up a divisional playoff win over the Green Packers during the 2003-04 season. “Wild” plays like that, however, are commonplace (and wilder) on the college level. Case in point, Arkansas’ own fourth-and-25 this season against Ole Miss, in which Alex Collins scooped up a lateral and rumbled his way to a game-saving first down in overtime on the road in Oxford. Plays like this seem to happen every week. Plus, when was the last time you saw a team use multiple laterals to win a game, such as Miami did to Duke this season.

Atmosphere – They say around the NFL that Denver Broncos games come the closest in replicating the college atmosphere. If anyone tells you that in Denver, they’re sampling too much of the local fare. Put it this way, have you ever heard of a college stadium trying to emulate an NFL experience? There is very little in the pantheon of sports that trumps the goose bump-inducing sound of walking into a college stadium on game day to the soothing din of a marching band.

Live Mascots – Snowflake might kick field goals for the Miami Dolphins better than Ray Finkle, but in reality PETA would go ape over an aquatic mammal locked in a tank for the sake of fans bemusement. On the college level, however, it’s acceptable to have an eagle circle a stadium, a rooster perched on a goalpost, or a bison giving turf burn to a hapless student being dragged across the 30-yard-line by the 1,400-pound behemoth. Denver has its live horse mascot Thunder, but it just lacks the same punch.

Fun Note: Despite the name Ralphie, Colorado’s mascot is actually female.

It’s More Intimate – There’s a purity to the college game that doesn’t exist or oft times feels forced in the NFL. There’s something to be said for watching kids that will “go pro in something other than sports,” to steal the NCAA’s phrase. College football is more authentic and has higher stakes as one loss can essentially doom a season. The NFL has had four teams, including the Carolina Panthers last year, garner a playoff spot with a sub-.500 record. Criminal.

Alumni Bonds – Being an alumni of a school can be a powerful bond. No one is the history of the world ever referred to themselves as a Jacksonville Jaguar alum (or fan, for that matter).