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The WikiProject College Football Notability guidelines aim to promote the creation of high-quality articles about college football teams and related topics.

Wikipedia contains many articles on topics related to college football. These guidelines are not meant to be all-inclusive. As in all things, in order for an article to exist on Wikipedia, there should be reliable sources of information and the article cannot be original research. Articles must be written in a neutral point of view and not overly complimentory or derogatory to the team or topic.

Opposition to this essay

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There has been some opposition to this essay in articles for deletion discussions. Basically the argument boils down to the idea that projects do not get to set their own notability policies (only an essay). Please note that this project agrees with this position. This essay does not attempt to force the rest of Wikipedia to accept these guidelines but instead is providing what the project believes to be reasonable and thoughtful arguments to support notability issues within college football.

West Incident

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This essay currently does not reflect many of the changes and arguments that rose out of the West incident. You can help by editing the issues into the essay.

Around September of 2008, the so-called "West Incident" occurred. During this short period of time, the article Walter J. West was deleted. Subsequently, many historical college football articles were mass-nominated for deletion. Many of these nominated were deleted after AFD discussion, many citing "West Precedent" as a reason. Subsequent research on part of the College Football project has led to restoration of many of these articles and more are expected to be restored through additional research, including the restoration of the original West article.

As of December 2010, 100% of those articles deleted have been restored or at least merged into useful articles and lists through discovery of additional information, thorough research, and other article improvements. Included in the deleted articles that were restored are notabile people from business, government, professional football, professional basketball, and other areas. With this in mind, WP:SNOW comes to mind as a reason to consider when discussing deletion of college football head coach articles.

WP:NSPORT/WP:ATHLETE

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The above is a useful guideline for determining notability of sports related subjects. However, it is only a guideline used to quickly assess whether an athlete is likely notable. If a college football player meets the guidelines provided for college athletes, they are likely notable under WP:GNG. However, if an article meets general notability guidelines it can be created regardless of WP:NSPORT. As a rule of thumb sources establishing notability under WP:GNG need to be independent of the source, reliable and non-routine (see WP:ROUTINE).

Organizations

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Associations

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Shortcuts

Please read also the introduction of this essay on making solid arguments in deletion discussions if you came via a direct link to this subsection.

Associations that govern and otherwise help organize college football are notable. This includes their history, present state, and leadership. Generally, these organizations extend their reach beyond college football into other sports (such as Basketball, track and field, etc.)

Organization Abbreviation Notes
National Collegiate Athletic Association NCAA Formed in 1906, currently broken into "Divisions" (I-FBS, I-FCS, II, and III)
National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics NAIA Formed in 1937
National Christian College Athletic Association NCCAA Hosts the Victory Bowl, member schools may join either the NAIA or NCAA
Black Coaches & Administrators BCA Formerly known as the "Black Coaches Association"
American Football Coaches Association AFCA Responsible for the Coaches Poll

This is not intended to be a complete list.

Conferences

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Shortcut

Please read also the introduction of this essay on making solid arguments in deletion discussions if you came via a direct link to this subsection.

College football play is typically broken into conferences, where groups of the same schools will play each other each year. This can develop rivalries and a rich history. Sample conferences include the Big Ten Conference, the Mid-States Football Association, and the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference.

Defunct conferences are also notable, such as the Big Eight Conference and the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the Northwest.


Qualification Conference Notes
Current active conference (NCAA) Big Ten Conference Active conference in NCAA Division I FBS
Current active conference (NAIA) Mid-States Football Association Active NAIA conference
Defunct conference Big Eight Conference Now defunct NCAA conference (replaced by the Big 12 Conference)
"Independents" NCAA Division II independent schools Not an official conference, but notable teams not in a conference are often grouped in the same category.

This is not intended to be a complete list.

Teams

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Shortcuts

Please read also the introduction of this essay on making solid arguments in deletion discussions if you came via a direct link to this subsection.

Schools that participate in college football and are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association or the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics are considered notable as long as there are independent, non-routine (see WP:ROUTINE) references documenting their notability. Please note that all NCAA schools are presumed notable, since there will always be reliable independent sources documenting their notability. Participation may be past, present, and/or planned in the future. Schools may have a team page for their football team, an athletic page for all sports teams, and/or an athletics section of the school's main page in Wikipedia.

Vocational schools (such as Apprentice) that regularly compete against NCAA and/or NAIA schools could also be considered notable based on their level of participation, involvement, and history.

Qualification Team (Example) Notes
NCAA Division I FBS Florida Gators football Previously known as "Division I-A"
NCAA Division I FCS North Dakota State Previously known as "Division I-AA"
NCAA Division II CSU–Pueblo Split from the "NCAA College Division" in 1973. Currently includes one school from Canada (Simon Fraser).
NCAA Division III United States Coast Guard Academy Split from the "NCAA College Division" in 1973
NAIA Southern Oregon Has 287 member institutions for the 2007-08 academic year, may include schools from Canada
defunct college programs Texas-Arlington Mavericks, NYU Violets School must be a current or former member of NCAA or NAIA
closed schools that had programs College of Emporia School must have been a member of the NCAA or NAIA if available. If school closed before NCAA or NAIA were created, the school must have shown regular play against other notable football programs and must have been a college or university team.
future college football programs Charlotte Charlotte will begin play at the Division I FCS (I-AA) level in 2013, the year that it rejoins Conference USA. It will immediately begin a transition to FBS (I-A), and when the transition is complete in 2015 will become a football member of C-USA.[1] The school must officially announce it will begin a program in either the NAIA or NCAA.
Vocational schools Apprentice Officially, the "Newport News Apprentice School" is not a member of either the NCAA or NAIA because it does not grant degrees--however its football team competes in the Atlantic Central Football Conference. The school has fielded teams since 1919 that regularly compete against other accredited institutions. Take care when creating articles on vocational schools to ensure that the article will truly be noteworthy. As a general guide, consider if the school is in a conference made up primarily of NCAA or NAIA member institutions.

Common arguments encountered-teams

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The following are some of the common arguments against the notability of a team.

Too Small: It's too small of a school to be notable

Please see Arbitrary quantity. The "size" of the school does not disqualify for notability. Notability discussions about a college football team should be centered around the team and not the college (or university).

It's only an NAIA School: NAIA schools are not notable, only NCAA schools count (or NCAA Division I, etc.)

Some NAIA schools are notable. For non NCAA schools notability is determined on a school by school basis. Many significant college programs are in the NAIA. College of Emporia was one of the first schools to regularly call the forward pass and halfback option. The consensus of the project is to include NAIA as well as all NCAA division programs in the project.

Program Does Not Exist: The school doesn't have a football program anymore/the school does not exist anymore

Notability is not temporary. Many historical achievements in the sport occurred at schools that are either now closed or simply discontinued their football program. Homer Woodson Hargiss is one of the early developers of the Forward Pass and Halfback option play--while coaching at the College of Emporia, a school that closed in 1972. Bill Parcells played at Wichita State University, which discontinued their football program in 1986.

Football is stupid: Football is meaningless and has no academic value, why not write about a professor who makes a difference?

Please see WP:IDONTLIKEIT. "Academic value" is not the standard for notability.

Junior College/Club/Intramural

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Wikiproject College Football does not include junior college football, club football, or intramural football programs. At the present time, this is primarily due to a lack of interest but also due to notability concerns. Should interest in junior college football reach the point that articles begin to be created, a junior college task force may be created. For similar reasons, schools that play intercollegiate football outside the NCAA or NAIA (such as Sprint Football or club teams) or intramural football teams are not covered by the project, nor are they considered notable, except in instances where there are extenuating circumstances.

To clarify, we're not saying that Junior College football isn't notable, it's just that we're not united and of one voice on the topic yet--and haven't researched it enough to back up any voice with strong reason.

There is a List of NCAA Institutions with club football teams, a List of community college football programs, and an article on the National Junior College Athletic Association.

Junior Varsity

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Junior-varsity (JV) teams are not considered notable. Articles about Division I JV teams playing NAIA teams are considered notable, but junior varsity college players, coaches, teams, and normal games—unless there are extenuating circumstances—are not considered notable.

Non-college teams that played a college team

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In the early days of college football, it was common practice for a high school team, a military team, or even a city club to play a college football team. The games themselves may be notable and under the aegis of this project, as in 1892 Wyoming Seminary vs. Mansfield State Normal football game. However, football teams not considered a part of a college or university are not covered by the project and are not considered notable under it.

Vocational schools such as the Apprentice Builders who regularly schedule games against generally accepted notable college football teams would be included in the project.

Canadian Colleges

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See WP:CFL

Colleges located in Canada may or may not be covered under this project. There are a handful of colleges in Canada that participate in the NAIA, and thereby would be involved in this project. Colleges that compete in CIS football under the Canadian Interuniversity Sport governing body (the Canadian equivalent to the NCAA) are not a part of this project--Wikipedia:WikiProject Canadian football has taken responsibility for those teams. This project applauds their efforts.

Simon Fraser University is a special case. At different times in the past, it has played American football in the NAIA and Canadian football in CIS. SFU is now an NCAA Division II member, and is playing American football again.

There are some "crossover" colleges (such as University of Victoria) where teams play in both NAIA and CIS. In such cases, both projects work together with the Canadian efforts taking the lead.

Marching Bands

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See WP:Marching band

Marching bands are typically considered part of the pageantry of college football. However, there is a wonderful team at Wikipedia:WikiProject Marching band that is taking care of all marching band issues (we refer to their project as "living across the street" from ours). Marching bands are not typically considered part of Wikiproject College football.

There are times when the marching band and the football game have interacted. The Play is one specific example. On those occasions, editors are encouraged to coordinate with the related project (in this case, the band).

Special events

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Single seasons

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Shortcuts

Please read also the introduction of this essay on making solid arguments in deletion discussions if you came via a direct link to this subsection.

See also: Wikipedia:Notability (sports) § Individual seasons

Single seasons (e.g. 2005 USC Trojans football team) can be considered notable. In this case the season must receive substantial non-routine coverage (see WP:ROUTINE). In general, seasons that culminate in a bowl game will likely be notable. However, not all seasons by teams that participate in college football are inherently notable.

Sometimes editors choose to group multiple seasons together into articles, depending on available content and interest. Examples are LSU Tigers football, 1893-1899 and Arkansas Razorbacks football, 1900-1909.

Qualification Example Notes
Single season 2005 Texas Longhorns football team National Champions and Wikipedia:Featured articles, once nominated for deletion
Several seasons Arkansas Razorbacks football, 1900-1909 Grouping seasons can be valid depending on available references and content.
Seasons under a coach Notre Dame Fighting Irish football under Bob Davie May duplicate season only articles, but may also be warranted to review a long-standing coach's impact on a team.
Seasons for all teams in a conference 2010 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference football season Useful for smaller conferences, and can be used to combine what would normally be single team season articles. Not encouraged for larger conferences where team season articles will likely be created.

Common arguments encountered-seasons

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Every team's season does not deserve an article: Wikipedia does not need individual pages for every season of every team.

As long as the sourcing is not solely from the team website, and local routine articles on regular season games, Why not? (But it's probably not going to happen...) Content should be of high quality, and be well documented by sources independent of the sport and school. Many team individual season pages are well-assembled and often used, such as 2005 Texas Longhorn football team. Others may call for a grouping of seasons by decade or coach's tenure, depending on the content. While some of the seasons themselves are notable, often times multiple seasons are combined into one article.

Far too detailed for any team, let alone a college team. Wikipedia does not need this much information on college football.

please see WP:IDONTLIKEIT and Wikipedia:Article size. The project editors and team members desire to create the best articles possible, and the size of an article can have a significant bearing on that. However, that is a style issue and not a notability issue. If an article is too long then it most certainly should be edited. That said, consensus in the project and on Wikipdeia in general has repeatedly supported detailed single season articles of college football teams, as long as they are sourced by non-routine coverage independent of the sport and school.

Not Everything Wikipedia is not a directory of everything that exists or has existed

See WP:EVERYTHING and WP:NOTHING. While Wikipedia is not everything, it is not about "nothing" either. Therefore, the community creates guidelines and policies outlining what qualifies for inclusion and how to come to consensus.

Not Indiscriminate Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate collection of information.

See WP:INDISCRIMINATE. The "Indiscriminate" section of the What Wikipedia is not policy gives five specific classifications of indiscriminate information: "Frequently Asked Questions", "Plot summaries", "Lyrics databases", "Statistics", and "News reports." The last two may apply to college football articles. This project agrees that if no prose can be created in a season page, then that page should be combined elsewhere. However statistics may be a valuable part of an article.
News reports-- WP:ROUTINE does explicitly suggest that news reports on games does not automatically count towards establishing notability of the games. There is currently no consensus as to whether this argument counts towards full seasons. Generally there should be at least one other reference besides game play summaries, news reports, and statistics in establishing notability.

No fan pages. Wikipedia is not the place for fan pages for college football.

Please avoid Ad hominem arguments. Yes, "fan pages" should be avoided. However, this does not mean that people should not edit pages related to their favorite teams, as long as they maintain a neutral point of view.

Single season notability discussion library

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Keep
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Delete, merge, or redirect
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No consensus
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Single games

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Shortcuts

Please read also the introduction of this essay on making solid arguments in deletion discussions if you came via a direct link to this subsection.

Conference championship games and bowl games are normally considered notable for all schools that participate in college football and are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association or the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Junior varsity games are generally not considered notable. Realize that every article must still meet WP:N notability standards.

Qualification Example Notes
Regular season game 2005 Texas vs. Ohio State football game The first-ever meeting between The University of Texas at Austin and The Ohio State University in a college football game.
Game with a unique or memorable play 2007 Trinity vs. Millsaps football game On October 27, 2007, the NCAA Division III 19th-ranked Trinity University Tigers threw 15 lateral passes and scored a 60-yard touchdown to win a game against the 24th-ranked Millsaps College Majors as time expired in the game.
Conference championship game (general) Big 12 Championship Game A general article about the annual game in the Big 12 Conference.
Conference championship game (specific year) 2007 ACC Championship Game A featured article!
Specific bowl game 2006 Chick-fil-A Bowl Georgia 31, Virginia Tech 24
Bowl game general page Rose Bowl (game) First game played January 1, 1902 between Michigan and Stanford.
Defunct bowl game general page Boot Hill Bowl NAIA post-season bowl game played from 1970 to 1980.
All-Star game Texas vs. The Nation Game Any NCAA or NAIA sanctioned post-season all-star game is notable.

Common arguments encountered-games

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Too Many: Every team, every game? With over 300 teams with ten games a season over 100 season, that's 150,000 games!

As long as the game meets WP:GNG standards, with coverage beyond WP:ROUTINE sources (such as lists of final game scores and articles on non-notable play by play summaries) the game is notable.
Note:editors are encouraged to first create a season summary article before creating individual game articles unless there is a a very unique reason to have a particular game stand out, such as 1892 Wyoming Seminary vs. Mansfield State Normal football game (the first ever nighttime football game.

This Game/That Game: There is no article on College A vs College B, why should Wikipedia have an article on College C vs College D?

Please see WP:OTHERSTUFF

No Team? No Article. If the teams don't deserve articles the game doesn't either.

Please see WP:OTHERSTUFF

Nothing Special This is just another football game that's hardly distinguishable from the other football games of this season

Specialist Topic. Not all games receive the same amount of coverage. Those that only receive WP:ROUTINE coverage are not notable. For example, if a game gets front page coverage in a national paper, this coverage is not likely routine, and hence would qualify the game for its own page.

This is for WikiNews People should instead write those articles at Wikinews and use inter-wiki linking.

Wikipedia is only for notable games, while WikiNews is for all games. Please consult the notability guidelines to determine whether the appropriate source for the article.

Repeating Information This article just repeats information that can be found elsewhere.

All Wikipedia articles are written about information that can be found elsewhere, otherwise the information would not be reliable. The purpose of Wikipedia is to remain encyclopedic

Not Encyclopedic Individual articles on football are not encyclopedic.

Articles on notable games should be encyclopedic. If an editor gives a reason behind the label of "unencyclopedic" then those issues should be addressed.

Single game notability discussion library

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Special plays

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Shortcut

Please read also the introduction of this essay on making solid arguments in deletion discussions if you came via a direct link to this subsection.

A "play" in college football refers to one particular session or down, and the specific orders given to the players. Sometimes these orders are executed exactly, and sometimes improvisation takes over and conclude different than intended. Normal plays such as the kickoff or screen pass are standard plays and are considered notable because they are such a core part of the game. Many of these plays are actually a part of our parent project Wikipedia:WikiProject American football and may be shared with other projects such as Wikipedia:WikiProject Rugby league.

While a general play may be notable, not every application of that play is considered notable. For example, the forward pass is certainly notable as an integral part of the game, but every time the forward pass is used would not warrant an article on that specific play.

That said, college football generates unique plays from time to time. Some of these plays are analyzed and reviewed and referenced throughout the ages. The Play is one example, which is a part of the category American football plays. These plays gain notability through their uniqueness.

Category Example Notes
General play commonly used Kickoff (American football) You can't start a game without one!
Trick play Statue of Liberty Uses deception and unorthodox strategies to fool the opposing team.
Outdated plays that are rarely used but were once common Drop kick Last reported use was in 1990.
Once used play, now against rules Pyramid Play The NCAA decided to ban the use of the play upon the conclusion of the 1933 season and the ruling is still in effect.
Specific play with a unique result The Play A last-second kickoff return during a college football game between the University of California Golden Bears and the Stanford University Cardinal on November 20, 1982.

Awards

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Shortcuts

Please read also the introduction of this essay on making solid arguments in deletion discussions if you came via a direct link to this subsection.

Major national college football awards and their recipients are considered notable. A list of the major college awards can be found on the Template:College Football Awards. Note that conference awards, including All-conference team selections, are not automatically considered notable. Discussion of what constitutes a notable award is handled at that template page.

Rivalry/series AfD library

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No guideline has been adopted by this project with respect to which college football rivalries and/or series are deemed notable. Accordingly, more general reference should be made to WP:NRIVALRY and WP:GNG. Prior AfD discussions in this area (collected here) also provide some guidance as to how the community has dealt with such issues.

Keep

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  1. Kansas–Nebraska football rivalry (Keep June 2019)
  2. Alabama–Clemson football rivalry (Keep Jan 2019)
  3. Georgia-Vanderbilt football rivalry (Keep Aug 2018)
  4. Alabama-Penn State football rivalry (Keep Aug 2018)
  5. Auburn-Florida football rivalry (Keep Aug 2018)
  6. Auburn-Tulane football rivalry (Keep Aug 2018)
  7. Auburn-Tennessee (Keep Aug 2018)
  8. Rice-Texas football rivalry (Keep Aug 2018)
  9. Auburn-Georgia Tech football rivalry (Keep Aug 2018)
  10. James Madison-Richmond football rivalry (Keep Aug 2018)
  11. Idaho–Idaho State football rivalry (Keep Jan 2018)
  12. Central Washington–Western Washington football rivalry (Keep Jan 2018)
  13. O'Rourke–McFadden Trophy (Keep Dec 2017)
  14. Fresno State–Hawaii football rivalry (Keep Dec 2017)
  15. Illinois–Michigan football series (Keep Nov 2017)
  16. Miami–Nebraska football rivalry (Keep Oct 2016)
  17. Alabama–Ole Miss football rivalry (Keep Sept 2016)
  18. Iowa–Nebraska football rivalry (Keep Sept 2016)
  19. Georgia Tech–Tennessee football rivalry (Keep Oct 2015)
  20. Civil Conflict (UConn-UCF) (Keep July 2015)
  21. East Carolina–Marshall football rivalry (Keep April 2015)
  22. Minnesota–Nebraska football rivalry (Keep Dec 2014)
  23. Stanford–USC football rivalry (Keep Sept 2014)
  24. Northwestern–Notre Dame football rivalry (Keep Oct 2013)
  25. Georgia–South Carolina football rivalry (Keep May 2012)
  26. Alabama–Penn State football rivalry (Keep Nov 2011)
  27. Ramnapping Trophy (UConn-Rhode Island) (Keep Sept 2011)
  28. Auburn-Florida football rivalry (Keep Aug 2011)

Delete

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  1. North Texas–UTSA football rivalry (Delete Nov 2018)
  2. Houston–Texas football rivalry (Delete Nov 2018)
  3. Brown–Princeton football rivalry (Delete Sept 2018)
  4. Brown–Penn football rivalry (Delete Sept 2018)
  5. Columbia–Harvard football rivalry (Delete Aug 2017)
  6. Penn State-Temple football rivalry (Delete Aug 2018)
  7. Troy-UAB football rivalry (Delete Aug 2018)
  8. Southern Miss-UAB football rivalry (Delete Aug 2018)
  9. Maryland-Rutgers football rivalry (Delete Aug 2018)
  10. Georgia Tech-Tulane football rivalry (Delete Aug 2018)
  11. Arkansas-Auburn football rivalry (Delete Aug 2018)
  12. UTEP-UTSA football rivalry (Delete Aug 2018)
  13. Georgia-Ole Miss football rivalry (Delete July 2018)
  14. Arkansas-Mississippi State football rivalry (Delete July 2018)
  15. Louisville-Virginia football rivalry (Delete July 2018)
  16. Southern Oregon–Western Oregon football rivalry (Delete Jan 2018)
  17. Marshall–Western Kentucky football rivalry (Delete Jan 2018)
  18. Cumberlands–Union football rivalry (Delete Dec 2017)
  19. New Mexico–Utah football rivalry (Delete Dec 2017)
  20. Iowa State–West Virginia football rivalry (Delete Dec 2017)
  21. North Texas–Rice football rivalry (Delete Nov 2017)
  22. Fresno State–Louisiana Tech football rivalry (Delete June 2017)
  23. Oklahoma State–Baylor football rivalry (Delete Aug 2016)
  24. Arkansas State–Louisiana-Monroe football rivalry (Delete April 2016)
  25. BYU–San Diego State football rivalry (Delete April 2016)
  26. Arkansas-Georgia football rivalry (Delete March 2016)
  27. Florida State–Georgia Tech football rivalry (Delete Dec 2015)
  28. Ole Miss–Tennessee football rivalry (Delete Oct 2015)
  29. South Carolina–Tennessee football rivalry (Delete Oct 2015)
  30. Auburn–Florida State football rivalry (Delete Feb 2015)
  31. Troy–UAB football rivalry (Delete Dec 2014)
  32. Southern Miss–UAB football rivalry (Delete Dec 2014)
  33. Battle for the Bone (Fresno St-La. Tech) (Delete Dec 2014)
  34. James Madison–Old Dominion football rivalry (Delete Dec 2014)
  35. Battle for the Silver Mace (Delete Dec 2014)
  36. UAB–Memphis rivalry (Delete Dec 2014)
  37. The Dam Cup (Delete Dec 2014)
  38. HintonBurdick Grand Canyon Trophy (Delete Dec 2014)
  39. Marshall–UCF football rivalry (Delete Dec 2014)
  40. Arkansas–Missouri football rivalry (Delete Sept 2014)
  41. Arkansas-Baylor football rivalry (Delete Aug 2014)
  42. Mississippi State - Vanderbilt football rivalry (Delete Aug 2014)
  43. Missouri–South Carolina football rivalry (Delete Aug 2014)
  44. Florida–South Carolina football rivalry (Delete July 2014)
  45. D.C. Cup (Georgetown-Howard) (Delete July 2014)
  46. Ole Miss - Notre Dame football series (Delete March 2014)
  47. Alabama–Texas A&M football rivalry (Delete Nov 2012)
  48. Florida–Alabama football rivalry (Delete Nov 2012)
  49. Louisville–West Virginia rivalry (Delete Sept 2012)
  50. Alabama–LSU football rivalry (Delete Aug 2012)
  51. Drake–Dayton football rivalry (Delete Dec 2011)
  52. River City Showdown (Delete Dec 2011)

Merge, move, no consensus, other

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  1. North Texas–UTSA football rivalry (No consensus Aug 2018)
  2. Iowa-Penn State Rivalry (Keep but re-purpose with wrestling Sept 2017)
  3. Georgia Southern–Georgia State football rivalry (Keep but move to Georgia Southern–Georgia State rivalry to encompass basketball/volleyball Oct 2015)
  4. Auburn–Tulane football rivalry (No consensus Feb 2015)
  5. $5 Bits of Wooden Chair (Merge to Minnesota–Nebraska football rivalry Dec 2014)

Other events

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General pageantry and special events dealing with college football outside of the game itself are typically listed on the page of the college hosting the event. In the rare instance that the event is notable enough to support a standalone page, it may fall under the aegis of the College Football Wikiproject. If the event was founded to promote a college football team or to commemorate a particular game, consider it a part of the project. The Aggie Bonfire, a featured article once on the main page, is one such example.

Lists

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Shortcut

Please read also the introduction of this essay on making solid arguments in deletion discussions if you came via a direct link to this subsection.

For more details see the essay Wikipedia:Lists in Wikipedia

Due to the nature of college football and the fact that the subject is underrepresented on Wikipedia, it may be preferable to present information in list format. List topics are notable if they deal with a school, individual, football conference, or other organization that is itself notable under the guidelines listed on this page. No list describing an aspect of a non-notable subject can be notable. Notable subjects can have non-notable lists, however. Editors are advised to use their judgment when composing list-style information. An article entitled List of Maryland Terrapins football fans will not be notable. A list entitled Maryland Terrapins NFL Draft picks, on the other hand, will be notable.

Descriptor Example Notes
Specific game listings List of NCAA college football rivalry games A list of historic games considered "rivalries"
Specific school/team listings List of defunct college football teams A list of defunct college football programs
Location lists List of NCAA Division I FBS football stadiums A list of home stadiums by team

Locations

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Shortcuts

Please read also the introduction of this essay on making solid arguments in deletion discussions if you came via a direct link to this subsection. Locations where Division I college football is regularly played are considered notable. These locations include both current and historic locations, and can cover on-campus stadiums or off-campus stadiums. For teams at lower levels, such locations may or may not be notable.

Some locations other than stadiums are notable, such as NCAA Hall of Champions. Other locations relevant to college football may not be notable. Such non-notable locations include locker rooms, practice facilities, administrative buildings, etc. However, those locations may have achieved notability through other methods.


Classification Example Notes
Current on-campus stadium Peoples Bank Field On-campus at Ottawa University
Historic on-campus stadium no longer used for football Memorial Stadium (Kansas State) Stadium still stands at Kansas State University but is not used by the athletic department for intercollegiate football--games are played at Bill Snyder Family Stadium instead.
Demolished on-campus stadium Stagg Field The "First Stagg Field" at the University of Chicago seated 50,000 people and was demolished in 1957. The new stadium has also been named "Stagg Field" and seats 1,650.
Current off-campus stadium Cotton Bowl (stadium) The Cotton Bowl has been used by college, professional, and high schools over the years.
Demolished/replaced off-campus stadium Gator Bowl Stadium Replaced by the stadium now known as EverBank Field
Non-stadium location NCAA Hall of Champions, College Football Hall of Fame National museum and/or exhibition centers.

Individuals

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Further information: Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons

Players

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Shortcuts

Please read also the introduction of this essay on making solid arguments in deletion discussions if you came via a direct link to this subsection.

Wikipedians have yet to come to consensus what guidelines should be standard for college football athletes. There have been many heated discussions at WP:ATHLETE that are worth reviewing.

The college football project tends to interpret notability standards to include players that:

  • went on to play in the NFL, AFL, or CFL (or other comparable professional leagues)
  • went on to be a head coach in the NFL, AFL, or CFL (or other comparable professional leagues)
  • were inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
  • won major national awards such as the Heisman Trophy, Outland Trophy, Wuerffel Trophy, Doak Walker Award, or other similar trophy
  • developed a special play (as described in the special play section) and is widely credited as its originator by reliable secondary sources. Merely participating in a special play is not necessarily notable.
  • otherwise achieve notability outside of college football as documented by reliable secondary sources.

However the project has not reached a consensus about how to apply these guidelines to active college football players. Most of the guidelines above apply only to historic players that have left active play in college football and gone on to other achievements like professional sports or coaching. This is not to say that current active players cannot be notable nor does it mean that every player on every team should have an article. It simply means that a set of guidelines or rules has not been established by consensus on this particular issue.

Before creating an article on an individual player, consider what makes them notable for an article and whether there are sufficient sources available to write a good article. Articles on living or recently deceased players must conform to the policy on biographies of living persons.

Qualification Player Notes
...went on to play in the National Football League Troy Aikman, Marcus Allen Both had illustrious NFL careers
...went on to play in the American Football League Curtis McClinton Signed with the Dallas Texans (later the Kansas City Chiefs)
...went on to play in the Canadian Football League Kaye Vaughan Played for the Ottawa Rough Riders for twelve seasons
...went on to coach in the National Football League Bill Parcells He played at Wichita State University
...inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame Earl Abell, Alex Agase, Harry Agganis Three of many inductees
...won a major award Roger Staubach, Pete Dawkins both won the Heisman Trophy
...achieve notability outside of college football Ronald Reagan, Gerald R. Ford, Daniel Ruettiger Former US Presidents who played college football and subject of the film Rudy respectively

Common arguments encountered-players

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The following are some of the common arguments encountered against notability of a college football player.

Non-Notable: The player does not meet WP:BIO

WP:BIO states that college athletes can be notable if they meet WP:GNG. Players at the collegiate level can meet this notability requirement based on non routine (WP:ROUTINE) secondary sources published about their playing career.

Existence of NFL disqualifies college football The "highest level in amateur sports" section of notability from WP:ATHLETE does not apply to team sports if there's also fully professional league in the country.

no where in any of the WP Guidelines is this supported. WP:NSPORT is the new athletic guideline, old WP:ATH arguments do not apply.

The player is a bench-warmer The athlete does not play or hasn't played very much.

The Short Answer: Specialist Topics are often not well known. Notability in college football is established by WP:GNG, while normally this comes from being an active player, is not always the case. For examples see, Katie Hnida and Daniel Ruettiger, players with little playing time but accomplishing a noteworthy place in college football.

Every player does not deserve an article: There are too many players and pages throughout history for every college football player to have an article on Wikipedia.

This is true, but has nothing to do with whether a specific player is notable or not.

No information: The article is really short and has no information.

Surmountable problem and {{Template:Sofixit}} Perceived lack of quality or length is not a reason for deletion. Notability is determined by sourcing not a word count.

No value to society It is a shame society places so much value on football, when educators like (your favorite college professor) go unnoticed.

Notability is established based on guidelines, perceived value to society is not one of those guidelines. Please consult WP:IDONTLIKEIT.

Too long ago This player hasn't done anything since college, and that was a long time ago

Please consult Notability is not temporary.

Just an NAIA player This player only played for an NAIA school and is not notable

Just being an NAIA player does not make that player "non-notable" -- while NAIA players are less likely to be notable, there are several who satisfy WP:GNG.

Nothing on Google I did a Google search and can't find much of anything on this player

Please see WP:GOOGLEHITS. Google is in general a first tool for checking notability but lack of hits from an internet search engine does not guarantee a lack of notability, especially for historic figures.

Player notability discussion library

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Coaches

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Please read also the introduction of this essay on making solid arguments in deletion discussions if you came via a direct link to this subsection.

Our project considers all head coaches (past and present) of notable college football programs to be notable. Notable college football programs are further defined as NCAA (Division I FBS, Division I FCS, Division II, and Division III) and NAIA programs. This notability holds true provided that they coached a team for at least one official game.

Editors in the college football project know that there are editors outside the project who think this is an abuse of notability and do not like that it will create many stub articles. It also can be opposed by the "Notability is inherited" argument. However, there is a good deal of reasoning for this stance--enough, project consensus believes, to outweigh any inherited notability issues.

  1. Researchers on college football find it helpful to view what a peer coach had done in the same school, conference, or league--even if only for one season.
  2. For most schools, the head football coach is oftentimes the most well-known (and highest paid) member of the faculty of that school--more than the college president, athletic director, dean of students, or head of the math department.
  3. For just about any college, a significant amount of the media coverage is about the major sports program (football, basketball, etc.).
  4. The information is notable because statistics on the program are compiled and maintained across all time, and are readily available from multiple sources both on and off the internet.
  5. As our research grows, editors have found more and more coaches "inter-connect" between colleges. Coaches may start at one school, then take a coaching position at another, and end up at a third or fourth school. Harold Elliott is just one of many examples of articles that started out as just such a stub and has grown to a robust article.
  6. Creating even a stub article promotes collaborative editing over time. Coaches move on to new schools, editors become enthusiastic about their new coach, historical information surfaces, and so forth.
  7. This criterion (and subsequent "inherited notability") ensures that the project coverage of college football coaches will be complete. It also prevents "redlining" in the coach's navbox that is standard for each coach page.

Common arguments encountered-coaches

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The following are some of the common arguments encountered against notability of a head coach.

Does not meet standards: The subjects do not meet any part of WP:BIO

Head coaches at the collegiate level meet the notability requirement if they satisfy WP:GNG or WP:NSPORT.

No Team Article: The team which they managed does not even have its own article. Surely if the team they managed was anyway notable it'd have its own article.

See WP:OTHERSTUFF

Sources Unreliable: The articles contain no citations from reliable sources, which are required under the verifiability policy.

Please see Wikipedia:Verifiability#Sources and Wikipedia:WikiProject College football/Reliable Sources. All articles should contain reliable sources independent of the sport and school to establish notability. Note that notability is established if sources exist not if they are mentioned in the article.
This project will often use the College Football Data Warehouse as it is considered a reliable source. This database is linked to many, many pages on Wikipedia for statistics and biographical information. Editors also will reference the school website itself for historical data on coaching changes, records history, coaching tenure, etc. The project consensus contends that there is no better source than the school itself for information on who the coach is at any given time. Neither of these sources are independent of the subject and therefore neither can be used to establish notability. However, they are useful as complementary sources in many articles.

Too Long Ago: This happened too long ago, there isn't any way to verify it online. Or Maybe the current coach should be listed, but certainly the coach from a long time ago is not notable.

Notability cannot be measured for some historical topics. Football scores from 1910 don't make today's newspapers very often, so editors rely more on college historical data, and offline sources. Please also see Notability is not temporary

This coach is too obscure No one has ever heard of this guy, he's only coached at a small school.

Specialist Topics are often not well known. Notability does not necessarily arrive from being widely known, but can also arrive from the importance or uniqueness in the field.

Lousy Coach: The coach never won a game or hardly ever won a game

A coach having a "losing record" does not disqualify for notability. Notability requirements on Wikipedia specifically state that notability can come from an especially poor performance (such as Vinko Bogataj, the "agony of defeat"). Inside college football, Jake High (one scoreless 0-8 season), Ronald Beard (0-44 over 4 seasons), and George Allen (Cumberland) (who coached only one game and was defeated 222 to zero) as notable examples of coaches with exceptionally poor performances.

It's about the team, not the coach: The articles are about the team, not the coach

As long as the coach is one of the focus points, it counts towards the coaches notability. If the coach is not mentioned or only trivially mentioned the article should not be the only source establishing the notability of the coach.

The article is too short There is really no information with this, it's just a stub.

See Wikipedia:Stub. Stub articles are an important part of Wikipedia. Most articles get their start as stubs, and many stay as stubs for a very long time--maybe for all time. Once a stub article has been created, other editors will also be able to enhance it.

Academic Standards We should hold coaches to the same academic standard we hold teachers to--the coach must be widely published.

No. For coaches, and even professors, notability is established through WP:GNG. WP:ACADEMIC is a guideline that clarifies what GNG means for subjects related to academia, it has no bearing on College football notability.

Head coach notability discussion library

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The issue of notability of coaches has been discussed on many occasions on Wikipedia:

Assistant coaches

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Assistant coaches, managers, and other staff subordinate to the head coach may or may not be notable depending on their accomplishments, past programs, tenure, and other factors. However, there are certain qualifications where an assistant coach would be considered notable:

  • assistant coaches who are or have been head coaches
  • assistant coaches who won the Broyles Award, the annual award for the best assistant coach in college football (this satisfies WP:BIO through WP:ANYBIO)
  • assistant coaches who took over head coaching duties on an interim basis for an entire game or multiple games due to the absence, death, or termination of the head coach. This does not apply to assistants who only filled in for part of a game (such as if the head coach were ejected from a game) or who have not coached a game.
  • assistant coaches who were significantly involved in a noteworthy event, though consider also WP:1E as a possible argument against this.
Qualification Assistant Coach Notes
...goes on to be a head coach Bill Snyder Assistant coach for Hayden Fry at University of Iowa, head coach at Kansas State
...were previous head coaches Stan Parrish, Tim McCarty Parrish was the head coach at Kansas State, Wabash, and Marshall, then went on to be an assistant coach at Rutgers and Michigan. McCarty was the head coach at Tabor and East Central, then became assistant coach at Kansas State
...win the Broyles Award Jim Heacock Won the award in 2007 while an assistant coach for the Ohio State Buckeyes
...take over head coaching duties Bill Lynch, Bob Seaman Lynch was the assistant for Terry Hoeppner at Indiana during Hoeppener's battle with cancer, Seaman was the assistant for Ben Wilson, who died with about half of his team in a plane crash. Both went on to be named the head coach the next year, but would retain their notability even if they had not.
...noteworthy event William "Red" Dawson Assistant coach at Marshall University and major character in the movie We Are Marshall

As with other subjects, assistant coaches who do not meet the standards of notability required for a standalone article may still be of enough interest for proportional coverage in related articles (such as team or season articles).

Officials

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Please read also the introduction of this essay on making solid arguments in deletion discussions if you came via a direct link to this subsection.

Game officials and governing bodies of sports often take the stance that they prefer to keep the focus on the game and off of the officials. This stance is supported by the fact that the College Football Hall of Fame does not induct officials. Should the need arise to reference an official in an article (such as when officials make notable errors as the Fifth Down Game (1990)), editors are encouraged to simply use the term "the official" (general) or "the back judge" (specific official position) instead of listing the name of the person fulfilling the role of the official.

Officials can obtain notability through other means, such as being a head coach. There is a List of NFL officials.

Administrative and other staff

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Please read also the introduction of this essay on making solid arguments in deletion discussions if you came via a direct link to this subsection.

Like the head coach, the college football project considers the college or university athletic director (AD) to be notable. The reasoning is that the AD is responsible for the program of football as well as other sports and is heavily involved in scheduling games, hiring and firing head coaches, negotiating television and media rights, and long term development projects such as building stadiums. This responsibility has been determined by consensus in the project to be noteworthy activities. Also it is not uncommon for the AD to be the head coach of the football program and sometimes other sports as well such as basketball or track and field.

Past, present, and future (officially announced) athletic directors are considered notable.

Position Example Notes
Athletic Director Mike Kirkland (coach) Current AD for Southwestern College Moundbuilders (as of 2008)
Previous Athletic Director Steve Miller (athletics) AD at Kansas State University from 1988 to 1992
future announced Athletic Director none at present Any individual who has been officially hired and publicly announced to take over duties as athletic director of a notable college is notable.
Athletic Director and coach Homer Woodson Hargiss AD and coach of all sports at College of Emporia from 1910 to 1913

Other administrative positions in college sports (such as assistant athletic director or sports information director) are non-notable positions. Naturally people in those positions may gain notability through other means.

Mascots

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Please read also the introduction of this essay on making solid arguments in deletion discussions if you came via a direct link to this subsection.

Current and past mascots of notable schools are considered notable. Notable mascorts include:

  1. character mascots
  2. live animal mascots
  3. item mascots
  4. discontinued mascots.
Category Mascot Notes
...Character mastcot Sparty, Hokie Bird anyone who portrays the character (i.e. the student who wears the suit) would not be considered notable
...live animal mascot Ralphie one page for all generations of the mascot, as demonstrated with Ralphie I, II, III, IV, and V
...item mascots Ramblin' Wreck a 1930 Ford Model A Sports coupe
...discontinued mascots Sammy Seminole In 1972 Sammy Seminole was retired at the request of the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

Broadcasters and sportswriters

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The project includes national broadcasters and sportswriters who work in a noteworthy capacity with college football. Some of these key people are involved in creating nationally recognized polls, where others are widely recognized for their contribution. Examples include Craig James (American football), Lee Corso, and Chris Fowler. (James is also separately notable for his playing career, and Corso for his coaching career.)

Fact vs Fiction

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Fictional events or people in college football, such as the films The Program, Everybody's All-American, and Necessary Roughness are outside the scope of the project.

Many films and books are based on fact but have fictional components. On occasion, the project may point to movies and books that focus on events that really happened, such as the films Knute Rockne, All American, Rudy, and We Are Marshall. Wikiproject College Football will also coordinate with other Wikiprojects involved with those topics, such as Wikipedia:WikiProject Films.

College Football Deletion FAQ

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Please read also the introduction of this essay on making solid arguments in deletion discussions if you came via a direct link to this subsection.

Below are some of the frequently asked questions encountered concerning the creation, editing, and deletion of articles within the scope of the college football project. If you do not understand the directions or just would like some help, post a notice on the College Football project talk page describing what happened and ask us for help.

Please bear in mind Wikipedia:Etiquette during all deletion discussions.

Q: Someone deleted an article I posted... what should I do?

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A: That stinks, but it happens. Here is the recommended method for handling a college football project page that has been deleted.

  1. Don't panic.
  2. Be nice.
  3. Read Wikipedia:Why was my page deleted?
  4. Follow the instructions at Wikipedia:Why was my page deleted?#What you can do about it
  5. Do not put the page back up immediately this can lead to all kinds of misunderstandings by the page being deleted again... and again... and being protected (locked)... and possibly even you as an editor being locked out of Wikipedia for a period of time.
  6. Be nice.
  7. Check the deletion review log to find the editor that deleted the page. Politely ask the editor why it was deleted and ask the editor to restore the page.
  8. If that does not get satisfactory results, follow the instructions above and opening a Wikipedia:Deletion review. You will likely get the page restored at least temporarily and can begin improvements, although that may not happen right away. Even if the page should ultimately be deleted, this is almost always a worthwhile effort as it helps to gain a better understanding as to what makes a good article in Wikipedia.

Q: The article I am working on has been marked for speedy deletion... what should I do?

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A: Please know the difference between deletion and speedy deletion. Here is the recommended method for handling a college football project page that has been marked for speedy deletion.

  1. Be nice.
  2. Immediately visit Template:Hangon and follow the instructions. This will involve placing a "hangon" template on the page in question and giving a reason to prevent the speedy deletion. Reasons such as "page is currently under development" or "currently revising page" should be acceptable.
  3. Check the history of the page in question to locate the Wikipedia editor who placed the speedy deletion tag. Go to the editor's talk page and nicely ask the editor to consider removing the tag, giving a reason. The editor will usually either remove the speedy deletion tag, or remove the speedy deletion tag and nominate the article for deletion.
  4. Read Wikipedia:Deletion policy#Speedy deletion
  5. Begin improving the article

Q: The article I am working on has been marked for deletion... what should I do?

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A: Please know the difference between deletion and speedy deletion. Here is the recommended method for handling a college football project page that has been marked for deletion.

  1. Be nice.
  2. Visit the discussion page for the article listed in the template (it will look like this: Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Chris Crane). Read the comments why the editor believes the article should be deleted. Do not respond right away, it is not necessary. It is better to formulate clear arguments and prepare the article to meet the requested standards while giving a chance for your emotions to subside so you can (you guessed it) be nice.
  3. Look through the discussion page to determine who nominated the article for deletion and place the Template:CFBNotability notice on the user's TALK page.
  4. Read Wikipedia:Articles for deletion
  5. Notify the college football project by placing an entry on the project main page at Wikipedia:WikiProject College football#Articles & Pages being considered for deletion. This is all you should need to do for notifying other college football editors to the situation.
  6. Be nice (it's really important!)
  7. There are two primary methods to respond or overturn deletion arguments: a) overcome the deletion argument by enhancing or improving the article so that the deletion argument is no longer an issue, or b) respond to the deletion argument itself. Use them in that order.
  8. Place the College Football Project template on the article talk page if it is not there already.
  9. Place appropriate categories at the bottom of the article page.
  10. Look for similar articles that may link to the page--for example, a school's current starting quarterback article should be referenced from the team page and possibly the coach's page.
  11. Look for additional information and sources for the article page
  12. Be nice.
  13. Also, be sure to consider the possibility that the article should be deleted. That's what the discussion (and improvement time) will help to determine.

Q: The article I am working on has a notability tag at the top... what should I do?

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A: This is when the article has not been nominated for deletion, but someone has expressed concerns to notability by placing the Template:notability template on the page (which, if unchecked, can lead to deletion). Here is the recommended method for handling notability concerns.

  1. Be nice.
  2. Consider the reasons given for the tag, it may be a legitimate request--either for more information, more detail, additional sources, or there may be other concerns.
  3. Look through the history of the page to determine who left the notability template and place the Template:CFBNotability notice on the user's TALK page.
  4. Begin improving the article.

Q: The article I am working on has been dramatically changed by another editor... what should I do?

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A: Relax. That's what happens in Wikipedia! If the changes improved the article, be encouraged! If you think the changes made the article worse, go to the article's discussion page (sometimes called a talk page) and engage other editors on the subject. Oh, and be nice.

If, however, you think that the changes are damaging to Wikipedia in some way (such as containing false information, vandalism, contains copyrighted material, etc.) then be WP:BOLD and make further changes as you see fit. You can even undo the changes (and if it's obvious vandalism, you should). And be nice.

Q: I am doing some major work on an article and would like to avoid edit conflicts... what should I do?

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A: Read Template:Inuse for instructions. You can place the "in-use" header at the top of the page while you are completing major work. Please remove it when you have completed.

Q: I would like to create an article about a topic in college football, but I do not see it covered in this essay... what should I do?

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A: Be bold and create the article. Place the college football project template at the top of the article's talk page and create a notification on the project home page about the new article. Also, make an entry on this essay's talk page about what you think was missed and why you think it should be added.

Q: I think that these guidelines should be changed/modified/enhanced... what should I do?

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A: Start a discussion on this essay's talk page. Be nice and state your concerns. Project editors will be happy to engage and discuss your ideas.

References

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  1. ^ "Conference USA Adds Five New Members" (Press release). Conference USA. May 4, 2012. Retrieved May 13, 2012.
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