The big race at his University was down a river. The different colleges would each have different starting positions on the river.

If you won the race last year, you started closest to the finish. The thing everyone is trying to do is to actually bump the boat ahead of you. If you do that, your college moves up a spot in the pecking order for next year's race.

This race has been going on for years and years. There are really good rowing crews (like the Alabama/Ohio States of the world) and they finished at the top last year and they'll probably finish at the top next year.

College football is a lot like that. It's not about a season. It's about a culture.