Gameplan also has a college format of the game. Whilst mainly similar to the NFL version there are a few differences which make for a subtle difference in the way the game plays.

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Introduction to College Format

Gameplan College leagues use the standard rules, with a few minor modifications, as follows:-

League Format

There are 12 teams in each league. There is no divisional structure. The regular season schedule is eleven games. You play each team once, so it's not a balanced schedule in terms of games at home and on the road (but the balance should alternate from season to season). League stats appear in weeks 4, 8 and 11.

Rosters

Initial roster selection are normal, but with player ages modified to be in the range 1-4. Experienced players are more effective than inexperienced players (so keep a squad of balanced ages). There is no reduced effectiveness, but player experience does count.

Losing Points

The rate of LPs during the season, including week 11, is increased by two extra LPs each turn (so it's three for a win, four for a tie and five for a loss).

Graduations

Year 4 players of any value graduate and disappear at the end of the season, to be replaced with zero value year 1 players. Graduations are notified AFTER the bowl games. There will usually be compensation in LPs for reasonable numbers of graduations (and more for unreasonable numbers).

Recruiting

There is no draft at the end of the season, and there are no free agents. In training camp you get to recruit three players of any value up to three. These can be specified by draft codes rather than just coaching codes (the code specifies the player type and one of his strengths, and any further strengths are filled out from the usual strengths for the type). Cost is 10 LPs per strength.

Coaching

When you coach a no-star player in the college version you get either a one-star player for 15 LPs (the strength chosen the normal way, by the coaching code) or a two-star player for 25 LPs (if you've got the extra 10 LPs: the second strength is the "normal" next strength for the player type). This is to make the recruiting round less important (should you be daft enough to miss it). Coaching for no-star players is the same as normal.

Note that in this version you almost certainly will create players through coaching as there is no other way to put players on your roster (except the three recruits). Given the rate at which LPs are earned during the season, if you don't spend them on coaching as they become available then don't expect to still be competitive by season end.

Waivers

Waivers in a college league are not very sensible, but it is still desirable that you be able to dump players if appropriate. The number of LPs normally paid on a waiver is divided by the age of the player (so you can shuffle one-year players as you like, but would be very unwise to unload more experienced players).

Game Balance

The game balance is slightly different, in that the mobility of quarterbacks is not so restricted, and you will probably find that running to the outside is more effective than in normal leagues. Defences will be slower to make automatic adjustments to opposing offences, so a balanced offence is less important than in the regular game. Scores and stats are much more variable than in the pro version. These differences are in addition to any caused by the different balance of rosters or roster sizes.

Rankings

We used to operate a complex ranking system intended to simulate the real life ranking system, but this has now been deleted and we rank teams simply on results and scores.

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