I love football, and, of course, college football in particular. But I'll never love it as much as basketball, to which I have an almost mystical/religious devotion. Nothing else comes close to these two for me as far as spectator sports go.
Football is unquestionably America's sport, and has been for decades now. I think a lot of that interest is fueled by the spectacle of it: it's a big game, played in huge stadiums, with colorful uniforms, old traditions, and with many trappings (e.g., tailgating) that aren't possible with basketball, it being an indoor game. It's a violent game, and I think (for better or for worse) this has a special and growing appeal to Americans. I'm guilty too; aside from basketball it's the only sport I'll pay to watch.
This is entirely subjective, particularly since I'm a native Kentuckian and grew up enjoying the fruits of UK's basketball dominance, but I am convinced that basketball is the superior sport. It requires each player on the court to possess all the requisite skills of the game, to a far greater extent than does football. Those skills- shooting, ball-handling, passing- require a very high degree of innate hand-eye coordination and years and years of practice to master. At any competitive level, all this happens at a blinding pace. Finally, the degree of all-around athleticism- speed, quickness, strength, stamina, coordination- required to reach the highest levels of the game is comprehensive, something that simply can't be said of all positions in football.
That said, I understand that this will always be a minority opinion with regard to the vast majority of American sports fans. Football is and will continue to be America's Game.
