If you are brand new to college fantasy football, just the idea of it probably sounds overwhelming.

There are now 138 teams in the FBS, as opposed to just 32 in the NFL. The level of competition varies greatly from conference to conference. Schedules are unbalanced. Players jump from school to school. And while the best players in the NFL can maintain fantasy relevance for 5-10 years, the names at the top of college fantasy turn over every 1-2 years.

So where do you even start?

How are you supposed to research that many teams? How do you know what strategy to employ? Or even what league settings to choose? Are you really supposed to learn all of these names just to learn new ones a year from now?

For that last question: yes. That’s part of the fun!

For everything else, college fantasy football is more approachable than you might think. It’s flexible enough to meet you where you are, whether you merely want to dip your toe into the CFF waters or you’re a full-blown sicko who wants to dive right into scouring Conference USA depth charts.

There is a college fantasy format for everyone.

The Basics

Before getting into the different ways to play, let’s quickly cover what a typical CFF league looks like.

Scoring formats and roster settings can vary, but a common setup is 2 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, and 2 FLEX spots, typically with full PPR scoring.

Whether you are doing All-FBS or P4 only, you will want more than the typical 16 roster spots that are standard for NFL redraft leagues. In my opinion, 24 is the sweet spot that gives you enough room to take chances on players while not feeling like it’s too much to manage.

I would recommend a 2-QB format for almost every type of league except single-conference leagues. There are just SO MANY viable quarterbacks, it doesn’t make sense to limit yourself to only starting one each week.

For WR and FLEX spots, I believe more is better. College skill players can be streaky, with huge swings in production from week to week. Adding more starting spots gives you and your leaguemates more chances to be “right” and makes the format less dependent on guessing which receiver will boom in a given week. There is nothing more frustrating than having a player score 25 points on your bench one week, then 3 points in your lineup the next.

Best Ball

If you are brand new to CFF, hopping into a best ball draft is the easiest way to get started.

If you’re not familiar, ‘best ball’ means you don’t have to set a lineup or worry about waivers. Each week, your lineup is automatically derived from the top scoring players on your roster. It’s truly ‘draft and forget’.

With fantasy output being more volatile week-to-week for college than it is in the NFL, best ball makes a ton of sense as a CFF format. Instead of spending hours tinkering with your lineup and trying to decide who to start and who to sit, you can go into your best ball draft with a simple strategy of “I think this player will score a lot of points this year, I want to draft him.”

These leagues start picking up in late February or early March each year and are a great way for veterans and newbies alike to get an early feel for where players are valued and how draft boards might fall.

Most CFF best ball drafts are 30 rounds long with a player pool of all 138 FBS teams, but P4-only (or G6-only!) leagues work just as well.

Big Ten + SEC-only

Another beginner-friendly option is a Big Ten + SEC-only league.

This format makes a lot of sense for someone who is used to playing NFL fantasy. The player pool is just 34 teams (allowing for standard NFL fantasy league settings), the talent level between the two conferences is relatively similar, and almost all of the games are on national television.

The Big Ten and SEC have become the two most powerful conferences in college football. They have, by far, the highest number of brand-name schools (like Georgia, Ohio State, Alabama, Texas, and USC), they have the most television viewership, and they produce the most draft picks. If you’re trying to convince your friends who only casually watch college football to play CFF, you might have more luck with this format.

Additionally, participating in a Big Ten + SEC-only league isn’t just a good way to be introduced to CFF, but could also benefit you when it’s time to start drafting rookies for your NFL Dynasty leagues.

Power Four Only

In my opinion, this is the sweet-spot for CFF newbies.

The P4 is made up of the four “power” conferences (the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, and SEC) plus Notre Dame. This makes for a 68-team player pool filled with the schools that the average college football fan is familiar with. It is deep enough to support 10–12 teams with 24-man rosters, but not so deep that it feels overwhelming.

The balance and familiarity is what makes P4-only leagues a great place to start. On an average college football Saturday, you will now have a rooting interest in every time slot: a TCU receiver at 11 a.m., Tennessee’s QB at 2:30 p.m., and a Virginia RB at 6 p.m.

This format gives you the full CFF experience and adds excitement to your college football fandom without you feeling like you have to analyze the depth chart of every school in Conference USA.

If I were recommending a CFF format to a brand new player, a P4-only league is the one I would choose.

All-FBS

The preferred format of CFF diehards.

This is the pinnacle of college fantasy. Players from all 138 FBS teams are available to be drafted, whether it’s Ohio State, Appalachian State, or Sacramento State. And while it is daunting, it’s not as intense as you might think.

To be successful in an All-FBS format, you don’t have to research every single school. You can start by looking at the ADP (Average Draft Position) data on BlueChip to see where players are typically being picked and start building your strategy from there. (Spoiler alert: Texas State QB Brad Jackson is going to be a very popular pick in All-FBS drafts.)

Personally, I probably would not recommend All-FBS as the very first option for a novice fantasy player. However, if you are the type of person who loves to research and can’t get enough college football, this is your kind of party.

The beauty of college fantasy football is that there are so many ways to customize your experience and find what you enjoy the most, whether it’s an SEC-only league with three of your friends or a 20-person All-FBS Dynasty league with ridiculous scoring rules. We built BlueChip to support that flexibility, so you can play college fantasy your way.