Yahoo Brings Back College Fantasy Football, but Fans Have One Major Complaint

Yahoo Sports rolled out a new season-long college fantasy football game on Thursday, giving managers a way to draft and start players from the sport's biggest programs. Drafts open Aug. 3, with scoring beginning when Week 1 kicks off Sept. 3.

The format borrows heavily from the pro version fans already know. Head-to-head weekly matchups, drafts, trades and waiver pickups all function the same way, and the scoring system closely mirrors NFL fantasy.

A few wrinkles set the college product apart. The player pool spans the Power Four conferences, the Big Ten, SEC, Big 12 and ACC, plus Notre Dame, which totals 68 teams. Rosters carry 18 players rather than the 15 found in traditional fantasy football.

The headline addition is a Team Offense roster spot, a first in Yahoo Fantasy history. Managers draft an entire team's offense and bank points for touchdowns, total yards, field goals and wins while losing points for turnovers and losses.

Jarrod Schwarz, Yahoo Sports general manager, framed the launch around the sport's weekend following. "College football fans live for Saturdays, and Yahoo College Fantasy Football is about to add to the excitement," Schwarz said.

The South Bend Independent and its Power Four peers give managers plenty of star power to chase, from Texas quarterback Arch Manning to Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith. Yahoo also brought on Eric Froton, a three-time Fantasy Sports Writers Association College Sports Writer of the Year, to handle rankings and analysis.

Why the Group of Six Snub Has Diehards Furious

The reaction from longtime college fantasy players landed with a sharp edge. The sticking point is the same across nearly every complaint: the decision to limit the pool to the 68 Power Four programs and Notre Dame while shutting out the roughly 70 Group of Six teams that make up the rest of the FBS.

One user compared the omission directly to the pro game. "Is it ridiculous that half the teams and players won't be represented? 100%. Can't have true fantasy without the G6," the account wrote, adding that playing NFL fantasy with only 16 of the 32 franchises would draw the same objection.

Others said the restriction was enough to keep them on a competitor. "Will stay on Fantrax until Yahoo allows it to be every conference and team," one poster wrote, before flatly calling the Power Four-only setup "wack."

Boise State Broncos quarterback Maddux Madsen — If college fantasy football fans were hoping to roster Maddux Madsen or any of his teammates from the Boise State Broncos, they won't be able to in Yahoo's game. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

A second Fantrax loyalist raised a track record. "Last time you guys didn't have all FBS teams, only Power 5," the account wrote, signaling a plan to stick with the rival platform.

The frustration extended to fans who felt the omission undercut the entire premise: "Without the G6 is crazy. Might as well scrap it until G6 is in it," a user wrote.

Supporters of mid-major programs took it personally. A Tulane-focused account called excluding half of college football a fatal choice and pledged to steer people toward the competition. Another poster asked whether a fantasy site exists that includes every FBS team rather than fewer than half of them, a post that drew 19,000 views.

For now, the launch appears to leave a passionate slice of the college fantasy community waiting on the sidelines.

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