Wikipedia talk:WikiProject College football

I have added a team photo to the infobox at 1928 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team. The image I found was displayed in two parts (on two consecutive pages) which I uploaded at

I believe there may be a better way to splice or display two sides of an image seemlessly. (I think User:TonyTheTiger showed me how to do it years ago, but I have long since forgotten.) If anyone knows of a way to make those two halves display more seemlessly, assistance would be appreciated. Cbl62 (talk) 18:32, 12 July 2026 (UTC)

Are the high quality film photos available anywhere? I took a quick look but couldn't find any for ND. Perhaps their archives have them... PK-WIKI (talk) 17:30, 13 July 2026 (UTC)

Not aware of such a photo repository at ND. Cbl62 (talk) 10:59, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

This search at the Notre Dame special collections appears to turn up most of the team roster photo negatives. They are unfortunately not available online but can possibly be ordered for $20 per digital image. These would be amazing to upload to Commons if we can somehow get access...

https://archivesspace.library.nd.edu/search?q[]=football+team&op[]=&field[]=keyword&from_year[]=&to_year[]=&filter_from_year=1888&filter_to_year=1939&filter_fields[]=subjects&filter_values[]=visual+works&filter_fields[]=repository&filter_values[]=%2Frepositories%2F2&filter_q[]=&sort=year_sort%20asc&page=1

(Sorry for the terrible URL) PK-WIKI (talk) 19:23, 16 July 2026 (UTC)

Thanks for digging in. Without even a thumbnail to verify what any given photo depicts, I can't imagine paying $20 an image for any of these. Cbl62 (talk) 12:13, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

I have done it before in order to get Ferdinand E. Kuhn's class of 1883 picture. It is pricey, but I can confirm they promptly send a scanned image. While it is irksome to not be able to see the image, I think one could ask clarifying questions like if it's a high quality version of the above. Notre Dame also has an impressive repository of letters, including all of Edward Sorin's correspondence. Probably a lot of sports history buried in both the photos and the letters. Cake (talk) 22:24, 23 August 2026 (UTC)

You are correct. I once spent a day going through the Fielding Yost papers while visiting Ann Arbor. So much good stuff a few years ago. University archives like that are a largely untapped resource. Cbl62 (talk) 22:42, 23 August 2026 (UTC)

I'd like to add complete rosters for older teams such as 1889 Washington football team, but Template:American football roster/Header requires |offensive_players=, |defensive_players=, and |special_teams_players=.

Those distinctions of course didn't exist in the days of one-platoon football, which in the college game seems to be about pre-1941, and 1953–1963.

Some pages like 1901 Michigan Wolverines football team#Personnel have one-off tables for the rosters. But no template exists.

Does anyone want to have a stab at creating a template for historic elevens? I have never made a template but would contribute. Or I'll figure out how to if no one with experience steps up. For layout I think we should emulate how the rosters were displayed in newspaper articles or game programs. Suggestions welcome. PK-WIKI (talk) 17:15, 13 July 2026 (UTC)

I agree an old style template would be useful. What about if/when positions are not known? Years ago I added a table to 1907 Oklahoma Sooners football team as just something to try to act as a workaround. I saw something somewhere that I based it off of so I won't act like I created it. However, I would also like to say that there is some inconsistency between rosters as a lot more of them are broken down by positions much like the NFL roster templates are in recent year season articles.-UCO2009bluejay (talk) 17:20, 13 July 2026 (UTC)

The game roster format I generally see in news stories is a three-column table, with positions down the center and then the corresponding players for each team listed on either side. Adapting something like that for team season articles would work well. List positions when available. Mark the captain with "(C)". Will need substitutes / player changes throughout the season. I guess we could also have a two-team game roster template, when it makes sense... PK-WIKI (talk) 18:05, 13 July 2026 (UTC)

Template:American football roster/Header could be modified to service a one-platoon case. Jweiss11 (talk) 23:05, 13 July 2026 (UTC)

• 100% agree that we need a one-platoon roster template. I suggested it years ago, but nobody created. Hopefully, we can now find a volunteer to take it on. Ideally, it would include name, position, class year, and ... my wish list, optional parameters for height, weight, and hometown. Cbl62 (talk) 00:27, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

I was referring to the difference in 2026 Michigan Wolverines football team and 2026 Oklahoma Sooners football team. We aren't consistent as it is. I am agnostic on which one I prefer. But would want the one-platoon roster to be similar in nature to one of them.-UCO2009bluejay (talk) 01:56, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

Yes, the whole endeavor of college football rosters needs a major cleanup and overall. The 2026 Michigan article is using the standard Template:American football roster. The 2026 Oklahoma article and those for previous Oklahoma seasons are not using any template. Jweiss11 (talk) 02:20, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

Agreed with one caveat. While they (26 OU, Bama etc.) don't use a template, they seem to be based on what the NFL uses. Some historical Oklahoma seasons uses it 1996 Oklahoma Sooners football team.- UCO2009bluejay (talk) 02:22, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

• I took a stab at implementing this within/alongside the existing American football roster template:

• Template:American football roster/testcases
• Template:American football roster/One-Platoon

Take a look at the sandbox. Suggestions or improvements welcome. PK-WIKI (talk) 09:15, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

Can you try adding height and weight along the ines of what we see at 2026 Oklahoma Sooners football team#Roster? A version with an optional parameter for hometown would also be great. Cbl62 (talk) 10:58, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

I added a Size column, let know what you think of that display. Maybe I should split it into separate height and weight columns? Will add hometown later. PK-WIKI (talk) 18:34, 14 July 2026 (UTC)

Size column looks good. Cbl62 (talk) 01:19, 15 July 2026 (UTC)

Hometown added to Template:American football roster/testcases

Thoughts on "Size" vs. "Height + Weight"? Both shown as tests PK-WIKI (talk) 03:57, 15 July 2026 (UTC)

IMO size covers it. Cbl62 (talk) 04:25, 15 July 2026 (UTC)

This is done unless anyone has any further suggestions. I will work on merging it tonight. PK-WIKI (talk) 17:59, 15 July 2026 (UTC)

Because one-platoon usually means college football, it would be nice to have a parameter for "high school" or even better for back then "prep school". See the articles I have done like 1922 Vanderbilt, for example. Cake (talk) 15:59, 16 July 2026 (UTC)

I thought about that, too, but we need to draw a balance IMO. The hometown parameter tells us where the student comes from which is a valuable data point. I'm not sure that the name of the high school adds enough in extra value to warrant the extra clutter. My two cents. Cbl62 (talk) 16:08, 16 July 2026 (UTC)

"hometown" usually isn't sourced. That could mean various things. It would be better to just use high school. ~WikiOriginal-9~ (talk) 18:06, 16 July 2026 (UTC)

Actually, one-platoon football also applies to the early pro game. It might be good to have an optional parameter for "college" that could be deployed for pro rosters. Cbl62 (talk) 16:10, 16 July 2026 (UTC)

I am beginning to think this is a bridge too far. I know basketball rosters include height, weight, and previous school. However, look at any of the rosters on the NFL project and all they include are names, numbers and occasionally position specifics. UCO2009bluejay (talk) 20:19, 16 July 2026 (UTC)

Let me add a lot of time is spent among certain basketball editors arguing if players are 6'7" or 6'9".- UCO2009bluejay (talk) 20:24, 16 July 2026 (UTC)

Height and weight are key features of a football player. I've been including them in college football rosters for over a decade, and I've never had or seen an argument over the height or weight of a one-platoon-era player. Cbl62 (talk) 12:01, 17 July 2026 (UTC)

What is this 2026 South Carolina Gamecocks football team? UCO2009bluejay (talk) 01:13, 18 July 2026 (UTC)

There is a discussion at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject National Football League#Updating WP:SPORTSEVENT that may be of interest for members of this project. Of relevant interest is what bowl games might be considered notable. UCO2009bluejay (talk) 20:23, 16 July 2026 (UTC)

There is a requested move discussion at Talk:J. J. McCarthy#Requested move 24 July 2026 that may be of interest to members of this WikiProject. ~2026-41542-01 (talk) 14:11, 25 July 2026 (UTC)

There is a discussion at Wikipedia:Categories_for_discussion/Log/2026_August_4#Category:Former_Great_Midwest_Conference_teams that may be of interest of members of this project.- UCO2009bluejay (talk) 01:07, 6 August 2026 (UTC)

I created {{Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference football champions}} because there were four existing conference champion season articles (1993–1995). The rest are red links (1996–2007). Duquesne had themselves a nice lil' run, winning or sharing 9 titles in a row! I know conference season championship articles are a high priority so wanted to let the more active members here know about these missing pages. SportsGuy789 (talk) 04:57, 6 August 2026 (UTC)

Should 1960 Missouri Tigers football team be bolded and denoted as a national championship in {{Missouri Tigers football navbox}}? An IP recently made edits to include it (). SportsGuy789 (talk) 02:43, 12 August 2026 (UTC)

Note, it's probably UserMissouritigers1960 who also added the U.S. Senate as a national championship selector? What?? 02:45, 12 August 2026 (UTC)

Not if the school does not claim it as a national championship, which it does not.Jeff in CA (talk) 09:09, 12 August 2026 (UTC)

1998 Fairfield Stags football team, just created in the last day, has been nominated for deletion. Please see the discussion here. Thanks, Jweiss11 (talk) 17:47, 12 August 2026 (UTC)

Pinging WT:CFB because you will be directly impacted, as our WikiProject brother. Please see Wikipedia talk:WikiProject College basketball#Formal discussion about Dir. of Ops. being included on championship navboxes. The gist is: [1] Are Directors of Basketball Ops considered purely administrative roles or are they actual assistant coaches, and [2] should they be included on championship navboxes? SportsGuy789 (talk) 15:18, 13 August 2026 (UTC)

I had removed coaching trees recently added by 24JGM because they were unsourced, but most also seemed counter to a prior discussion at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject College football/Archive 23 § Tree littering. They reverted me, with edit summaries like "The source is every wiki page, every single one of those names lines up with Rodgers' tenures at those schools", which is counter to WP:CIRCULAR. While I assume the edits can be directly sourced, the bigger concern is whether trees are WP:DUE for all coaches. —Bagumba (talk) 07:19, 16 August 2026 (UTC)

Yes, the tenures of all those coaches could easily be sourced. But what we need for the coaching tree to be due are multiple, independent sources explicitly discussing Kelly's tree. Jweiss11 (talk) 14:33, 16 August 2026 (UTC)

~WikiOriginal-9~ (talk) 12:11, 17 August 2026 (UTC)

I added some sources and contested the PROD. Haven't found enough to pass GNG though. Could be a candidate for AfD and merging. Jweiss11 (talk) 21:25, 17 August 2026 (UTC)