Not to discourage further discussion, but while waiting for a new answer or three here... this questions has been answered previously by /u/DBHT14 . You can read the answer here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/842w69/why_do_college_sports_seem_to_have_such_an/

My personal favorite part is where basketball is referred to as "Shooty Hoops". There's certainly room for more discussion on this topic though...