Another instant epic was over, and the public-address announcer had one final request: “Please get off the goal post.”

It was directed at Virginia fans after the Cavaliers upset Florida State on Saturday night, but the figurative plea applied on campuses all over America.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, the NFL said it would form a committee to study whether it should form a committee to study whether it can put skyboxes on goal posts.

People, is it even worth debating any longer whether college or pro football is the better game? Sure, the NFL has superior athletes and more sophisticated Xs and Os.

But if Martians invaded and vowed to annihilate one or the other, the only way the NFL would survive would be if the head alien had LaDainian Tomlinson on his fantasy league.

This weekend was an extreme example of how the games have evolved. College football is pot luck.

You never know for sure what you’re going to get, but chances are it’ll be tasty and stay with you awhile.

The NFL is a microwave dinner. Pre-packaged, market-tested, addictive and largely indistinct.

Why should you prefer to risk the college heartburn? Let us count the ways.

¢ The buzz at Notre Dame Stadium. You’ll never hear anything like it in the NFL, which believes all teams should be created equal. Parity makes for tight games but eliminates pandemonium-inducing upsets.

¢ If Notre Dame Stadium were home to an NFL team, it would be named after a razor blade, a cell phone or a ketchup. And Touchdown Jesus would be renamed Raymond James of Nazareth.

¢ The best receiver in college football did not skip two-a-days to do televised sit-ups in his driveway.

¢ Fight songs. About the only one in NFL history was that lame, “Houston Oilers, Houston Oilers, Houston Oilers No. 1.” It was not exactly like hearing the Michigan band play “Hail to The Victors.”

¢ Halftimes. The only time NFL fans stick around is when the Florida A&M band is brought in.

¢ Cheerleaders. In college, they look like somebody your mother would approve of. In the NFL, they look like somebody your father would approve of. On second thought, NFL cheerleaders may have the edge.

¢ Army-Navy, where players and fans spill blood for 60 minutes. Then they stand for the playing of each other’s alma mater, knowing there are bigger things in life.

¢ In college skyboxes, people keep an eye on the game. In pro skyboxes, people keep an eye on the hors d’oeuvres tray.

¢ Even with Pell Grants, most college players can’t afford to charter a boat stocked with booze and strippers.

¢ Unless Al Davis becomes president of the University of Miami, the Hurricanes will not threaten to move to L.A. unless Dade County builds them a new stadium.

¢ Mascots. Colleges have real ones like Bevo the Longhorn and Ralphie the Buffalo. The NFL has costume characters like the Jaguars’ Jaxon de Ville and the Vikings’ Vikadontis Rex, who reportedly was not on Minnesota’s Love Boat cruise on Lake Minnetonka getting his horn cleaned.

¢ Rivalries. In a week, nobody in Miami will remember or care that the Bucs waxed the Dolphins. A week after Florida plays FSU, losing fans still won’t answer their helmet phones. In the NFL, a coach would be fined for wearing a houndstooth hat.