Congregations, historic figures, and fellowship... are all things you could associate with religion.

But can you also find them in football?

One professor at Western Kentucky University actually believes you can compare football and religion.

So much so he's even written a book about it.

The book is called "Game Day and God."

Dr. Eric Bain-Selbo, the department head for the Department of Philosophy and Religion at WKU, says he is a big fan of college football, and he got his idea when he ran into a colleague in 2005 who was working on a series of books about sports and religion.

"When I think of sports and religion, I think of college football in the South," said Dr. Bain-Selbo.

Dr. Bain-Selbo contacted the editor of the series on sports and religion, who agreed bain-selbo had a good idea.

Then the research began by posting questions for football fans to answer in online forums.

"I was interested in talking with the sort of really die-hard fans," said Dr. Bain-Selbo. "The comparison I make is these are the people who sit in the first row in church. They've got their spot, and they're there every Sunday. In college football you have the same sort of devotion."

He says he begins his comparison with obvious similarities between football and religion.

"For example you can talk about myths and legends in college football," said Dr. Bain-Selbo. "You can talk about rituals."

Dr. Bain-Selbo says similarities can also be drawn between time and place, whether you're talking about being in the stands on a Saturday, on your couch on a Monday night, or at church on Sunday morning.

But he focuses a large part of the book on whether or not football has the same effects on fans as religion has on religious believers.

"Does it give rise to a religious experience, a particular feeling or emotion?" said Dr. Bain-Selbo. "Does it help to create community? So by the time I was done I was convinced more than I was at the beginning that that's true."

Dr. Bain-Selbo adds he has ran into some negativity towards his idea, but many do see the similarities.

The book is set to come out the beginning of next year.