College Football USA 97 was the fourth installment of the NCAA Football Series. It was the second game after College Football USA 96 to use the College Football USA name, but also the last, as the next installment would move on to the NCAA Football name. College Football USA 97 was developed by High Score Productions and published by EA Sports for the Sega Genesis and Super NES platforms.

The game added a new "create player" feature, which allowed the gamer to customize up to 28 unique college football players. Custom schedules and new animations were added, and gamers could also compete in a customized tournament with support for up to 16 players in a single-elimination or round robin format.

Players were also able to adjust penalties, set weather type, enter user records, perform substitutions, set audibles, toggle injuries, and change game length as well as difficulty level. Authentic playbooks (with plays like the Wishbone), a USA Today/CNN Coaches Poll, and the Sears National Championship Trophy were also available.