To me, there is nothing quite as fascinating as sitting on my couch on a Saturday and watching some college football. Sure, I am a huge NFL fan too, but there is something about college football that gives me goose bumps.
When I thought about it more, I realized that it is all about the tradition. To some places in this country, football is religion and the spectacle that goes along with college games cannot be matched by other sports. In that vein, here are 10 of the best game day traditions in the country:
10 .The Gator Chomp
School: Florida
What is it?: One of the most famous fan gestures in college football, the Gator Chomp is a arm motion intended to look like an alligator snapping its mouth.
Why is it so cool?: When you add the Gator Chomp with the theme song from “Jaws” playing in the background, “The Swamp” is one tough place to play.
9. Uga
School: Georgia
What is it?: Uga is the name of the bulldog (granted there have been more than one) that has been Georgia’s live mascot since 1956.
Why is it so cool?: When your mascot actually snarls at opposing players in the end zone and they subject to thousands of screaming fans, you know you have a cool tradition.
8. The Pink Locker Room
School: Iowa
What is it?: For many years now, the visitor’s locker room at Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium has been painted pink.
Why is it so cool?: That’s one way to try and get a mental edge over your opponents.
7. White Out
School: Penn State
What is it?: Everybody wears white. It’s that simple.
Why is it so cool?: Because everyonewears white. Not just the students, but 80-year-old season ticket holders that sit in the nosebleeds and infants that sit in their daddy’s laps. Penn State did not invent the White Out, but they did perfect it.
6. The Grove
School: Ole Miss
What is it?: A huge tailgating field outside of Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium that is the envy of all other tailgates.
Why is it so cool?: The players walk through it before the game, the fans get rowdy. It is the epitome of what college football should be.
5. The Midnight Yell/The 12th Man
School: Texas A&M
What is it?: Texas A&M has arguably the best crowd in all of college football, and the night before games they go to Kyle Field and, well, yell.
Why is it so cool?: While most other fans are sleeping, Aggie fans are yelling and getting hyped for the game. Pretty cool if you ask me.
4. “Jump Around”
School: Wisconsin
What is it?: After the third quarter of every game at Wisconsin’s Camp Randall Stadium, the crowd gets rowdy to House of Pain’s “Jump Around.”
Why is it so cool?: When 80,000 people are jumping up and down, the stadium can literally shake. On top of that, it just looks really sweet.
3. War Eagle
School: Auburn
What is it?: Although Auburn’s mascot is the Tiger, tradition has it that before each game, a War Eagle flies around Jordan-Hare Stadium to get the crowd pumped up.
Why is it so cool?: Its roots go all the way back to the Civil War, and it was good enough to win Auburn a National Championship.
2. Army-Navy March
School: Army/Navy
What is it?: Before the rivalry game at the end of each year, Cadets from Army and Midshipmen from Navy file into the stadium to take their seats.
Why is it so cool?: There is nothing more American than the Army-Navy game each year. Even when both teams are sub .500, people from all around the world watch this game. The pageantry and the patriotism of this tradition is part of the reason why.
1. Dotting the “I”
School: Ohio State
What is it?: The Ohio State marching band spells out the word “Ohio” in cursive, but the biggest honor goes to the tuba (technically sousaphone) player who gets to be the one to dot the “i.”
Why is it so cool?: It is not too often that fans of a team know a member of the marching band’s name as well as the name of their starting quarterback. For that reason, along with timelessness of the tradition, dotting the “I” has to be number one.
