Traditions

No sport offers a better blend of old historic and new traditions. From the 12th Man at Texas A&M to The Wave in Iowa, college football venues do a great job keeping the fans involved and entertained.

College Football Traditions

Notre Dame

Everyone knows their iconic locker room sign "Play Like A Champion Today."

Knute Rockne, The Four Horsemen, Rudy, no school has more college football tradition than Notre Dame

When it comes to tradition, Notre Dame gets their own category. Stroll around campus on gameday, or game week really. Fans and alumni start showing up on campus mid-week just to walk around. Take in the fall atmosphere in South Bend, Indiana. Take pictures with historic statues, see the Golden Dome and Touchdown Jesus, and don't leave without shopping all the merch at the Campus Bookstore.

Sailgating:

Tailgating is such a great tradition, we have an entire page dedicated to tailgating. A few stadiums have "sailgating" where fans can pull their boats up near the stadium and party out on the water before the game.

University of Washington's Husky Stadium in Seattle, Washington made this term famous. University of Tennessee's Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee has the "Vol Navy" as Vol fans take over the Tennessee River with party boats of all shapes and sizes.

Baylor University is also known for sailgating

Ohio State "Dotting The i"

Ohio State's tradition where one person has the honor of being the "dot" in the i in Ohio as "the Best Damn Band In the Land" spells Ohio before the game

Kyle Field at Texas A&M honors their fans dedication and passion by calling them the "12th man." The fans actually have midnight yell practice. This is also a great venue to bring a date as another tradition is to kiss your date when The Aggies score.

The "12th Man"at Texas A&M

Boomer Sooner: Oklahoma is led onto the field by their famous "Sooner Schooner" wagon and the cheerleaders lead the "Boomer Sooner" cheer throughout the entire game.

Army vs Navy

This game is the most tradition filled college football game. The honor and respect between these two opponents is unparelleled.

The Children's Hospital overlooks Kinnick Stadium at Iowa University. At the end of the third quarter, all of the fans turn to the hospital and wave to the children. This is one of those traditions that puts the game in perspective as just a game. Even the visitors participate in this one.

Best New Traditions:

The University of Florida honors Florida native, the late great Tom Petty, by playing his famous song "I Won't Back Down" after the 3rd quarter. The whole crowd sings and it is quite a scene

The Iowa Wave

Florida "I Won't Back Down"

The University of Washington plays Seattle native and legendary musician Prince's classic song "Purple Rain" after the game.

Notre Dame "Here Come The Irish:"

The University of Central Florida homecoming festivities involve a dip in the pond surrounded by thousands of...rubber duckies.

UCF "Spirit Splash"

Finally someone in South Bend realized they should play The Dropkick Murphys' song "I'm Shipping Up to Boston." The stadium plays the famous "Here Come the Irish" followed by Dropkick Murphys right before kickoff. Nothing gets a crowd of Irish fans hyped more than Dropkick Murphys (Free Jameson is not an option)

Washington "Purple Rain"

The students and alumni Pennsylvania actually throw toast at the field when this song is played. When the lyrics "a toast to dear ole Penn" are sang, actual toast goes flying.

Traditions You Might Not Know About:

A "Toast" To Penn

How does a basketball school known for being the alma mater of Larry Bird make this list? An unofficial homecoming event known as "The Walk." The Sycamores home stadium is off campus. On homecoming day, the fans gather in downtown Terre Haute, IN starting around 6AM. They have a drink at every bar/ restaurant/ temporary stand between downtown and the football stadium where they join tailgaters and enter the stadium for the game. The students actually assign walking guards as you can imagine the scene as 5 hours of drinking and walking approaches the stadium. As someone who has participated in "The Walk," this is a team building experience among fans.

Indiana State "The Walk"

Boston College honors a true hero. Alumnus Welles Crowther is credited for saving over a dozen lives before losing his own during the Terror Attack of September 11th. He was known for wearing a red bandanna while he played football at Boston College. Every year, the first home game around September 11th is now the "Red Bandanna" game. The team jerseys say "For Welles." We want to promote the story behind this tradition. The team takes this tradition very serious. This is a tradition far different from throwing toast or walking drunk people. To that point, college football reflects life and mixes fun traditions serious traditions.

Boston College "The Red Bandanna Game"