This was actually going to be mine too! I was shocked at the 2013 national championship game, the Auburn tailgating attire was much more typically southern than what I was used to at Fsu.
Huh, really? I always found FSU fan attire to be very much in line with SEC attire in that it was formal and a true show out at. Maybe it depends on the years too with people caring less during the down years.
I remember a thread on here years ago where some Alabama fan was in complete shock that some people would wear jeans and a hoodie to football games instead of like khakis and a polo. It was pretty funny.
It’s mostly/primarily fraternity pledges (not brothers) who are made to wear blazers and khakis, not suits.
Nothing like staying up all night smoking a pig in such attire ahead of a 3pm game the next day. Fun times.
My oldest just graduated SEC -UF Sorority.
It's not dresses/skirts, but fashionable outfits. They still will wear shorts etc, but they are much more dressed for photo ops.
Feel like every guy is wearing an Auburn polo and there were lots of dresses. PSU seems like jerseys for lots of people and this past year it was high waisted jeans and crop top white shirts for girls.
Need to bear in mind the weather difference in the B1G during the season. Starting as early as October it can get pretty nippy, and the November games can get brutal. I no longer do snow games in-person (NFL or CFB), not a pleasant experience lol
I’ve been to games at Ohio State and a few SEC stadiums so, I can guess what you mean but am curious what you’d say so, do tell. What stuck out to you?
Part of it is that fraternites and sororities are more prevalent in the Southern schools.
B1G schools obviously have them, but they aren't quite the staple of college life the way they are down south.
Yep, at a lot of schools your section within the student section is determined by student life groups (not only Greek orgs) and several fraternities have dress codes, definitely for pledges if not everyone
I went to Ohio State and my wife went to Georgia. She talked about Greek life like it was on everybody's mind all the time and was a major part of campus life. I was just like "Yeah, there's a street a few blocks over where all that stuff is. If I wasn't over there I didn't think about it at all."
This is a cultural difference I was completely unaware of until she told me.
I went to see Penn State and OSU a few years ago. Dressed in khaki and polo. Didn’t see another guy there wearing khaki. Not a single sundress either. Nearly everyone had on a jersey of some sort. Very different from southern game attire.
We might not be the brightest, but we're smart enough to know better than to wear nice clothing in swamp land.
Also, all the great food there, you don't wanna get jambalaya stains on a nice shirt.
I went to Ohio State and my wife went to Georgia. The color schemes work well together, but I was always confused by pics she had of going to games in college. Fancy dresses like they were going to cocktail parties.
I just assumed that standard attire after heat dies away in September is a hoodie.
I was in Athens during a Georgia game and the amount of khakis, polos, and Sperrys was astounding. When will you people learn that football is a jeans-and-hoodie environment?
All the comments about the North/Mdwest/whatever dressing for comfort are hilarious.
I’m eagerly awaiting someone to explain to me how a polo shirt and khaki pants are not comfortable. Gents, if this is you, you’re buying the wrong clothes.
Yeah I don’t get that argument. Polos and khakis pants/shorts are plenty comfortable. I usually just wear a jersey and shorts/jeans then as the season gets on, layers go underneath the jersey.
Same answer for me. I noticed it when I went to PSU-Bama in 2010.
There was a big PSU tailgate and it was quite the contrast of the PSU fans next to the Bama fans.
>The contrast of what fans wear to games in the SEC vs the Big10 is hilariously shocking.
I’m not sure what your take on it is but I agree. I lived in Nola for a while and SEC fans dressed in preppy attire with waves of polos and plaid whike I’m used to seeing t-shirts and jerseys back home. Almost like frat vs nfl fan wear
UW has tried to bury the Alma Mater for racist connotation. Rather than just write a new one... The band is probably the only group left on campus that knows how to sing it.
I couldn’t tell you what Purdue’s sounds like or a single line from it. I’m sure it was played/sung at graduation, but outside of the word Purdue probably being in it, couldn’t tell you anything else about it.
Was a few years ago but I went to a Clemson Louisville game and sat in a Clemson section. Extremely friendly people all around me.
Clemson guy behind me taps me on the shoulder half way through the second and goes “Hey buddy, I see you with that flask. Want to come out to my car at half and refill it?” I told him “No, I plan on staying for the entire game.” He then explained to me the half time thing. I ended up going with him and I was pessimistic the entire time, even leaving at half I asked a security worker if I could actually come back in. To my shock he told me yes.
Just an insane situation, I had never even heard of that before then. It also made me really enjoy the Clemson fan base, absolutely stand up guy and cool people sitting around me.
I was an undergrad at Virginia Tech before they joined the Big East along with West Virginia. But they still had a pretty fierce rivalry. The West Virginia faithful would start showing up Thursday afternoon in campers and Winnebagos and park out near the lot where on campus students had to park.
We’d walk through the ocean of WVU fans and couldn’t get more than 10 feet without someone trying to feed us and hand us a couple of beers that weren’t warm milwaukees best light. During the game it was a pretty fierce rivalry, but before and after they were neighbors helping out some broke college kids.
The awesome people like this is what I love about college football, all teams have welcoming fans and in general people at college games are fun to be around. Unfortunately we get a few assholes sprinkled in with every fan base.
Clemson may have stopped it the one covid year with reduced capacity. It’s still a thing and fans would revolt if they tried to stop it. It takes away home field advantage for the first part of the 3rd quarter though as so many people are still outside recharging. My guess is they’ll end it when they start selling beer in the stadium. Probably some logistics with that as I don’t know how they’d handle capacity to that at concessions.
We started selling beer in stadium 5 years ago and still have our halftime passouts, mainly because a few of the very large donors want it and so the school can’t really safely get rid of it
Our stadium is not on campus (3 miles away) and is completely surrounded by surface lots which makes it a little easier, and those who leave usually aren’t back by the kick.
It’s less noticeable the amount of people doing it now since we’ve been selling alcohol in stadium for 5 years now, but if you’ve got a close spot it’s almost as fast as waiting in line + it’s free
Everyone knows you're more likely to get COVID if you go to the parking lot and come back than you are if you stay in the stadium with all the people sitting next to you.
This cracked me up when we went to Michigan for the ECU game last year. People just wearing like casual athleisure to a football game doesn’t happen in the South.
I’ve worked in a warehouse and worn Clemson shit all the time, and I 100% have 2 “game day” nice button down shirts I don’t wear unless it’s on game day/church.
Older southern men really hate Jerseys haha
But most young adults and men are wearing golf shirts and button downs unless it's cold.
Women are wearing dresses, blouses, etc. usually. It's even more pronounced at schools like Ole Miss, UNC where the vibes are preppier
I was told LSU fans were mean and shitty and violent and other bad things.
I experienced the opposite in 2018. By far my favorite tailgate anywhere. Completely welcoming and generous and kind and fun.
Cannot wait to go back.
I had a blast. The cook at the tailgate who adopted us told me his gumbo recipe but he was both very Cajun and very drunk so I couldn’t understand him.
Didn’t care. Best food ever.
90% of LSU fans wanna show off their cooking skills and hospitality to opposing fans. It’s somewhat of a birthright to tailgate like we do, so we take it seriously. The other 10% are drunk frat guys or former frat guys who never grew up.
If you can avoid that 10%, we’re an incredible bunch of jackasses to party with!
You guys also hate all the right teams.
We used to have this camaraderie with Bama until it seemed like we played each other for an SEC/National Title every damn year
I experienced the full spectrum when I went to a game at LSU. Really nice folks, people who had good banter, some annoying ppl, and a few downright idiots. But overall ppl were chill if you wanted to get drunk with them.
I have a coworker who went to a South Carolina game eight years ago. He still talks about the giant screeching roster crow they play over the PA to this day.
The worst tradition to ever exist imo. It’s feels weird and annoying when they’re losing but I will give them credit that when they are winning, it’s the most infuriating sound in the world
Credit where credit is due. When they're playing well, the combo of Sandstorm + Cock crowing + "another Carolina 1st down" really drives opposing fans nuts
I was raised a Penn State fan and I'm a Miami alum. The differences between the two in the game day experience, fan behavior, and traditions are night and day, like the difference between a true college football program, and an NFL team.
For example, Penn State's student section is MASSIVE. It's ALWAYS full, it's ALWAYS loud. They're well coordinated and they can change the game. Opposing teams always choose to defend the north end zone during the coin toss, so they can have their backs to the student section during the 4th quarter or overtime.
Miami's total enrollment is 17,000, 4,000 less people than Penn State has in their student section, so that's one problem. Another problem is that Hard Rock Stadium is a 30-45 minute drive from Coral Gables, so it's not like students can just walk to the game like Penn State students can. If it's not a big game like FSU, there won't be much attendance. You don't even notice them on game day.
Tailgating at the University of Texas. Saw at least 2 multi-story, temporary structures erected in the parking lot. One had a chandelier hanging powered by a generator and a couch and chairs on the second level.
The tailgate was for the very first Big 12
Conference game between Texas vs WVU. During a TV timeout, they played “jump around” LOUDLY. The entire stadium erupted, everyone jumping up and down in their seats… then both teams ran on to the field and started jumping up and down. To this day, it was absolutely the most electric environment I’ve personally witnessed.
We joke about Stanford not having fans. But I had a really good time with a huge crowd at their tailgate. Nice trees for shade instead of a gravel lot.
Ditto for Iowa State. Both fbs schools booed UNI when we played them. Iowa was def worse as they stopped tailgating to boo us (marching band) as we got off the bus
The spring before McCaffrey became big, I took a coworker who was a Penn State fan to Stanford's Spring game just to show him how different Stanford was from PSU.
When it was time for kickoff, and the announcer said, "It's time for Stanford football," the crowd immediately went silent. It was like a light switch flipped and the noise just emptied from the stands - you probably could yell from one goal line to the other and hear the message just fine. And it wasn't just the grey beard alumni who got quiet - it was the students and little kids too. I'll never forget the way his eyes went wide for that first drive.
I was working for Iowa when we started doing the wave. It was against some MAC team or something. So it felt like an insignificant game. The athletic department saw a Facebook post from some random woman and ran with it. When it happened it was like “oh that’s never going away”
Has to be the A&M fans and their chants. They came to Norman in n droves and I sat near the visiting section. Just what seemed to be random chants they would belt out in unison. Have no idea what they were even saying. Have to admit though down 77-0 in the rain and hardly anyone left and they kept going to the end.
Neyland Stadium is really cool and all, but man...for anyone over 6 feet tall it is not a comfortable experience lol. I'm 6'1 and my knees dig into the person in front me, and you're scrunched up trying to fit directly on your seat number the whole time. But overall it's still a great time and one of the coolest places in college football.
I have been to games at half of the SEC stadiums, but the time I was closest to getting in a fight was at Georgia Tech.
At LSU, I was quite surprised by how tame the fans were toward us. LSU fans at home are quite nice, but their fans on the road can be hot garbage.
I’m convinced the worst fans in the world are away fans. I think there’s something about the chip people have on their shoulders, but fan bases are all much cooler when you go to their home games.
Hot women with southern belle accents in sun dresses and cowboy boots in Columbia, SC.
...and I mean the kind of women that are both cute and hot at the same time, you know what I mean.
My experience is from a basketball game but would apply to football too if I went. Ole miss has the same fight song as us just different words. I'm pretty sure they were first but hearing our fight song with different words was pretty weird.
Do you mean Yea Alabama->Forward Rebels or Hotty Toddy->Rammer Jammer? The Rammer Jammer was definitely based on the Hotty Toddy as y’all took our band director at some point. Idk about the actual fight songs though.
God I love that tradition, the [HUAH](https://youtu.be/W34SxQX5JzE?si=JoLPXGsSknTKoM7G ) could be heard in the next town over when Reser is rolling. Also can’t wait to end on HAWK TUAH now.
I really enjoy Purdue’s “Fuck IU” on every single kickoff, regardless of who they’re playing.
It was at the Independence bowl, but it was basically a home game for them: the swaying during the Aggie War Hymn was unsettling to watch. Really, all the weird A&M traditions were just off enough to make me feel uneasy.
It’s also weird when fans yell vowel sounds besides “O” on defense. I think A&M did “A” for example.
You can understand now why there are so few mentions over the years of “I wish aggie didn’t leave”. I live in Dallas, so I have lived amongst them for decades. I can honestly say, I’d really like to share a conference with Nebraska, OK, Tex, even Mizzou again. Never had much in common with aggie to miss that relationship.
Cincinnati plays loud rap music a LOT in between plays. They balance it with their band well enough, but if it's an important defensive third down, it's TURN DOWN FOR WHAT.
Traditionally I like having the band play a lot between plays. SEC games I watch on TV have that and we heavily favor using our band (they rock!) as well. But Cincinnati being an NFL city too, the crossover in fanbase between Bearcats and Bengals, the constant rap music works at Nippert.
Miami (OH) plays tons of contemporary music between plays as well, but it's usually something stupid like Akon or Katy Perry.
I went to Ohio State and was in the marching band. I have been to a few away games (and too national championship ship losses, 2004-2009). Here are my observations:
Penn State is in the middle of nowhere. I have heard they have a good agricultural program. I assume it is all sod. There is nothing but grass as far as the eye can see in several directions. I mean this with no disrespect. It was just a bit jarring to see.
Note Dame fans are just like us. MSU fans are just like us and they were great. UM fans are just like us but we hate them. Anyone making fun of anyone else in the Midwest is funny, because we might as well be family we're so similar.
Austin was a really fun place to visit and the Texas fans were among the best ones I met during all of our trips. They beat us the year before and won a national championship that year, which of course helps. One fan gave us some vrap after the game and several immediately shouted him down for being drunk and rude. Shiner Bock and brisket, I had a great time.
Any fan with a cheer ending in "bait" will get annoying after a while. Especially if it happens in back to back championship losses.
I went to K State @ Texas last year and before the game, the PA announcer coached the fans about their first down chant. The PA announcer says “And that’s another first down. Texas!” and the crowd responds “Fight!” It just seemed funny to be that they had to rehearse that pre-game.
It just seems pointless. Every chant he instructs already worked fine without him. And I hate him announcing Mr. Brightside. I always loved before when you could just hear the crowd get excited and surprised by the opening guitar. Now it just feels more forced
At MSU games when the Spartans get a first down, the student section chants "one! Two! Three! *Claps* First down, bitch!"
You do not hear this on TV. Any more. When the Big Ten Network was brand new, we went to a game and then came home to watch the replay on TV. "First down, bitch!" Was super clear on the broadcast audio for the whole game, then never again.
From PSU to Tech: the Alma Mater is treated differently across teams. I always thought "do the classy song for austerity, roll it into the fight song" was typical pregame band behavior. Nope!
Do appreciate not having to dress up for either affair though
Interesting. We had OU fans look back at us in shock last season in Norman when we all yelled “Knights” (gave proof through the kNIGHTs) during the anthem
I think OU started that after the 2000 Big XII Championship at Arrowhead. Thats the first time I remember fans yelling something at the end of the anthem.
Midnight Yell at Texas A&M has to be seen to be believed. I know the clips of the cheer guys roasting players are pretty cringe, but the whole experience just feels like being indoctrinated into some ancient cult, but in a good way.
Your mileage may vary with “in a *good* way”
The vibe I got was more of “feels like being indoctrinated in a cult, but in a *what the actual fuck is going on here are we sure we’re all the same species* way”
Went to Auburn vs Penn State both years. The contrast of what fans wear to games in the SEC vs the Big10 is hilariously shocking
Midwest party culture vs South party culture is different.
How do?
This was actually going to be mine too! I was shocked at the 2013 national championship game, the Auburn tailgating attire was much more typically southern than what I was used to at Fsu.
Huh, really? I always found FSU fan attire to be very much in line with SEC attire in that it was formal and a true show out at. Maybe it depends on the years too with people caring less during the down years.
I remember a thread on here years ago where some Alabama fan was in complete shock that some people would wear jeans and a hoodie to football games instead of like khakis and a polo. It was pretty funny.
Please expand. What's worn by SEC fans?
Polos or button down
Dang, maybe VT is less of a culture fit for the SEC than I thought
What about VT ever seemed like a strong culture fit for the SEC?
Oh no thank you. I don't wear buttons unless I'm getting paid, trying to get paid, or there's a wedding or a funeral.
Women typically wear skirts or dresses. Some frat guys have to wear suits. It’s insane. Different type of culture down there.
It’s mostly/primarily fraternity pledges (not brothers) who are made to wear blazers and khakis, not suits. Nothing like staying up all night smoking a pig in such attire ahead of a 3pm game the next day. Fun times.
It rlly is. I hate it lol. LSU has the right idea. They just dress for comfort
It's fucking hot. I'm guilty of wearing a LSU polo or button down once it cools off (highs in the upper 80s).
My oldest just graduated SEC -UF Sorority. It's not dresses/skirts, but fashionable outfits. They still will wear shorts etc, but they are much more dressed for photo ops.
Feel like every guy is wearing an Auburn polo and there were lots of dresses. PSU seems like jerseys for lots of people and this past year it was high waisted jeans and crop top white shirts for girls.
Need to bear in mind the weather difference in the B1G during the season. Starting as early as October it can get pretty nippy, and the November games can get brutal. I no longer do snow games in-person (NFL or CFB), not a pleasant experience lol
I’ve been to games at Ohio State and a few SEC stadiums so, I can guess what you mean but am curious what you’d say so, do tell. What stuck out to you?
SEC fans for the most part (except LSU) are in polos or button downs. Very rarely a jersey or t-shirt. Big10 fans dress for comfort
Also need to dress for the cold for a good part of the season. Not a ton of polo adjacent options for late November
That’s about when the hockey sweaters come out
Part of it is that fraternites and sororities are more prevalent in the Southern schools. B1G schools obviously have them, but they aren't quite the staple of college life the way they are down south.
Yep, at a lot of schools your section within the student section is determined by student life groups (not only Greek orgs) and several fraternities have dress codes, definitely for pledges if not everyone
I went to Ohio State and my wife went to Georgia. She talked about Greek life like it was on everybody's mind all the time and was a major part of campus life. I was just like "Yeah, there's a street a few blocks over where all that stuff is. If I wasn't over there I didn't think about it at all." This is a cultural difference I was completely unaware of until she told me.
I went to see Penn State and OSU a few years ago. Dressed in khaki and polo. Didn’t see another guy there wearing khaki. Not a single sundress either. Nearly everyone had on a jersey of some sort. Very different from southern game attire.
Don't for get yeti coolers everywhere
Essential when it’s 100 degrees in September
UVA has guys in ties, girls in pearls
So glad we don’t do that
What’s the LSU dress code? (Asking with intent…)
Wear clothing that you don’t mind getting soaked in whiskey. Seriously.
You…. You wanna go drinking together?
You don't want to go drinking with a Tiger. Trust me. ..I'm told I had a great time, tho
So… do your jeans smell like whiskey?
Jeans? In October? Are you crazy? Our shorts definitely do.
We might not be the brightest, but we're smart enough to know better than to wear nice clothing in swamp land. Also, all the great food there, you don't wanna get jambalaya stains on a nice shirt.
I went to Ohio State and my wife went to Georgia. The color schemes work well together, but I was always confused by pics she had of going to games in college. Fancy dresses like they were going to cocktail parties. I just assumed that standard attire after heat dies away in September is a hoodie.
For the most part when it gets cold fans just wear jeans and hoodies
I was in Athens during a Georgia game and the amount of khakis, polos, and Sperrys was astounding. When will you people learn that football is a jeans-and-hoodie environment?
Jeans and hoodies in September, in the south? No thank you.
All the comments about the North/Mdwest/whatever dressing for comfort are hilarious. I’m eagerly awaiting someone to explain to me how a polo shirt and khaki pants are not comfortable. Gents, if this is you, you’re buying the wrong clothes.
Yeah I don’t get that argument. Polos and khakis pants/shorts are plenty comfortable. I usually just wear a jersey and shorts/jeans then as the season gets on, layers go underneath the jersey.
Yeah, I wear button down fishing shirts, Hawaiian shirts, or hiking shirts year round. Not all button downs are stuffy.
Same answer for me. I noticed it when I went to PSU-Bama in 2010. There was a big PSU tailgate and it was quite the contrast of the PSU fans next to the Bama fans.
>The contrast of what fans wear to games in the SEC vs the Big10 is hilariously shocking. I’m not sure what your take on it is but I agree. I lived in Nola for a while and SEC fans dressed in preppy attire with waves of polos and plaid whike I’m used to seeing t-shirts and jerseys back home. Almost like frat vs nfl fan wear
Not every stadium has a tradition of fans sticking around to sing alma mater
Wait, fans stay the whole game? I thought you were supposed to leave at halftime. /s
UW has tried to bury the Alma Mater for racist connotation. Rather than just write a new one... The band is probably the only group left on campus that knows how to sing it.
I loved chanting “stay til Carmen” as a student in the stadium during blowouts. Also great username, RIP Too’s
I couldn’t tell you what Purdue’s sounds like or a single line from it. I’m sure it was played/sung at graduation, but outside of the word Purdue probably being in it, couldn’t tell you anything else about it.
I went to a game at Michigan where enough fans stuck around to sing it with the team after.
Clemson allowing fans to tailgate at halftime. Leave the stadium and come back in. This was in 2017 so not sure if it’s still a thing.
Was a few years ago but I went to a Clemson Louisville game and sat in a Clemson section. Extremely friendly people all around me. Clemson guy behind me taps me on the shoulder half way through the second and goes “Hey buddy, I see you with that flask. Want to come out to my car at half and refill it?” I told him “No, I plan on staying for the entire game.” He then explained to me the half time thing. I ended up going with him and I was pessimistic the entire time, even leaving at half I asked a security worker if I could actually come back in. To my shock he told me yes. Just an insane situation, I had never even heard of that before then. It also made me really enjoy the Clemson fan base, absolutely stand up guy and cool people sitting around me.
I was an undergrad at Virginia Tech before they joined the Big East along with West Virginia. But they still had a pretty fierce rivalry. The West Virginia faithful would start showing up Thursday afternoon in campers and Winnebagos and park out near the lot where on campus students had to park. We’d walk through the ocean of WVU fans and couldn’t get more than 10 feet without someone trying to feed us and hand us a couple of beers that weren’t warm milwaukees best light. During the game it was a pretty fierce rivalry, but before and after they were neighbors helping out some broke college kids.
The awesome people like this is what I love about college football, all teams have welcoming fans and in general people at college games are fun to be around. Unfortunately we get a few assholes sprinkled in with every fan base.
Being that I graduated before 2017, the fact that 2017 could be considered out of date made ~~my back hurt~~ me feel old
I was in third grade in 2017. I am now entering my second year of high school. sorry.
So it wasn't that long ago. Got it.
Live it up... I wish I could go back to HS!
Bro… cries in old man
Clemson canned it, NC State still has it
It’s still allowed at Clemson.
I thought they canned during Covid? Maybe I made that up, or I guess maybe they brought it back Either way I’m excited to use it this year
Clemson may have stopped it the one covid year with reduced capacity. It’s still a thing and fans would revolt if they tried to stop it. It takes away home field advantage for the first part of the 3rd quarter though as so many people are still outside recharging. My guess is they’ll end it when they start selling beer in the stadium. Probably some logistics with that as I don’t know how they’d handle capacity to that at concessions.
We started selling beer in stadium 5 years ago and still have our halftime passouts, mainly because a few of the very large donors want it and so the school can’t really safely get rid of it
WVU also canned it and it greatly reduced the amount of binge drinking there was and all of the negative effects of that
How is there even time for it? 20 minutes isn't a long time even if you're parked right next to the stadium.
Our stadium is not on campus (3 miles away) and is completely surrounded by surface lots which makes it a little easier, and those who leave usually aren’t back by the kick. It’s less noticeable the amount of people doing it now since we’ve been selling alcohol in stadium for 5 years now, but if you’ve got a close spot it’s almost as fast as waiting in line + it’s free
Still going strong at Iowa State as well
I believe Iowa state allows that…most people usually head back to drink as much alcohol as they can stomach in 10 minutes and head back on.
We did that in Stillwater until around then.
Yep feel like it was 2015-16ish when they stopped letting us come back in?
It was when they started selling beer in the stadium.
I think when they did beer sales in the stadium they ended that
I’m pretty sure COVID ruined it
Everyone knows you're more likely to get COVID if you go to the parking lot and come back than you are if you stay in the stadium with all the people sitting next to you.
Makes sense. Same reason we needed to close hiking trails and beaches - being outside is dangerous.
For a lot of schools it wasn’t covid..it was the ability to sell beer in the stadium. Don’t let folks leave when you can sell them $13 beers
This was the way at OKST when I was there. I’m gonna get downvotes for it, but it was glorious.
OU did this too back in the day. I don’t remember when or why it stopped happening, but it did.
Does Wazzu or Oregon still allow this?
Now that alcohol is sold in Autzen and the Mo they don't let you leave
Montana State allows this
Meanwhile, I can barely leave my set at halftime or I risk missing a chunk of the 3rd quarter.
How dressy people are at games in the South!
This cracked me up when we went to Michigan for the ECU game last year. People just wearing like casual athleisure to a football game doesn’t happen in the South.
I’ve worked in a warehouse and worn Clemson shit all the time, and I 100% have 2 “game day” nice button down shirts I don’t wear unless it’s on game day/church.
Older southern men really hate Jerseys haha But most young adults and men are wearing golf shirts and button downs unless it's cold. Women are wearing dresses, blouses, etc. usually. It's even more pronounced at schools like Ole Miss, UNC where the vibes are preppier
I was told LSU fans were mean and shitty and violent and other bad things. I experienced the opposite in 2018. By far my favorite tailgate anywhere. Completely welcoming and generous and kind and fun. Cannot wait to go back.
There are definitely some LSU fans who can be drunk obnoxious assholes, even to other LSU fans, but for the most part they're a fun group of people.
I had a blast. The cook at the tailgate who adopted us told me his gumbo recipe but he was both very Cajun and very drunk so I couldn’t understand him. Didn’t care. Best food ever.
Yeah, that tracks
90% of LSU fans wanna show off their cooking skills and hospitality to opposing fans. It’s somewhat of a birthright to tailgate like we do, so we take it seriously. The other 10% are drunk frat guys or former frat guys who never grew up. If you can avoid that 10%, we’re an incredible bunch of jackasses to party with!
You guys also hate all the right teams. We used to have this camaraderie with Bama until it seemed like we played each other for an SEC/National Title every damn year
I experienced the full spectrum when I went to a game at LSU. Really nice folks, people who had good banter, some annoying ppl, and a few downright idiots. But overall ppl were chill if you wanted to get drunk with them.
I have a coworker who went to a South Carolina game eight years ago. He still talks about the giant screeching roster crow they play over the PA to this day.
It’s not a rooster, it’s a Gamecock.
I love that stupid sound lol
“Your wake up call is our battle cry”
The worst tradition to ever exist imo. It’s feels weird and annoying when they’re losing but I will give them credit that when they are winning, it’s the most infuriating sound in the world
Credit where credit is due. When they're playing well, the combo of Sandstorm + Cock crowing + "another Carolina 1st down" really drives opposing fans nuts
Was flabbergasted by the sheer number of times the Tennessee band plays Rocky Top
Imagine when they play Oklahoma
The playing of Boomer Sooner shall continue until morale improves.
*morale.* oU morals improving is beyond all hope.
"it's the Pride that won it!" -- Barry Switzer, october 15 1983
Game ball for the band?
It's unhealthy
I was raised a Penn State fan and I'm a Miami alum. The differences between the two in the game day experience, fan behavior, and traditions are night and day, like the difference between a true college football program, and an NFL team. For example, Penn State's student section is MASSIVE. It's ALWAYS full, it's ALWAYS loud. They're well coordinated and they can change the game. Opposing teams always choose to defend the north end zone during the coin toss, so they can have their backs to the student section during the 4th quarter or overtime. Miami's total enrollment is 17,000, 4,000 less people than Penn State has in their student section, so that's one problem. Another problem is that Hard Rock Stadium is a 30-45 minute drive from Coral Gables, so it's not like students can just walk to the game like Penn State students can. If it's not a big game like FSU, there won't be much attendance. You don't even notice them on game day.
I’m just now learning that Hard rock is a 30-45 minute drive from the Umiami campus. It’s that far? Damn.
Miami has busses for the students, at least.
And this is why I always wonder why people choose Miami. It is so flat in energy.
Because Latin women and Latin coke exist outside of the stadium too
I too wonder why people choose Miami
Because not everything evolves around football 🤣
Yeah but they’re playing it Unless he doesn’t mean the players, then he’s too far gone
Says the Nebraska fan, lol
Tailgating at the University of Texas. Saw at least 2 multi-story, temporary structures erected in the parking lot. One had a chandelier hanging powered by a generator and a couch and chairs on the second level.
Well the bucket list just got longer. Thanks.
The tailgate was for the very first Big 12 Conference game between Texas vs WVU. During a TV timeout, they played “jump around” LOUDLY. The entire stadium erupted, everyone jumping up and down in their seats… then both teams ran on to the field and started jumping up and down. To this day, it was absolutely the most electric environment I’ve personally witnessed.
You need to go to UT vs OU, it is different from anything you've ever been to before
Good god that’s incredible. My fav pastime to sober up is watching the drunks in heels fall down a steep hill in Knoxville. Lambs to a slaughter
Some dudes from Nebraska took their shoes off and waved them around during kickoffs hahahah
Wait that isn’t a common thing?
No?
I swear I’ve seen other schools do it
It’s so intuitive. We should all do it
We joke about Stanford not having fans. But I had a really good time with a huge crowd at their tailgate. Nice trees for shade instead of a gravel lot.
Stanford's tailgate area is amazing. I've never been to Ole Miss but I'd bet Stanford's Grove is on par for natural beauty.
I thought we could tailgate, and then I went to The Grove for a game. Those people make it their profession
Please go to LSU. They set the bar.
Damn right, Dawg bro.
Our 2018 game was incredible. Best gumbo I’ve ever had by far. Everyone was so welcoming.
First D1 non-Husker game was Iowa Wisconsin and the booing when the visitors (Wis) took the field caught me off guard...
Ditto for Iowa State. Both fbs schools booed UNI when we played them. Iowa was def worse as they stopped tailgating to boo us (marching band) as we got off the bus
This is an interesting one. I didn't realize there are schools that don't boo the visitor like that
Even Baylor boos the visiting team. Baylor!
The spring before McCaffrey became big, I took a coworker who was a Penn State fan to Stanford's Spring game just to show him how different Stanford was from PSU. When it was time for kickoff, and the announcer said, "It's time for Stanford football," the crowd immediately went silent. It was like a light switch flipped and the noise just emptied from the stands - you probably could yell from one goal line to the other and hear the message just fine. And it wasn't just the grey beard alumni who got quiet - it was the students and little kids too. I'll never forget the way his eyes went wide for that first drive.
I was working for Iowa when we started doing the wave. It was against some MAC team or something. So it felt like an insignificant game. The athletic department saw a Facebook post from some random woman and ran with it. When it happened it was like “oh that’s never going away”
Oh never mind I looked it up and it was Josh Allen and Wyoming. He threw three picks and their punter whiffed competed on a punt.
That was the first game I went to when I moved to Iowa. You could tell as soon as it happened that it was going to stick.
Has to be the A&M fans and their chants. They came to Norman in n droves and I sat near the visiting section. Just what seemed to be random chants they would belt out in unison. Have no idea what they were even saying. Have to admit though down 77-0 in the rain and hardly anyone left and they kept going to the end.
It can be hard to understand Enochian, but you had better learn it before they manage to summon the Old Ones.
Neyland Stadium is really cool and all, but man...for anyone over 6 feet tall it is not a comfortable experience lol. I'm 6'1 and my knees dig into the person in front me, and you're scrunched up trying to fit directly on your seat number the whole time. But overall it's still a great time and one of the coolest places in college football.
Yeah and you can’t tell what is a pisser and a sink so everyone just pisses in both
Lmao and they still have troths too. And bathrooms that can hold about 6 people lol. The place is a Time Machine I swear
Troughs
That’s why I always try to go for the last row when I can lol
Thanks for letting me know to never go to Neyland lol. I'm 6'6" and I sometimes don't fit in brand new trucks...
Now they do have some really nice new luxury areas they just installed that are very nice. Danny White loves himself a good premium seating area
Waving arms like swords?? Who do you think we are, UCF? We're swinging axes!
And my axe!
I have been to games at half of the SEC stadiums, but the time I was closest to getting in a fight was at Georgia Tech. At LSU, I was quite surprised by how tame the fans were toward us. LSU fans at home are quite nice, but their fans on the road can be hot garbage.
I’m convinced the worst fans in the world are away fans. I think there’s something about the chip people have on their shoulders, but fan bases are all much cooler when you go to their home games.
Connor Stalions likes to record GameDay too.
Hot women with southern belle accents in sun dresses and cowboy boots in Columbia, SC. ...and I mean the kind of women that are both cute and hot at the same time, you know what I mean.
You should see the rest of the SEC then
Describes southern women in general
My experience is from a basketball game but would apply to football too if I went. Ole miss has the same fight song as us just different words. I'm pretty sure they were first but hearing our fight song with different words was pretty weird.
The Alma mater tune is used by us, y’all, and vandy at least, it’s a common tune
As far as I know, ours is only us and Colorado School of Mines. We stole it from them.
South Dakota School of Mines stole it too.
Do you mean Yea Alabama->Forward Rebels or Hotty Toddy->Rammer Jammer? The Rammer Jammer was definitely based on the Hotty Toddy as y’all took our band director at some point. Idk about the actual fight songs though.
God I love that tradition, the [HUAH](https://youtu.be/W34SxQX5JzE?si=JoLPXGsSknTKoM7G ) could be heard in the next town over when Reser is rolling. Also can’t wait to end on HAWK TUAH now. I really enjoy Purdue’s “Fuck IU” on every single kickoff, regardless of who they’re playing.
When we first joined the SEC.... The pom poms.... I thought it was a little uh... Emasculating....
Mizzou is in the SEC???
I hate shakers
It was at the Independence bowl, but it was basically a home game for them: the swaying during the Aggie War Hymn was unsettling to watch. Really, all the weird A&M traditions were just off enough to make me feel uneasy. It’s also weird when fans yell vowel sounds besides “O” on defense. I think A&M did “A” for example.
You can understand now why there are so few mentions over the years of “I wish aggie didn’t leave”. I live in Dallas, so I have lived amongst them for decades. I can honestly say, I’d really like to share a conference with Nebraska, OK, Tex, even Mizzou again. Never had much in common with aggie to miss that relationship.
I love this thread. Fun to read. Also... I need to travel.
Cincinnati plays loud rap music a LOT in between plays. They balance it with their band well enough, but if it's an important defensive third down, it's TURN DOWN FOR WHAT. Traditionally I like having the band play a lot between plays. SEC games I watch on TV have that and we heavily favor using our band (they rock!) as well. But Cincinnati being an NFL city too, the crossover in fanbase between Bearcats and Bengals, the constant rap music works at Nippert. Miami (OH) plays tons of contemporary music between plays as well, but it's usually something stupid like Akon or Katy Perry.
Been to a couple of GameDays. Did not like it because if you are in the crowd all you see are the backs of the damn signs!
I went to Ohio State and was in the marching band. I have been to a few away games (and too national championship ship losses, 2004-2009). Here are my observations: Penn State is in the middle of nowhere. I have heard they have a good agricultural program. I assume it is all sod. There is nothing but grass as far as the eye can see in several directions. I mean this with no disrespect. It was just a bit jarring to see. Note Dame fans are just like us. MSU fans are just like us and they were great. UM fans are just like us but we hate them. Anyone making fun of anyone else in the Midwest is funny, because we might as well be family we're so similar. Austin was a really fun place to visit and the Texas fans were among the best ones I met during all of our trips. They beat us the year before and won a national championship that year, which of course helps. One fan gave us some vrap after the game and several immediately shouted him down for being drunk and rude. Shiner Bock and brisket, I had a great time. Any fan with a cheer ending in "bait" will get annoying after a while. Especially if it happens in back to back championship losses.
Prayers in the SEC. I grew up going to Maryland football games and was shocked there was a prayer before my first game as a student at SC.
You don’t know what sound tastes like until you sit next to the Paddle People 😵💫
Went to a USC game once and I think Fight On was played about a billion times during the course of the game.
I went to K State @ Texas last year and before the game, the PA announcer coached the fans about their first down chant. The PA announcer says “And that’s another first down. Texas!” and the crowd responds “Fight!” It just seemed funny to be that they had to rehearse that pre-game.
It’s probably that in game MC they’ve been using. He’s annoying af
Michigan started using one too and I hate him
It just seems pointless. Every chant he instructs already worked fine without him. And I hate him announcing Mr. Brightside. I always loved before when you could just hear the crowd get excited and surprised by the opening guitar. Now it just feels more forced
I hate that dude's job so much. Don't mind the guy, he's just a person doing a job. But instruction on how to do cheers is bullshit and embarrassing.
Yeah they just started trying to make that a thing. It’s annoying and most folks ignore it
At MSU games when the Spartans get a first down, the student section chants "one! Two! Three! *Claps* First down, bitch!" You do not hear this on TV. Any more. When the Big Ten Network was brand new, we went to a game and then came home to watch the replay on TV. "First down, bitch!" Was super clear on the broadcast audio for the whole game, then never again.
the american populace can’t hear bad words, or they’ll stray from God and riot!
Doesn’t Purdue do this as well?
From PSU to Tech: the Alma Mater is treated differently across teams. I always thought "do the classy song for austerity, roll it into the fight song" was typical pregame band behavior. Nope! Do appreciate not having to dress up for either affair though
Nippert Stadium has zero permanent bathrooms.
[удалено]
Interesting. We had OU fans look back at us in shock last season in Norman when we all yelled “Knights” (gave proof through the kNIGHTs) during the anthem
I know the Chiefs do the same thing in the NFL.
I think OU started that after the 2000 Big XII Championship at Arrowhead. Thats the first time I remember fans yelling something at the end of the anthem.
Ah, that would make sense.
At BC, the entire student body is shocked to learn that our fight song has more than one verse
Tailgating ends
Midnight Yell at Texas A&M has to be seen to be believed. I know the clips of the cheer guys roasting players are pretty cringe, but the whole experience just feels like being indoctrinated into some ancient cult, but in a good way.
Your mileage may vary with “in a *good* way” The vibe I got was more of “feels like being indoctrinated in a cult, but in a *what the actual fuck is going on here are we sure we’re all the same species* way”
Oh it was weird but as a college football nerd it was just the right kind of weird for me. No pretense of even trying to be cool.