Top 10 Pre-game traditions

[Ranger12 46]

5. The Tiger Walk, Auburn:

Dozens of programs have copied this ceremony, but by all accounts it started with Auburn, so give the Plainsmen credit. Thousands of Tigers fans assemble along Donahue Drive and applaud and encourage the Auburn players as they walk to the stadium two hours before game time.

Link

Besides ours, I think the march in of the cadets and middies before the Army/Navy game is the best.

[AUHansel 0]

I think I like the eagle more than tiger walk. Tiger Walk is crazy and there is a ton of people out there but the eagle just gives me goosebumps.

[Tiger in Spain 0]

If you get the chance, check out that tunnel walk at Nebraska. Pretty good stuff there!

Color me biased, but the eagle flight beats Ralphie the buffalo hands (or talons) down.

[sogaaufan 27]

I can't stand FSU, but I went to a game years ago, and the flaming spear was pretty cool. The Clemson deal sounds pretty lame. Touching a rock is the most exciting 25 seconds in college football? I guess you have to be there.

[TigerMom 0]

In regards to Clemson - been there and it is NOT! But then againg, maybe it IS the most exciting thing happening at their home football games!

[geauxscott 0]

I'm just glad to see the "dotting of the I" not on that list........OSU fans make such a big deal about that, but just seems lame to me. It must be an OSU thing....to me a "cool tradition" is something that outsiders find pretty cool, so in this case, the writer did well leaving the dotting of the "i" out.

I will agree that the eagle should be on that list.

[otterinbham 0]

There were several notable omissions from this list:

1. LSU -- The ceremonial pelting of visitors with Jim Beam bottles. Extra points are given if you hit small children or old people with walkers.

2. Alabama -- The weekly blue sky estimate of how many points the Tahd will score, followed by the usual post game tradition of recriminations and rationalizations.

3. Arkansas -- "Soooooeeeeey Pig" call used by fraternity boys as they arrive to pick up their dates.

4. PAC 10 (Aside from USC) -- Saturday morning perusal of the newspaper, followed by a surprised "Hey, we're playing a football game today! Bummer. That interferes with my Tai Chi."

5. Miami -- The weekly arrival of the paddy wagon from the Miami Dade lockup, dropping off players at the locker room entrance under armed guard.

[tigerfan1234 0]

1) The FSU tradition is one of the coolest I have ever seen. I loved it when Chief Osceola would go near the sideline of the opposing team and spear it. Then comes the pansy political correctness crap and now the Chief can only spear the fifty yard line. Go back to the old way. The hell with the other team and fans geting their feelings hurt. I also love their war chant. Other than those two things about FSU, I hate them.

2) When the eagle flys at Auburn before the game, I get chills and tear up. Hands down that is the best Auburn gameday tradition. The Tiger Walk is nice, but I don't find it overly exciting. Tailgating at Auburn is a good tradition, but everybody does it so it is not unique. For some reason when I think of shakers, I think Auburn. I love it when you see an old video of an Auburn season or watch the game on CBS or ESPN and you see a sea of Orange and Blue shakers. That may not technically be a tradition, but no crowd shakes like Auburn's.

3) There are many other cool traditions in college football, but I won't get into them because right now I'm drawing a blank, but some gay traditions are:

1) Howard's rock, wow, let's all go out there and rub a piece of granite. How exciting.

2) What's so cool about The Grove? I never understood what makes Ole Miss tailgating so much better then anywhere else. But hey, Ole Miss has to be great at something, I guess. So Cheers to Ole Miss tailgating because you are gonna get your kicked for the next three months as usual.

3) The Go Blue sign at Michigan and the chant are both really stupid. This is Michigan football, they can be more creative than that.

4) The dotting of the I is retarded

5) The Boomer Schooner or whatever they say at Oklahoma is dumb.

6) Cracking on other teams traditions is pretty fun. Come on guys, join in!

[tigerfan1234 0]

Correction, the eagle flying before Auburn games is one of the top five traditons in college football. I thibk the reason why it hasn't gotten much national notoriety yet is because it was started very recently in 2001. I remember it well because it was my junior year at AU.

[johnwegl 11]

Hum…some cool traditions…

LSU’s Pregame is really cool (Band playing Hold that Tiger).

UF’s swaying and singing at the beginning of the 4th is good.

Texas A&M 12th man is a unique good one.

Hated/Stupid..etc Traditions…

I hate MSU’s bell ringing. For those going this weekend, you too will come back hating it.

I think the UT “Power T” isn’t thing to write home about. “Wooo, a Big T Ma. How’d they do that?”

PSU’s duuuuuuuumb Cheers. “Jopa- Turno” …” Thank You…..You’re Welcome.” …..Give Me….A Break.

VTech’s band playing “ The Hookie Pookie.” Yes, Virginia, that’s what it’s all about. Could you be more cliché?

“The Bell Ringer” at Texas Tech. There was a video on the web.

Ring that Bell!. Man, that makes me laugh.

[jared52 4,354]

Ugh, the "Bell Ringer"... that was gross.

I like the traditions at aTm. The 12th man, the Yell Practice, kissing after a TD. Those are good college type traditions.

I agree with the earlier statement that the eagle flight isn't on the list because of the newness, but it's one of the best parts of pregame I have seen.

I also like the team entering arm-in-arm walking with CTT in the lead then breaking into O and D and running through the AU. That was exciting to see Saturday.

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

5. The Tiger Walk, Auburn:

Dozens of programs have copied this ceremony, but by all accounts it started with Auburn, so give the Plainsmen credit. Thousands of Tigers fans assemble along Donahue Drive and applaud and encourage the Auburn players as they walk to the stadium two hours before game time.

Link

Besides ours, I think the march in of the cadets and middies before the Army/Navy game is the best.

What, you mean the storied, steeped in tradition program at the school down the road didn't make yet another top 10.

Geez, what is the world coming to?

[AUesquire 1]

LSU's tradition of professing your man-love by swapping spit after a TD...is just not something I see catching on. I don't know, maybe it's just me.

Ole Miss fans leaving the stadium midway through the 3rd quarter to reset their tailgating tables with red/blue tablecloths, a bottle of bourbon and Johnny Reb statuettes, is a time honored tradition...which goes along with consistent losing, by the way.

Most people overlook the long standing tradition that Alabama carries on of parading the "Suspended" players for that week, out on the field, in full uniform and punishing them in front of 92,000 fans by forcing them to play in that weeks game. The fans have always seemed to love it and it just brings a tear to your eye...don't it?

[autigeremt 6,660]

I grew up in S.C., and my family is a Clemson family. I am the black sheep, so to speak.

But the rubbing of the rock and running down the hill into the stadium when the house is packed out is pretty cool, if you ask me.

But I grew up in that stadium as a kid in Saturdays, so take the bias for what it's worth.

I like Tiger Walk and Tiger flying around Jordan-Hare myself. There are a lot of neat pre-game deals out there.

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

One of the funniest things I ever saw at a FB game was in the Gator Bowl many years ago when Auburn played and beat Colorado. They brought a little U-Haul-It trailor onto one end of the field carrying Ralphie. They take him out and the cheerleaders parade him down the sideline with a long rope around his neck. As they approach an end zone, Auburn fans started screaming and waving shakers. Ralphie started a little trot and the got faster. The cheerleaders were trying to hold on. But as Ralphie made the turn in the bowl of the end zone all the cheerleaders were strung out in mid air, still holding the rope. They let go and Ralphie headed toward the trailor 100 yards away. Everybody cheered as he looked like he was going for a TD. But as he crossed midfield still gaining speed, the crowd hushed as they saw disater about to strike. The doors on the trailor were still open and Ralphie charged in.......and then there was this BIG thud and that's the last we saw of Ralphie. All the Auburn people were laughing like crazy.

[AUBURNTIGERFAN 0]

In regards to Clemson - been there and it is NOT! But then againg, maybe it IS the most exciting thing happening at their home football games!

Been to Clemson and it really isn't that great I have to agree it is kind of dumb. I heard a couple years ago the kicker and some other players fell while running down the hill. They ended up being out for the rest of the season.

[Lurking Tiger 62]

...

2. Alabama ...followed by the usual post game tradition of recriminations and rationalizations.

Chortle.

[CircleDrill 178]

What, you mean the storied, steeped in tradition program at the school down the road didn't make yet another top 10.

Geez, what is the world coming to?

You are right... Tiger Walk AND Tiger Walk West should both be on that list.

[Guest BoStillKnows]

What about the pregame toilet cleaning at the local jail? I guess it's too new to make the list...can't wait to see that on ESPN!!

[ksmmspt 1]

LSU's tradition of professing your man-love by swapping spit after a TD...is just not something I see catching on. I don't know, maybe it's just me.

Ole Miss fans leaving the stadium midway through the 3rd quarter to reset their tailgating tables with red/blue tablecloths, a bottle of bourbon and Johnny Reb statuettes, is a time honored tradition...which goes along with consistent losing, by the way.

Most people overlook the long standing tradition that Alabama carries on of parading the "Suspended" players for that week, out on the field, in full uniform and punishing them in front of 92,000 fans by forcing them to play in that weeks game. The fans have always seemed to love it and it just brings a tear to your eye...don't it?

Don't forget about one of the most classy traditions which is ongoing: The Great Rammer Jammer cheer. Truthfully, I can't think of a more classless chant....and I used to get upset about the FSU chant and Gator Chomp.

Another classless tradition is chanting or yelling during the home team's alma mater. Although there has been less of that since AU split up the visitors section and stuck most of them in the nosebleed areas.

BTW, the FSU spear into the turf is sweet....but nowhere close to the Eagle. Of course I'm biased. I also enjoy when they put old clips of Pat Dye on the pregame saying: It doesn't matter....as long as you're wearing blue (or something to that effect). I well up at every single pregame ceremony.

[DKW 86 7,437]

Best I have Seen:

1) Eagle's Flight: every tv crew coming to Auburn wants to film that.

2) Tiger Walk

3) Mike the Tiger at If you havent seen 92K+ Drunk Coonasses screaming at the top of their lungs, well you havent lived. I would love to go to when they were playing anybody but Mike the Tiger is Awesome. That was one of about 10 instances in my life where I know I actually thought "Man Dave, you really cant hear yourself think." It is an awesome experience. Jenny, what do you think?

4) Swaying at the Swamp is very cool.

5) Mr Two-Bits at the Swamp is pretty cool too.