One of the best things about college football comes in its traditions. The pride, passion, and pageantry that embody the sport are no better seen than by joining thousands of people from different backgrounds and different walks of life in one age-old display of unity. Most traditions have been passed down through generations, each with its charm.
Every football program has its unique tradition. These traditions come in many shapes and sizes: pre-game traditions, in-game traditions, and even post-game traditions. Some have been around since the 1800s, some since the 1900s. These are five must-see college football traditions.
5 Must-See College Football Traditions
From Iowa’s ‘The Wave’ to Wisconsin’s ‘Jump Around,’ these traditions have kept college football programs afloat. More importantly, these traditions are some of the best that the sport of college football has today.
Iowa: The Wave
‘The Wave’ is an age-old tradition at many sporting events, yet Iowa has adopted it in its way. Some college football traditions you can feel in your bones, others are just a visual extravaganza. However, this one may not be one of the oldest traditions, but it’s certainly one of the best.
In 2017, Iowa’s Stead Family Children’s Hospital completed work on a top floor that offers a perfect view of Kinnick Stadium. Since then, Hawkeyes fans turn and face the hospital after the first quarter of their home games to wave to all the children and their families. This is a perfect example of the unifying impact of football, since opposing fans also join in the tradition.
Iowa boasts two traditions, with the other more controversial and less heartwarming than ‘The Wave.’ Following his arrival in 1979, coach Howard Fry ordered that the visiting locker room be painted pink. A psychology major at Baylor, Fry believed that the color dampened excitable and aggressive behavior. It remains the color to this day, despite some strong criticism.
Florida State: Chief Osceola Planting Spear
It seems almost poetic that as the college football world still mourns coach Bobby Bowden’s passing, that a tradition brought to life by the former Florida State head coach still lives on as strongly as ever. Although the ceremony was initially thought up in the 1960s, it didn’t come to pass until the 1978 clash with the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
At the start of every Florida State home game, Chief Osceola rides Renegade the horse along the field of Doak Campbell Stadium before planting a flaming spear at the heart of midfield. This was created in tribute to the Osceola Tribe of Florida. the tradition continues to this day, with permission from the tribe.
Virginia Tech: Enter Sandman
One of the biggest college football games in recent memory saw the return of one of the best traditions in the sport. There’s nothing like the sounds and site of the Virginia Tech team entering Lane Stadium to the sound of Metallica’s hit song, ‘Enter Sandman.’
Compared to some college football traditions, this one is relatively recent. In 2000, the Hokies installed a new scoreboard and they wanted to show it off with the new entrance music. The Hokies chose ‘Enter Sandman,’ and the tradition was born.
It’s so much more than just a song though. The Hokies tea walk from the facility, around the practice field, into a narrow tunnel, touching the Hokie Stone, before being held at the tunnel entrance. Only once, the song begins does the team emerge. The atmosphere is intense and electric, and the energy created has been measured on seismographs.
Penn State: White Out
For one of the biggest college football traditions in the sport, it started on quite the somber note. Penn State Nittany Lions hosted their first official ‘White Out’ game back in 2004 in a losing effort to the Purdue Boilermakers. This came during a tough times for the Nittany Lions who had quite the struggling team.
From 2000-05, Penn State picked up just two winning seasons, and the fanbase was in need of needing to be fired up. So, Penn State’s former director of communications and branding for football, Guido D’Elia, approached Joe Paterno about the idea of a ‘White Out’ game.
Originally meant just for the students, this turned into a full-stadium affair. The first all-stadium ‘White Out’ game came in 2007. Since then, the tradition now entering it’s 18th season has grown to become one of the biggest preeminent spectacles.
Wisconsin: Jump Around
There are many moments in the opening weekend of college football season that make you think, “college football is back,” especially in the first year after the Covid-19 Pandemic. Few things hammered the sentiment home that college football needs fans in the stands as hard as watching Camp Randall erupt to the tune of House of Pain’s “Jump Around” on a Saturday afternoon.
The tradition started in 1998 when the stadium PA blared the 1990s hip-hop classic at the start of the third quarter of Wisconsin’s game against a Drew Brees-led Purdue team. The crowd lost their mind, Wisconsin went 11-1 that year, and a tradition was born. At the start of every third quarter at Camp Randall and when the Badgers play in the Rose Bowl, the whole crowd gets on their feet and jumps around.
KEEP READING: Top 5 College Football Rivalries That Should Be Played Annually
Chris Orr, former linebacker for the Wisconsin Badgers spoke about the tradition and how much it means to him and Wisconsin as a whole:
“‘Jump Around’ is the best college football tradition ever,” says Orr. “The stadium literally shakes. We get a burst of energy when ‘Jump Around’ comes on. There’s nothing like playing at Camp Randall.”
College Sports Network has you covered with the latest news, analysis, insights, and trending stories in football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and baseball!
