For some fans, tailgating is something to do before a football game.
For others, a football game is something to do after tailgating. It’s a religion at various schools, complete with copious amounts of food, games and flat-screen TVs.
Even though the weather is cooling off, tailgating season is still heating up. We’re months away from the beginning of the Bowl Championship Series, which begins on January 1 with the Rose Bowl and ends on January 10 with the BCS National Championship.
Until then, the best college programs in the country are still fighting for a spot in one of the highly competitive bowl games. And the fans are there every game, diligently camped out for hours, sometimes days, to show their support for the home team.
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1. Louisiana State University Tigers, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Tailgating is of prime importance at LSU, and the ritual continues throughout generations of Tiger fans.
The tailgate begins on Thursday night for some diehard fans. Motor homes descend upon Baton Rouge and surround the stadium, setting up camp for the weekend. Season parking sells out quickly, but some spots are available on a game-by-game basis.
Walking through the tailgate area offers some of the benefits of actually tailgating. You’ll smell smoke, either hickory or mesquite, and bourbon, and if you’re lucky, you’ll get invited to partake in a tailgate already in progress.
A few hours before the game begins, Victory Hill houses a procession for the team and coaches. Fans press in on both sides, cheering the team as it heads to the stadium.
2. Auburn Tigers, Auburn, Alabama
There are two types of tailgates taking place at Auburn, though both have the same goal in mind.
There’s the students who do it in their front yards, then there’s the people who get in their RVs and drive from all over the South and make a whole weekend out of it. It’s not just a game here. It’s a cultural happening.
As soon as classes let out on Friday, people begin marking their tailgating areas to claim a spot for the game. It is estimated that 20,000 or so people show up on game weekends with no intention of actually going to the game.
Fans can expect to find lots of barbecue and souped up RVs, complete with fully functioning entertainment systems for watching the pre-game coverage and other college football games.
Two hours before the start of a game, the team arrives on buses and walks through the thousands of people lining the street toward the stadium, a practice that, due to its popularity, takes place at away games as well.
3. Notre Dame Fighting Irish, South Bend, Indiana
Though independent of a conference, Notre Dame is steeped in football tradition, and, along with it, tailgating tradition.
It’s smaller than many Southeastern Conference and Big 10 schools, but Notre Dame sees a surge of people on campus for game day.
Game day really kicks off at midnight on Friday with the Midnight Drummer’s Circle, when the drum line plays through the cheers at the Golden Dome on campus. Even before that, however, people are lined up taking pictures of Touchdown Jesus, a nickname given to the Word of Life Mural painted on the side of the Hesburgh Library.
Starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday, the band plays continually around campus. The players attend Mass and are cheered on by fans on their walk from the basilica to the stadium. Many of the pre-game rituals take place around campus, with tailgating interspersed throughout the town.
4. University of Washington Huskies, Seattle, Washington
The scenery of Lake Washington adds a unique element to the Huskies’ tailgating experience: fans can spend their time on the water before a game. You can actually tie up to a dock that’s a few blocks from the stadium.
Tailgaters cook out and make drinks on their boats, interacting with other boaters close by. Some don’t fare as well on the water as others. Every year, during at least one game, somebody will fall into the water. Nobody gets hurt but it’s a sight to see.
When it’s close to game time, shuttle boats pick up fans that are tied up to buoys and transport them to the docks, which are within short walking distance to the stadium.
Of course, there are dry land tailgaters as well in greater numbers than the ones using boats.
Hundreds of RVs are set up in parking lots, where, weather permitting, fans grill out and play typical tailgating games.
The University of Washington, compared to other Pac 10 schools, is definitely regarded as having one of the most intense and passionate fan bases.
5. Pennsylvania State Nittany Lions, State College, Pennsylvania
State College, Pennsylvania, is a small town smack dab in the middle of the state. Surrounded by fields and fields of farmland, Penn State’s grounds make room for plenty of tailgating.
If you were at Beaver Stadium and looked out toward the farms, you’d just see cars and cars and cars of tailgaters. Though State College has a population of just under 40,000, the stadium seats more than 100,000, packing the fields with fans.
Alumni, students and families make home contests into a weekend event, full of games, cheers and food. The team arrives at Beaver Stadium about an hour and a half before every game, and the quarterback is always the first off the bus. The sound of cowbell clinks alternates with resounding cheers of “P-S-U!”
Original News Story