Best Traditions

1. OHIO STATE

Script Ohio

To the untrained eye high above the field, it might appear at first that the members of the Ohio State University Marching Band are imitating a snake. In fact, they are executing a highly choreographed, 75-year-old tradition that brings chills to the fans—and the fans to a roar—at every Buckeyes home game.

Beginning from a Block O formation, band members loop and strut in unison while playing the four-minute military march Le Régiment de Sambre et Meuse. By song's end, they've spelled out "O h i o," climaxing when a senior sousaphone player performs the honor of dotting the i.

2. AUBURN

War Eagle

Jordan-Hare Stadium gets loud for big hits and TDs but rarely louder than when Nova the golden eagle soars overhead and lands near the 50-yard line as almost 90,000 fans scream, "W-a-a-a-r Eagle!"

3. TEXAS A&M

Midnight Yell

A&M students take their role as the 12th Man very seriously—so much so that the night before home games, roughly 20,000 students gather at Kyle Field for a de facto pep rally.