What sets college football aside from the NFL is the pageantry and tradition. Marching bands, rabid fanbases, and of course, some time-honored moments that invoke chills and reverence. A program like Ohio State is front and center with some of college football’s best traditions, but it’s not alone.
USA TODAY’s Paul Myerberg set out to separate some of the traditions in the Big Ten by way of ranking them in tiers, and one Buckeye staple of game days made it into Tier 1.
According to Myerberg, the venerable “Script Ohio” is one of the best college football traditions in the Big Ten, and for good reason (duh).
“Dotting the ‘i’ ― Performed to the tune of Robert Planquette’s ‘Le Régiment de Sambre et Meuse,’ the school marching band’s iconic Script Ohio formation is capped with a senior sousaphone player strutting to the dot above the ‘i’ in ‘Ohio’ and taking a deep bow to both sides of the stadium.” writes Myerberg. “The honored assignment has only been granted to a handful of non-band members, including John Glenn, Jack Nicklaus, and Bob Hope.”
You’ll get no argument from us, and we’ll go a step further and say that it’s the best tradition in the Big Ten and arguably the best in the country. I’ve seen opposing fanbases make sure they were settled into their seats to see “Script Ohio” take place before the game — and to rave reviews.
Myerberg does think that “Script Ohio” has some competition in Tier 1. He includes the “Hawkeye Wave” to the children’s hospital overlooking Kinnick Stadium at Iowa, the “Go Blue” banner at Michigan, “Jump Around” at Wisconsin, Penn State’s “White Out,” and the “Sellout Streak” at Nebraska (currently at 389 games starting in 1962) as the other Big Ten traditions in Tier 1.
Head on over to the engaging piece on USA TODAY to see the other tiers and what traditions are included.
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