by P.H. Sampson

Created on: February 17, 2009

Whether it is a cold, blustery afternoon in Ann Arbor, MI or Columbus,
OH; a sun-drenched day in Los Angeles or Miami; or a sultry Southern night in Austin, TX
or Gainesville, FL, nothing beats spending a fall Saturday watching a college football game in person.
You could wait until Sunday to be bombarded by canned music at an NFL game, but I think we've all heard "Everybody Dance Now" and "The Final Countdown" enough times to last a lifetime already.

College football is the greatest sport on earth for a lot of reasons: passion, pageantry, and bitter rivalries; but the soundtrack to college football comes from the amazing marching bands that precede their teams onto the field every week.

They march stoically out of the tunnel, or dance in ways we've never seen before. They wear warrior helmets, Stetsons, and floppy fishing hats (yes, I'm talking about you, Stanford). They get their alumni (accountants and lawyers included) to sing along like they were at a Springsteen concert.

It's about time collegiate marching bands got the respect and love we know (at least those of us who regularly attend college football games) they richly deserve. So, in honor of the marching bands, I present the Top 10 college football fight songs of all time.

10. Texas A&M
University, "Aggie War Hymn": Nonsensical words are a hallmark of great college fight songs and this one starts off with some of the best in, "Hullabaloo, caneck caneck." The military cadence is infectious and if you've ever seen the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band perform live you know what a great show they put on with their precision maneuvers. When the crowd links arms and sways side to side, all of Kyle Field shakes along with the band's beat.

9. University of Oklahoma, "Boomer Sooner": Loses points because it is a knockoff of the Yale
University fight song "Boola Boola" (but if you play in the Ivy League you can't get on my list so Yale is disqualified). Still, anyone who is a fan of an OU opponent can attest to how depressing it is to hear this song played time after time as the Sooners rack up the points and the Sooner Schooner cruises around the gridiron. And it IS catchy as hell (even more annoying for opponents' fans who find themselves humming the tune in the parking lot after the game).

8. University of California, "Big C": Great rhythm and infectious beat, but what makes this song great is how often it has been stolen. UCLA and virtually all of the UC satellite campuses have appropriated some version of "Big

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