25 college football programs with the most tradition

8. Louisiana State Tigers

Baton Rouge may be one of the best places to watch a college football game in the country. Tiger Stadium is referred to as “Death Valley” for a reason. A combination of liquored-up Cajuns and a swarming defense make winning an almost impossible task for visiting teams.

LSU’s stadium is interesting for several reasons. It’s one of (if not the only) few stadiums to mark every five yards rather than ten. The goalposts in each end zone are still the old-fashioned h-style goalposts. The open mouth of the posts in the north end zone is used for the team’s dramatic entrance. The cross bar from the goalposts that stood in the stadium from 1955-1984 is mounted in the locker room, and each player touches it before taking the field.

LSU is famous for playing many night games. Various reasons for a night-heavy schedule have been given, including avoiding the heat and humidity of the day, scheduling conflicts with Tulane and Loyola, and allowing more fans the opportunity to see the Tigers. Regardless of the reason, Death Valley at night is an intimidating place to play. Giving hordes of loyal fans a few extra hours to stew in the parking lots (which have earned LSU the designation as best tailgating spot in the country) might have something to do with the rowdy atmosphere inside Tiger Stadium.

No joke — the stadium was once so loud that it registered as an earthquake.

Ole Miss has plenty of tailgating tradition, and LSU has that in bunches, too. The Bayou Bengals rank in the top 10 on this list, however, because they have ample football tradition to go along with the party-hardy atmosphere. LSU has won two titles in the BCS era and sends a handful of first-round picks to the NFL every year.