30 bucket list items college football fans need to experience

28. “… Here’s a toast to dear old Penn”

Penn might be off the college football radar of most casual fans because the Quakers compete at the FCS level. Even among those in the know, Penn is often overshadowed by its Ivy League rivals at Harvard and Yale in terms of huge success in the early days of the sport as well as the role each university played in terms of helping the game evolve into the one we know and love today.

However, Penn has won a staggering 839 games since it began playing football in 1895, earned a trip to the third Rose Bowl in 1916, and finished seven seasons ranked in the Top 20 of the final Associated Press poll, including a No. 7 finish in 1947. The Quakers also negotiated a full season contract with ABC to broadcast every game during the 1950 season, which led to a complete overhaul of college football broadcast rights.

No Ivy League school has more league titles than Penn (18), and the Quakers also have more outright championships (13) and undefeated league seasons (8) than any other Ivy school. Penn is also the two time defending Ivy League champion.

The university also has a fun in-game tradition worth seeing. The Penn Band, also known as “The Huge, the Enormous, the Well-Endowed, Undefeated, Ivy-League Champion, University of Pennsylvania Oxymoronic Fighting Quaker Marching Band,” dates back to 1897, making it one of the oldest in college football. And, as is tradition, the band plays “Drink a Highball” at the end of the third quarter:

"“Drink a highball at nightfall, be good fellows while you may. For tomorrow may bring sorrow, so tonight let’s all be gay. Tell the story of glory of Pennsylvania; Drink a highball and be jolly; here’s a toast to dear old Penn.”"

Decades ago, those in attendance at Franklin Field would actually toast one another with a cocktail at the end of the song. However, alcohol was eventually barred from the stadium. An enterprising lot, Penn students adapted the tradition as literally as possible and the practice of tossing toasted bread onto the field was born.

Franklin Field, built in 1895, is worth a trip on its own, though the 52,958-seat venue is rarely full these days. To get the best taste of a big-time contest, see a game against annual title contender Harvard.