College football fan's bucket list

Nothing in sports compares to the Army-Navy game. The two academies may not produce the kind of football they did many decades ago, but the atmosphere when they play is awesome. The game isn't just a great rivalry between the two branches of the military, but it is also a camaraderie of all servicemen and women. The players on the field are playing for the love of the game. 

Bowl games are usually fun, especially if your favorite school is playing in it. Nothing, however, compares to the Rose Bowl. The weather's great, and the pageantry is simply stunning. Whether it is the Tournament of Roses parade or the majestic colors and buzz felt in the stadium itself, it truly is the "granddaddy of them all." The teams playing in it are typically elite, the stadium is packed and a great time is had by all. 

If you are looking to have a great time, go to the Bayou Classic. The game features Grambling State against Southern University and is held the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Come for the football from legendary HBCU programs, and stay for the marching bands performing at halftime. Stay even longer for some great parties in New Orleans all weekend long.

Albertsons Stadium in Boise is best known for its blue turf. While striking when you catch a Broncos game on television, it is even cooler to see in person. The blue turf was installed in 1986 and is the first non-green playing surface. (Eastern Michigan plays on a gray surface.) Keeping up with the Broncos players in their blue jerseys is a chore but one you will never forget. 

The College Football Hall of Fame was moved from South Bend to Atlanta in 2012 and houses an array of memorabilia and displays. You can go through and see a wall filled with helmets and watch videos of classic moments, and the kids can play on an indoor playing field. Also, you will enjoy going through the names of all the players and coaches inducted into the Hall.

This is one of the newest of college football traditions, but of course it must be on any bucket list. After decades of split national championships and controversial picks during the BCS era, we finally have a playoff and a true championship game. It's the two best teams facing off for all the marbles, and it's in a Super Bowl-type setting. 

Typically, ESPN's "College GameDay" hits the road at the biggest games of the season at some of the greatest schools. The crowd of students and fans has grown over the years, and the atmosphere gets everyone pumped for a great day of college football. From the Washington State flag to Lee Corso donning the mascot head of the team he's predicting to win, the tradition of this traveling road show is as fun as any tailgate you could attend.

Sure, the game isn't as important nationally as it was many decades ago, but it does manage to take modern football back to days of long ago. These two schools have been playing the game since 1875 with both fan bases seeing their typical academic rivalry and pride play out on the gridiron. This year's edition will be played at Fenway Park in Boston.

Attending isn't just about seeing who the latest winner will be but to be around college football royalty. The real treat would be to attend the Heisman Gala where most of the living winners will be. The public can purchase tickets to the event and rub shoulders with legends of the game. The Heisman Trophy is still one of the most revered awards in sports.

One of college football's greatest traditions is Clemson's players exiting the locker room, touching Howard's Rock and running down The Hill. The rock is named after former head coach Frank Howard and has been a program staple since the 1960s. Brent Musburger called the Tigers' entrance the most exciting 25 seconds in sports. When you are there in person, the buzz in Memorial Stadium is exhilarating. 

There are great rivalries all over the country, but none may be as bitter and has recently had such big games as the Iron Bowl. Alabama vs. Auburn. For 45 consecutive times, the game was played at a neutral site in Birmingham but has been exclusively an on-campus event since 1999. There have been great games between the Tide and the Tigers with a lot at stake. (Six of the last nine national championships have been won by one of these two schools.)

When the third quarter ends in Madison, it is time to jump around. There's not much more that can get your blood warm on a cool Wisconsin afternoon than hopping up and down to House of Pain's hit "Jump Around" as you are waiting for the final quarter to begin. 

No two schools have met on the football field more often than Lehigh and Lafayette. While Harvard and Yale started playing earlier, they took some war years off. But The Rivalry never took a break. The winning team doesn't get a special trophy — it just takes home the game ball. Sports Illustrated once wrote that every college football fan must attend this game at least once in their life. 

There are dozens of beautiful settings on a fall Saturday in college football, but not many are like the one at Tiger Stadium at LSU. Not only is it a tough place for opponents to play (the crowd is so loud that the surrounding area shakes), but also, the all-day ambiance prior to a night game makes it a must for any bucket list. Unlike at many schools, night games here are a decades-long tradition and preferred by locals. So party all day and then take in a unique game-day experience at night.

One of the greatest rivalries is sports — let alone college football — takes place in two of the best venues to watch a college football game. Ohio Stadium and Michigan Stadium are two of the largest college football arenas, but you get the extra treat of the Buckeyes' tradition of "dotting the i" when taking in the game in Columbus. These are two schools and two fan bases that hate each other facing off at the end of the regular season, usually with a lot on the line. 

The Grove is quoted by many as the best place to tailgate in the nation. There may be 100,000 fans erecting tents on campus with the smell of all that great southern food filling the air. But it isn't just some primitive tailgate — you'll find nicely dressed men and women using fine dinnerware and china to eat their barbecue and chicken. Hotty Toddy!  

Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado is nearly 100 years old and has one of the most picturesque views in college football. It's a horseshoe stadium with the mountains in the background and one of the highest altitudes in college football. Come for the view, but the game also features the tradition of Ralphie the buffalo running onto the field with his handlers. 

Texas and Oklahoma have met in football before Oklahoma was even a state. The two have played since 1900 and have faced off in Dallas every season since 1923. The two fan bases split the Cotton Bowl seats, and teams have split the series. (It is tied 35-35-3 since World War II.) The game is typically competitive, and the Cotton Bowl is a classic venue. The backdrop of the Texas State Fair makes it fun for the whole family.

Pretty much every college town has tailgating, but not too many of them have sailgating...and the ones that do aren't as cool as the University of Washington. You can buy a ticket to get any number of party boats that will feed you and give you a beautiful setting right outside Husky Stadium with the mountains in the background. And there's no fighting the crowds going home, as you can just relax on the boat while drinking and celebrating a UW win on the lake. 

There are cowbells and thundersticks and all sorts of chants across the country, but the tradition of screaming the "Hog Call" at Arkansas may be the best mass fan cheer. When 72,000 fans are yelling "Woo Pig Sooie" at the top of their lungs — especially in unison during kickoffs — it can send shivers through your body. 

Various sports teams have certain songs that the crowd gets riled up with, and college football certainly has its fair share of music. But before each West Virginia Mountaineers home game, the crowd bellows out John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" with a special emphasis on the line "West Virginia, mountain mama."

On the night before an Aggies football game (or two nights before road games), the band and the Yell Leaders lead a parade that has students and alumni join them on the way to Kyle Field. The crowd sits in the student section as a pep rally of sorts begins. There are the yells and the typical taunts against the opponent, and school songs are sung. This College Station tradition started back in 1931.

At Toomer's Corner in Auburn, students and fans toilet paper the large oak trees that hang over the streets after big wins. Legend is that the owner of Toomer's Drugs had the only telegraph in town and would receive the score of away games and throw the ticker tape on the power lines. The trees were vandalized in 2010 and replaced in 2015, but the tradition remains. 

Notre Dame's Hesburgh Library has the mural "The Word of Life" painted on the side facing Notre Dame Stadium. The mural has since been nicknamed "Touchdown Jesus" and is one of the enduring fixtures at one of the sport's greatest venues. It isn't just the setting that makes the trip, though. It is all the trimmings of the history of an elite sports program that boasts Heisman winners, championships and legendary players and coaches. 

Georgia and Florida have faced off in Jacksonville in all but three years since 1933. It isn't often you get two huge sets of SEC fans at one place at the same time for a regular-season game, so the bravado going on during the tailgating is priceless. The rivalry is so good that the two schools can't even agree when they started playing it.