College Football Teams with the Best Student Cheering Sections

Having a great student section can be a major advantage for the home team. Deafening sounds over the length of a game, as proved by Sports Science, can have negative effects on opposing players. 

Some of the most legendary student sections include Penn State's as well as Texas A&M's "12th man." 

Big stadiums that can hold over 100,000 fans surely lead to loud student sections. But some of the best fans are those found in stadiums that aren't as big, such as Baylor and Kansas State. 

With that, here are some of the best student sections found in all of college football. 

There are few places louder in the country than Blacksburg, Va., on Saturdays. 

This student section covers nearly half of the over 66,000-seat stadium, it is always decked out in maroon and orange, and it gets extremely loud. 

By far the best part of this group's game-day experience is whenever "Enter Sandman" blares out on the speakers. It even rivals Mariano Rivera's entrance to New York Yankees games to the song. 

Need proof? Look how crazy the fans get to the song in the above video. Even the ESPN announcers start getting hyped up to it. 

One of the coolest student sections in all of college football is located in Stillwater, Okla., at Boone Pickens Stadium. 

The best part of Oklahoma State's student section? "The Paddle People." 

These guys sit in the front row in a sea of orange and relentlessly beat handcrafted paddles on the side of the stadium wall. The sound is intimidating, and it is one of the best traditions across college football. 

The massive wall of orange across the entire 60,000-seat stadium is awesome, too. 

The releasing of the balloons after the Nebraska Cornhuskers score their first touchdown is a magnificent sight to behold. 

The "Husker Power" chant is also popular, and the sound can be deafening when the capacity crowd of over 81,000 gets going.  

Fans in Lincoln love their football, and their pride on game day shows it. 

When this student section gets jumping to the song "Jump Around," it is almost unmatched by anyone in the country. 

At a capacity of over 80,000, there's certainly plenty of noise to spread around. 

What really makes this student section special is its conviction to the "Jump Around" tradition. In 2003, according to a 2003 news post on the university website, students launched a protest after campus officials canceled the playing of the song. 

Because of the protest, the chancellor of the school brought the tradition back. 

The student section in Manhattan, Kan., is relatively small compared to bigger schools (50,000), but the fans are as passionate as they come. 

Traditions such as the Wabash Cannonball and shaking keys during kickoff make for an electric atmosphere at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. 

And this crowd is committed. During a game two seasons ago where the Kansas State Wildcats beat Texas A&M in four overtimes, the crowd seemingly got louder and louder as the game dragged on. 

That left legendary head coach Bill Snyder simply watching in awe at the student section after his team had won that game, as seen in the video above. 

The "Block O" group of students at The Horseshoe are some of the most energetic in the nation. 

With all of the traditions surrounding Ohio State football, plus the fact that the stadium seats over 102,000 people, this stadium is always ready to erupt. 

The best part of the pregame festivities has to be when the marching band spells out O-H-I-O on the field in script, as you can see here. 

A huge stadium that seats over 82,000 people and the Tomahawk Chop make this student section one of the craziest. 

Always decked out in garnet, these fans are extremely loud throughout the game. 

Check out their reaction to a goal-line stand back in 2007 that was quickly followed by the famous war chant. 

If you're particularly patriotic, then Navy probably has the best student-section tradition in all of college football. 

Prior to games, the "Brigade of Midshipmen," as the student section is called, marches in formation in full uniform into the stadium. Once they get there and take their seats, they're loud and rambunctious the whole game. 

With a capacity of 34,000, the atmosphere more than makes up for its relatively limited seating. 

One of the best and most unique traditions in college football can be found in Waco, Texas.

There, Baylor University freshmen are known as part of a group called the "Baylor Line." Before each home game, this group, comprised of only first-year students, rush the field and then lead the crowd in pregame chants. 

This Texas crowd is naturally loud, even at a 46,000-seat capacity, but the "Baylor Line" tradition makes them unique. 

The "We Are...Penn State" cheer can probably be heard for miles and miles away from Beaver Stadium on Saturdays. 

This student section, one of the loudest in all of college football, is up there with the most passionate fanbases in the world. 

Whenever this crowd whites out, it's even more of a beautiful spectacle, especially since it is over 107,000 strong. 

The blinding sea of burnt orange and the deafening sound of over 100,000 fans is a sight to see in Austin, Texas. 

The tradition of Texas football is almost unmatched across the country, and the pride of its student section shows it. Chants of "Hook 'em, Horns" can be heard all game, and this crowd is as loud as it gets. 

Check out the video above of Texas' pregame ceremonies. 

There's arguably no team in college football that has more tradition and more fanfare than Notre Dame. So it almost goes without saying that this student section is special. 

The crowd is loud throughout games and has seen a bit of a revival following the team's recent success, and the nearly 81,000-seat stadium is always rocking. 

The best tradition? The push-ups the student section does after the team scores, as shown above. 

Decked out in orange and located behind the end zone, Clemson's student section is one of the loudest and most intimidating in the country. 

Seating over 81,000 people, Memorial Stadium is the second largest in the ACC. And it certainly knows how to utilize its size. 

Known as the original Death Valley, there's very few places in the eastern part of the country that provide a better atmosphere for college football. 

Another student section that's behind the end zone, the South Carolina Gamecocks have an electric home crowd of over 80,000. 

The best part of pregame has to be when "Sandstorm" is played and the fans lose their minds jumping up and down as they start to wave towels. 

This crowd is also very supportive. When a military father who was deployed overseas returned home and surprised his family at the game, the crowd erupted. 

With Oregon having so much success recently, the student section at Autzen Stadium (54,000-seat capacity) has come alive the past few years. 

This student section is certainly loud and very boisterous about its high-scoring team. 

One of the coolest traditions at Oregon is the student rush, where the band plays music as students are let into the stadium and sprint down the bleacher seating to get the best seats. 

Nothing beats the 12th Man at Texas A&M, where Kyle Field holds over 83,000 strong. 

This crowd is so loud and so dedicated to its team that the fans stand the entire game. They also have a "Midnight Yell" practice, where the students pile into the stadium at midnight before home games and practice their chants. 

The tradition was even featured on a College GameDay commercial, as seen above. 

Having the largest stadium in college football (nearly 110,000) certainly has its perks, and a quality student section is part of that. 

Michigan Stadium is home to some of the most passionate fans in the game, and the student section is routinely one of the noisiest. 

When the student section gets to waving the yellow pom-poms and cheering, it's almost impossible to not get goose bumps. 

A huge student section for the best team in the country is sure to make this list. 

And the fans of the Alabama Crimson Tide surely don't disappoint. This loud crowd has been a huge part of the team's recent success, which includes three BCS titles in the past four years. 

One of the best cheers from this crowd has to be the "Rammer Jammer," a chant played when victory is all but assured inside Bryant-Denny Stadium, which holds nearly 102,000 people. Check it out in the above video. 

When your student section lays claim to one of the best and most known cheers in college football, you've got to be a quality group. 

Well, Florida's student section with its "Gator Chomp" is legendary. 

It's loud, too, so the intimidating atmosphere always strikes fear in the hearts of the opponents. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium holds over 88,000 people. 

The other Death Valley is up there with the best places to be on a college football Saturday. 

The pageantry and flamboyance of this student section is one that has to be seen in person. There are plenty of traditions throughout the game, and the sound is deafening. 

Wins for visiting teams in Death Valley are few and far between, and the noise from the crowd is a big reason why. It doesn't hurt having over 92,000 strong, either.