College Football: The 10 Most Overrated Traditions

Tradition is the cornerstone of the college football world. It's what separates college football fans from the rest of those uncivilized fans in the NFL, the NBA and MLB. College programs and their fans have a reason for every crazy thing they do, and they love every minute of it. 

Some traditions are just plain sweet; everyone can agree with that. Student bodies have come up with some really awesome ways to encourage their team on to victory. From flaming spears to the Sea of Red and "jump around" to the 12th Man, student traditions are hard to beat.

However, some of the traditions that people start are just plain ridiculous. Certain schools' traditions are made out to be in the spirit of the university, but if you think about them, they actually seem like they're done just for the sake of doing them. Some of these actions or objects that mean the world in the eyes of some just seem crazy from anyone else's perspective.

And you know what, that's all right.

In my humble opinion, some of these traditions are weird, different and, overall, useless. To the fans of these following 10 schools though, the traditions they or their team perform are the best ever, and I can completely respect that.

From where I stand from a potentially unbiased perspective, however, the following 10 traditions are some of the most overrated in college football.

USC: The Trojan and His Steed, Traveler

USC's mascot is the Trojan, which is awesome. However, the identity of the USC mascot is modeled after warriors who are, in fact ancient Romans. Trojans are not Romans.

Their "Trojan" is dressed like a Roman Centurion and they play in the Coliseum (also Roman). There is a widely accepted theory that the Trojans eventually became the Romans. However, being that Troy is based in modern day Turkey, USC needs to get its story straight. I may be just a crazy history buff, but I find that extremely frustrating.

Additionally, the Trojan plants his sword into midfield in a similar fashion that Chief Osceola of Florida State plants his spear, except it is much less exciting. There is no fire. He doesn't do it from Traveler, the Trojan's gallant steed, in one leaping bound (that would be awesome). It's boring and completely overrated by USC fans.

To complete the set of grievances, Traveler only trots around the field slowly after a score. When there was a track, he would gallop, but now it's just a slow trot. The Trojan would be faster if he got off of Traveler and slowly jogged.

Arkansas: Calling the Hogs

The Razorbacks are a great team with some cool traditions. However, the entire stadium "calling the hogs" is certainly not one of them. I have had the unfortunate experience of playing Arkansas twice in Cowboys Stadium (I'm an Aggie), and both times this call was just plain useless. 

It's not really all that loud and even though everyone does it, it doesn't carry. I understand where it is based. My grandfather in Mississippi owned some hogs and when I was younger he taught me that "Wooo Pig Sooooie" was how you call a pig.

However, as fitting as it is, I do not find it to be effective in any other means but to annoy other fans. In the likely event that their "calling of the hogs" is meant to just peeve off every visiting fan, congratulations Arkansas, you have succeeded.

Clemson: Howard's Rock

Rocks are great. There's a thousand different kinds and literally every single one is unique in some way or another. Clemson decided that it liked rocks so much that they made one of theirs a good luck charm for their football team. 

Memorial Stadium where the Tigers play is nicknamed Death Valley. It'd be a totally awesome name for a stadium if LSU also didn't have the same one ... or if Clemson was better at football. But that's neither here nor there.

The point is, there's also a National Park in California called Death Valley. Howard's Rock is a very special stone from the California Death Valley.

During the early 1960s, an alumnus of Clemson presented coach Frank Howard (where the rock gets its name) with a rock from Death Valley in California. Howard basically used the thing as a doorstop for a few years until one day when he was doing some spring cleaning and noticed it didn't complement his drapes very well.

He seemed to not like the special California rock too much and told the booster club director Gene Willimon, "Get it out of my office." Willimon got it out of his office for sure, but instead of throwing it in a ditch like Howard suggested, had a pedestal made and placed it and the rock on the hill just above the east end zone.

Coach Howard took advantage of this random object and told his players, "Give me 110% or keep your filthy hands off of my rock."

So now the players get to touch it in order to be encouraged to play better. No offense Clemson, but it obviously hasn't been working too well.

Maybe it's because it's still just a rock, and rocks don't really do anything. Especially hippie rocks from California.

Oklahoma: The Sooner Schooner

Oklahoma's mascot is the Sooners. Most people don't know what that is, so I will briefly explain.

A Sooner was a person who arrived early to Oklahoma during the land rush of 1889 before it was open to settlement. Naturally, the university had to make this awesome thing their mascot. 

As for the Sooner Schooner, it is a scaled-down replica of a covered wagon that settlers would use to travel back in the day before cars, planes and trains. The Schooner leads the football team onto the field before home and bowl games, which I will admit is pretty cool.

However, it also does a giant arc on the field after every time the Sooners score. That has to get a little repetitive, especially in the touchdown-happy Big 12. I can understand driving that thing around the stadium once or twice a game, but every score is just so much.

The Schooner is a bit overused, and the more it is used, the more likely OU will have another "Sooner Schooner Mooner" incident, and none of us want that.

Georgia: Uga the Bulldog

During Georgia home games, does ESPN or CBS show Uga the Bulldog a lot or am I just imagining that? Every time they get back from commercials, that bulldog seems to staring into the camera.

Other mascots don't get such attention, not even LSU's Mike the Tiger, and a live tiger is so much cooler than a bulldog. I just don't understand why the animal is such a big deal.

Is it just because some creative student suggested they name the Bulldog after the abbreviation for University of Georgia (UGA), or can this beast shoot lasers from its eyes?

In any case, I would like to see less Uga and more football please. Come on, it's just a dog people.

Texas/Purdue: Big Bertha/Big Bass Drum

There is a rule about drums that should be followed by everyone: If you cannot march with the drum without wheels, it should not be played. Or used. Or present at any athletic event.

Texas and Purdue break that rule. Big Bertha and the Big Bass Drum are both unwieldy, and when they are played, they don't really make much noise, at least from a fan's perspective.

I can't say I've had the pleasure of seeing the Big Bass Drum in action, but I have heard (kind of) Big Bertha more than once. Basically, the Longhorn Band wheels the thing around and spins it on the field a few times.

They do play it, and the university considers it the largest drum in the world. It weighs more than 500 pounds and is around 10' tall when on its wheel stand. Those stats may sound impressive, but guess what? It's still just a big drum.

Miami: The Smoke Screen

Entering through a smoke screen is awesome beyond belief. Now that I have said that, you may be wondering why it's on my most overrated traditions list. Here's why.

Entering through a smoke screen before every single home game for almost 40 years is a bit overdone. Think about it. What have you done for forty years in a row? Breathe? Think? And yes, see "The U" enter the stadium through a smoke screen.

It was a great idea to keep fans interested back then, but now that college football is one of the most popular sports in America, I don't think it's necessary. That's something the pros in the NFL would do, and college football fans don't need any of that flashy stuff to hold interest.

Ohio State: Script Ohio

If you have ever seen the Ohio State marching band spell out "Ohio" in giant, neat cursive letters that even I could not replicate on paper, you'll probably agree that's pretty cool ... the first time. 

Watching the band do that every home game since forever is a bit repetitive. There has to be at least another song they can play when they do it. OSU fans make it sound like this is literally the coolest thing in the world, and it just isn't.

You have to give the band credit though for their continued perseverance. This tradition began back in 1936, which is longer than most people have been alive. To put this in perspective, script Ohio has survived WWII, Vietnam and both Gulf Wars, not to mention 13 U.S. Presidents.

West Virginia: Couch Burning

Over the years, many innocent couches have been sacrificed to the West Virginia athletic gods. After a big win, multiple students take some poor couch and set it ablaze, singing "Country Roads" as the smoke rises into the air.

West Virginia's couch burning is actually nationally known, drawing arsonists to the university for decades. The root of this tradition is still a mystery to most people, but it most likely began after a big time victory in the 1970s when some intoxicated students took a piece-of-junk couch into the street and set it on fire.

Ever since that point, couch burning has been a kind of rampant, crazy tradition that Mountaineers fans pull a few times a year.

As for it being overrated, think about it—some drunk students burn a couch. From my perspective as an Aggie, that's nothing. We have a giant bonfire every year before the Texas game, and it is fine with the fire chief.

Burning a couch is actually a felony in West Virginia and has some pretty heavy fines attached to it. I say they should just get the whole idea approved by WVU officials, make a giant pile of junk couches before the Pitt game, and have a bonfire. At least it would be legal.

Penn State: Joe Paterno

Joe Paterno is a Penn State tradition. He's been head coach there since 1966, still continuing his 45-year tenure today. He has more than 400 wins in his career and is a great figurehead for old school college football.

Penn State's old timer is really old though, and he has been there a little too long. He has been the coach there so long that he recruited my father to play for him back in the 1970s, and I'm now in college.

It's not JoePa or his career that is overrated though, it's the fact that he really doesn't do much for them anymore. He's been there so long that if a player bumps into him, he breaks his leg and is stuck in the press box for the next 4-6 weeks.

Penn State needs to stop their ridiculous love affair with the man that put their program on the map so they can move on. He's one of those traditions that you just have to let go.