Welcome back, sports fans!
Why Big Ten football, you ask? Over the last 30 years we’ve lived in Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky, but have remained loyal to our Wisconsin sports teams, including the Badgers!
Big Ten football is in my blood, and here’s my list of things I love about it!
One – Game Day Excitement
There really is nothing better than waking up on a Saturday morning and knowing that it’s game day! Even though I live in Georgia, and watch most of the games on TV, the excitement is still there. I decide which team shirt or jersey I’m going to wear, then double check the calendar for kick-off time, check the frig and the pantry to see if I need to make a run to the store for beer and snacks, and then start counting down the hours and minutes!
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Two – The Rivalries
What’s better than Saturday afternoons filled with college football’s greatest rivalries? Will a team be able to knock down Ohio State this year? Is Minnesota a one-hit wonder or a real threat to Wisconsin? Will Nebraska, Northwestern or Purdue have a big comeback year?
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Three – The Games
At our house, we gather in the den and watch the game on the big screen TV. My husband settles into his recliner, and I relax on the couch with my sweet dog Vince snuggled at my side. We cheer, we sit on the edge of our seats and hold our breath, and we jump up and high-five when the Badgers score a touchdown. And of course we are on our feet for the traditional Jump Around! It’s not the same as being there, but we wouldn’t miss game.
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Four – Camp Randall
Living in Georgia, it’s a really big deal to get to a game in person, but some years I make the trip to Wisconsin. Even when the weather turns cold and rainy, we stay until the very end to enjoy watching the Badgers. Sitting in the crowd with thousands of fans, listening to the band, doing the wave, jumping around to the House of Pain, and high-fiving with everyone you can reach are all parts of the game experience.
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Five – Big Ten Trophy Games
There are many unique traditions in college football and those traditions are one of the reasons I love the sport so much. In the Big Ten, many of those traditions involve trophy games. There are too many to list them all here, but my favorites are Indiana and Purdue playing for the Old Oaken Bucket, Iowa and Wisconsin battling for the Heartland Trophy, and Michigan and Michigan State competing for the Paul Bunyan Trophy.
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Six – The Rose Bowl
Nicknamed “The Granddaddy of Them All,” the Rose Bowl has been played on New Year’s Day in Pasadena every year since 1916. And for decades, it was a match-up between the champions of the Big Ten and the Pac-12. The move to the College Football Playoff format has changed that a little, but it is still a big game in college football.
Do you have a favorite football conference?
Until next week,
Carrie
Team Colors By Carrie 