Have you ever seen 100,000 people cheer for a poisonous nut? What about tailgated in what used to be a school bus? With one of the most historic programs and passionate fan bases in college football, there is a lot to see and do on game day in Columbus. Here is what you should expect when you visit the Ohio State Buckeyes on game day.
When planning your tailgate, the most important thing to do before you arrive is have your menu prepared! You need to know what you will be cooking on gameday and have all of the appropriate prep work done before you arrive. Here is some inspiration for your gameday menu based upon what I saw while tailgating in Columbus.
With a lot of Ohio State games having noon kickoffs, great breakfast and brunch food are at plenty of tailgates. Egg Mcmuffins anyone?
There was also a wide variety of lunch items like..
Hot and spicy buffalo wings, marinara covered sausages and a delicious 7 layer dip.
With the cold weather, this was definitely the day to bring out the warm chilli.
The most impressive food that I saw was…
This whole hog pig picking! Mmmmm look at all that delicious pork!
On game day, Ohio State fans wear scarlet and gray! With this being a northern school, you won’t find any high heels or sundresses here. I was there for the Michigan game in November, so it was a balmy 33 degrees at kick off. With this cold weather, there was no shortage of hats, gloves, jackets, and sweat shirts out there. Here is what Ohio State fans wear on game day.
Of course, your Ohio State game day Outfit isn’t complete without a set of buckeye beads! This necklace is made out of nuts from the buckeye tree that are strung together with beads! This poisonous nut is also the mascot of Ohio State!
With a stadium that seats over 100,000 fans, there is no shortage of fans ready to tailgate. Tailgating is spread all over campus, with each group of fans finding what works best for them. Many students stick to their houses on campus and spend the morning with house parties. Some fans just spend their pregame time in large parking lots that are converted into giant outdoor bars.
Other fans enjoy the parking lot scene. The lots right outside the stadium require special passes and host some impressive tailgates.
With so many places to choose from, there is one place where you will see the best of Ohio State Tailgates, but you will have to cross the river to get there. The largest and most centralized tailgating happens across the river in the parking lots next to the basketball and track stadiums. Here is a little bit of what you will see in these lots.
The prized tailgating locations are the grass medians in between lots. Here you have more than enough room to set up all of your tailgating hear! In these lots you will also find a large number of RVs.
RVs are great, but its the buses at Ohio State that the site to see!
This is just a small taste of the dozens of buses you will see at Ohio State on Game Day!
It is a little bit of a walk from these tailgating lots to Ohio Stadium, but if you aren’t up for the walk, there are plenty of
rickshaws that will give you a ride from your car to the stadium. Otherwise you can join the thousands of other fans who walk across the bridge.
The walk isn’t bad, and there are plenty of fans to make friends with along the way.
There is great tailgating all around Columbus, but if you have never been, you must make sure you see the skull session.
Before the game, the old basketball stadium (St. John Arena) is filled with thousands of fans that are there to watch the band perform. he football team is sure to put on a show on the field, but during the skull session, it is the bands turn to put on a show of their own! It is definitely something you don’t want to miss.
After the performance, its time for the game! Fans will exit and line up outside the arena. When the band re assembles outside…
they will lead the way as fans follow the march across the street into the stadium.
This passionate fan base shows a great amount of creativity on game day. Whether you love or hate Ohio State, seeing a game day in Columbus and standing next to the hose shoe in person, is something that every college football fan should do!
For more information on tailgating at Ohio State check out the game day resources section.
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