College Football Fight Songs: the Best and Worst

As we plow through the summer doldrums, waiting eagerly for the start of the college football season, we find ways to cope with the absence of the sport we so love while knowing it is oh so close.

One escape is to talk about anything related to college, even the most trivial and mundane.  And this article does just that by diving into a sure-fired controversy and ranking the best and worst college football fight songs.

Before stoking the fire, I must come clean and say that as a Virginia Tech graduate, my bias is clear and I have “Tech Triumph” at the top of my list.  How could I not?

But I will try to remove that maroon and orange hat and take a more objective stance, relying on my pre-Hokie youth and my overall college football fandom to conjure up a legitimate list.

It will be tough to argue some of the selections below, yet I’m sure a few will ruffle some feathers.  Apologies in advance.

(Dis)Honorable Mention:

Tennessee - “Down the Field”

You are probably reading this and saying, wait, where is “Rocky Top”?  Well, “Down the Field” is the official fight song of the University of Tennessee, and that is why this gets mention here.

“Rocky Top” should unequivocally be the official fight song.  If it were, then the Vols are moving down the list to Honorable Mention.  

Since it is not the original fight anthem, Tennessee should declare it a second official fight song like a few other schools on this list did.

Georgia - “Hail to Georgia”

Like one of the culprits below, the Bulldogs also set their fight song to “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.”  So why is this a Dishonorable Mention instead of a bottom three?  Because the song Georgia actually plays is great.

“Glory, Glory” has become the Bulldogs' de facto fight song.  It is set to the tune of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” and the chorus of “Glory, Glory Hallelujah” is replaced by “Glory, Glory to Old Georgia.”

That is a flex for sure, and it makes for great in-game spirit, but I cannot turn a blind eye to the technicality that this is not their official fight song.  Thus, the Bulldogs get a "shout down" for this.

The Bottom Three

3. Stanford - “All Right Now”

Stanford does indeed have a fight song, “Come Join the Band,” and while it is more traditional than what they play during games, it sounds like something composed for Pixar's Monsters, University.  That said, it’s a better option than what they have adopted, “All Right Now,” the 1970 rock hit by Free.

While this may be ok as a halftime performance, as a fight song it is absolutely out of place.  It is a song about a guy trying to hook up with a girl!  That might’ve been representative of 70’s culture, but it certainly has no place as a college sports fight song!

2. Texas - “Texas Fight/The Eyes of Texas”

The first half of this song is solid and has no business being anywhere near the “worst” list.  However, midway through the song, it shifts to “The Eyes of Texas,” which is basically a rendition of “I’ve Been Working on the Railroad.”

Really? Every time you score a touchdown you’re working on the railroad? What the heck?  Sure, railroads are a part of the history of Texas, but what about the black-hatted villains that robbed them and the cowboys who protected them?  

This feels like an unfortunate missed opportunity to fire up some sort of Clint Eastwood-esque tune that celebrates cowboys instead of trains.  Seriously, could you imagine if the Longhorns' fight song was the theme to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly?

They could play the first part of that theme song over and over and over all game - like Florida State does with their “War Chant” and Tomahawk Chop or USC and their repetition of “Tribute to Troy”!   That would be epic!

1. Virginia - “The Good Old Song”

Ok, I will admit, my Hokie bias is in full swing here.  As is my hypocrisy, because this isn’t even Virginia’s fight song - “The Cavalier Song” is - yet I am bottom-ranking them for a tune that is not their fight song.

Sorry, not sorry.

Instead of “The Cav Song,” I have been hearing “The Good Old Song” at VT-UVa games for decades (fortunately not nearly as often as I’ve heard “Tech Triumph” in those games).

Why don’t the Wahoos play their actual fight song?

Honestly, “The Cavalier Song” is good.  It sounds like a fight song.  But instead of playing this one in games, the Hoos sing a tune that is set to “For Auld Lang Syne.” Yeah, that sappy New Year’s Eve song, they sing it every time they score a touchdown. Where is the excitement in that? Where is the adrenaline?

When I hear the New Year's Eve song, I think of Dan Fogelberg.  I’d rather drown my sorrows than think about football. 

"For Auld Lang Syne" means "for the sake of old times," and it is a phrase that evokes a sense of nostalgia.  Maybe the Wahoos use this song because they are yearning for years (decades) past when they were good?

PS - for what it’s worth, this song totally fits UVa.

Honorable Mention 

North Carolina - “I’m a Tar Heel Born”

Love them or hate them, you have to recognize a good fight song when you hear one. This tune elevates in status because it evokes memories of my childhood, watching Dean Smith led Tar Heel teams every March, even getting to experience it live a few times when the Regionals were in East Rutherford, New Jersey. While the absence of a football culture hurts this choice, the song is great to hear on the hardwood, and there is plenty of history there!

Oklahoma - “Boomer Sooner”

What a catchy tune!  But what annoyingly repetitive lyrics!  The song opens with “Boomer Sooner” repeated seven times, then that is followed with “Oklahoma” seven times!  Since I’m rating these on how the songs sound, this one makes Honorable Mention, but if song-writing was a criteria, oof, this would be in the bottom three!

Ohio State - “Across the Field”

This is another catchy tune.  Honestly, it might make my top three if it weren’t for the fact that Ohio State has TWO official fight songs.  Wait, what?

Having co-fight songs automatically disqualifies the Buckeyes from making the "best" list.  It’s like going to the Pinewood Derby and rolling two cars in the race.  (And if the kid is from Ohio State, I bet both cars would be made by Dad - or a donor.)

But what can I expect from a school who makes it a point to emphasize the definite article every time they say their university’s name?  So I guess I will leave them off THE Top Three list and relegate them to Honorable Mention.

Georgia Tech - “Ramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech

I like this tune for sure.  But the lyrics present shady behavior and paint a picture of a less-than-model student.

The double meaning of the words tells us that they are self-labeled sloppy drunks: “rambling wrecks” who drink their whiskey clear and seek barrels of rum.  They also gamble and cuss at their rivals.

And like Ohio State, the Yellow Jackets - or Ramblin’ Wreck - also have two fight songs, I guess one for each nickname? - so I will keep them off my top tier and drop them to Honorable Mention.

The Top Three

3. Southern California - “Fight On”

Perhaps no other fight song fits their mascot like “Fight On.” The song conjures images of Trojan soldiers lined up ready for battle.  It is impossible to hear the Trojan Marching band play this and NOT think of the Men of Troy, the pageantry of college football, Rose Bowls past, and Keith Jackson.  Pair it with "Tribute to Troy" and Whoa Nellie, I'm fired up for some football!

2. Notre Dame - “Notre Dame Victory March”

I know, there is a lot of mystique behind the university and its football team, which naturally elevates this tune’s place in the canon of college fight songs.

Touchdown Jesus.  The Four Horsemen. Knute Rockne. “Win one for the Gipper.”

And of course, everyone knows the film Rudy, one of the best feel-good underdog sports movies of all time.

And then there is the inspirational scene where Fortune tells Rudy, “You're five feet nothin', a hundred and nothin', and you’ve got barely a speck of athletic ability. And you hung in there with the best college football team in the land for two years!”

Just play the fight song under that speech and I’m ready to run through a brick wall!

1. Michigan - “The Victors”

Who doesn’t hear “The Victors” without singing it, humming it, or whistling it for hours thereafter?  It is probably the best known fight song in the nation.  The fact that everyone refers to it as “Hail to the Victors” proves this - we all know the song (incorrectly) and we all sing it!

If you are a college football fan, you know this song and you like it. If you don’t know this song, then you are not a college football fan. And if you don’t like this song, then you probably live in Ohio.

I could hear this one at a funeral and get fired up.  It is hands-down the best college fight song.

Watch the video below, then you can thank me in five minutes when you realize you are humming this tune!