The Definitive Rankings of College Football Fight Songs
The college football season, sadly, is beginning to approach its close. When that happens, the general public tends to become more and more obsessed with rankings. Both media pundits and bored KPMG auditors on their third burner accounts are taking to Twitter and to their local dives bars to compare resumes and stake their claims for where their favorite team belongs within the top 4.
Because America is rankings-crazy right now, I’ve decided to come up with some rankings of my own, and I’m not stopping at the Top 25. In this article, I’ve put together an unequivocally accurate ranking of fight songs for every single Power 5 school (as well as notable Group of 5 colleges / Independents), accompanied with some clips for your listening pleasure.
“But this is an entirely subjective matter!” Wrong. Like the CFB Playoff Committee, I have codified my rankings in a non-transparent, but objective-ish enough way. Importantly, I have the CV to make it an objective discussion. My credentials are the following:
- 1) In the spirit of Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hours thesis, I spent an obscene portion of my childhood on the NCAA Football 2005 in-game menu with fight songs blaring in the background as I worked on a multitude of college football dynasties. As a result, I have just about every school’s fight song deeply engrained in my brain, and am as close to a subject matter expert as it gets in this field.
- 2) I have been gifted with an excellent musical ear thanks to my father, who is a jazz pianist, trumpeter, and composer. And aside from grading spikes and touchdown celebrations on NFL Sundays, I am something of a musician myself. Over time, I have cultivated a deep appreciation for what works, musically.
The combination of these two skillsets leaves me uniquely qualified to rank your favorite school’s fight song. As a result, although I welcome healthy discussion around this article, the final rankings themselves are Not Up For Discussion.
The main ranking criteria are the quality of the melody and the hype factor associated with the song. In other words — Is this a great song, and is it something that gives you, as a college football fan, an adrenaline rush? I also am considering how iconic of a sound it is — a “goosebumps factor” of sorts, which is slightly different from the adrenaline factor I just described. And finally, there is some consideration for the lyrics to the fight song, if they are particularly good or bad.
So without further ado:
- Notre Dame — Most iconic of all time. The perfect melody. The perfect lyrics. Sorry! Don’t fight me! Fight the Virgin Mary! Fight these babies doing pushups!
2) Alabama — I’m sure this is somewhat affected by how often we’ve had to hear it the past decade, but when I think about what Touchdowns on College Football Saturdays sound like, this is essentially what I hear. The lead-in actually gets you hyped up, unlike many fight song intros, and the transition to the main segment as the whistle blasts and the band comes tumbling down the scale is undeniable. The melody brings this song close to being #1, but points had to be deducted because the lyrics devote valuable time just to talk down Georgia Tech, which meant something historically but is still a loser move for an institution that thinks so highly of itself. With that said, from an opponent’s perspective, the Million Dollar Band wailing those high notes at the end of the song just screams “FFFF there’s no way we’re overcoming this three touchdown deficit, is there.” It’s the definition of what a college football fight song should sound like.
3) Navy — A beautiful song with the perfect marching tune structure and an unreal melody, likely one of the two best in college football. Especially when the rest of the band joins the low brass and starts trilling its way around those high notes, it doesn’t just give you goosebumps, it makes you proud to be an American. The other military academies’ bands get absolutely waxed by Navy.
4) Florida — A beautiful song, with a perfectly composed combination of the strength of the low, powerful brass complementing the melody from those goosebump-inducing high notes. In my opinion, the only reason the song is not ranked above Alabama or Navy is because it lacks a strong introduction; you’re just kind of sent straight into the chorus. It’s as elite of a chorus as they come, but still you just wish there was something to get the ball rolling. Regardless, this is among the most iconic sounds in college football.
- Note: Where I consider the Alabama fight song the Sound of a College Football Touchdown, I consider the Go Gators chant the Sound of a College Football Pivotal First Down.
5) Tennessee — The best singalong in the game. It’s pretty simple. Name another fight song where the crowd can nearly drown out the band. The climax of this song is probably the peak musical moment in the country and one of the most goosebump-inducing moments in sports as a whole. Now here’s the tough truth: the song in and of itself is fringe-top 25-caliber. From a pure musical quality perspective as it relates specifically to college football fight songs, it’s not at the level of the songs above it. The start of the song always comes off to me as a bit awkward and jumbled together, although when it gets going, it really gets going. Regardless, the intangibles leave it in truly elite territory nonetheless. And I’ll also leave myself an out by saying I refuse the right to revise this ranking if and when I get to experience this moment at Neyland Stadium.
6) Texas — I think Texas Fight comes just barely third fiddle to Navy and Florida in terms of the beauty of the song itself, and it’s much simpler than UF’s fight song. But it’s a song that is just infused with energy. It’s bawdy. It’s brash. When the trombone comes wailing in and bends those notes, you’re ready to run 100 yards directly into a brick wall. In my eyes this is the last of the group of truly elite fight songs.
7) Michigan — An elite and powerful brass section powers one of the most iconic sounds in college football. But in my opinion, a somewhat simple (although effective) melody sinks it just out of truly elite territory. The chorus is 6 notes! But it’s still simply too iconic and catchy to fall outside of a fringe-elite range.
8) LSU — Upbeat with a delightfully complex melody. I love how the melody races up and down while the trombones powerfully complement it and bend those triplets toward the latter portion of the song. And the ending is absolutely electric. This one was a little trickier to grade out, though, because when I think of LSU really pouring it on in 2019, my mind jumps more frequently to the Tiger Rag (which also serves as Clemson’s fight song), since LSU plays that after touchdowns. Although the actual fight song has hype to it and is an awesome song, there’s something to be desired from the perspective of how iconic it is as a Saturday Sound. On a combined basis, what the band delivers is clearly elite; as a standalone, “Fight for LSU” is just barely on the fringe of elite.
- As always, Let The Band Play Neck.
9) Houston — One of the most energetic fight songs out there and wildly underrated. Has that classic CFB type of sound you love. I love how the melody runs up and down the scale and how the trumpets and trombones attack the high notes with vigor. Love the call and response going on between instruments in the latter half of the song. Just a really well-written, well-structured melody that gets you hyped.
- The Womp Womp also flies WAY too far under the general public’s consciousness.
10) Oklahoma State: The Waving Song as a lead-in, although not hype per se, is a fantastic song in itself, and the percussion makes you feel like you’re victoriously riding your horse into Stillwater. Then the transition into the main “Ride ’em Cowboys” is a punchy, energetic, high note-laden song that brings that Bedlam energy you need. It’s a well-structured melody that has a galloping energy as it moves up and down the scale; it’s a fight song that feels like it truly fits the school. The 3rd section of the song is also distinct and awesome in its own right. Is it elite? No, not quite, and the main chorus is a a little bit simplistic. But overall, what Oklahoma State has going on here is heavily, heavily underrated.
11) Arkansas — A great college football sound, with a lot of elite elements to the song: the lead-in, the call and response segment of the song between the different instruments during the main stanza, the way the melody races up and down… The overall structure is so sound. The cymbals also add such a great punch here. Just a very high quality song that makes you want to punch at the sky as the melody marches upward. Mix in a Hog Call and you have some excellent production value.
12) Ohio State — Highly energetic, punchy main chorus, great use of the brass section, and of course the elite “OH-HI-OH” ending. Just not as elite of a song as the top dogs, and I think that the melody is just a bit too busy. I think the reason it seems as iconic as it does has more to do with Ohio State being so good so frequently than it has to do with the fight song itself. Best Damn Band in the Land though!
- Note: The dotting of the “i” is still the #1 marching band-related moment in college football. A dream for sousaphone players everywhere. Below, you’ll find a television version of Script Ohio, and also a perspective from an unnamed amateur photographer (you need to click the link for it).
13) Georgia Tech — Looping together White & Gold and Ramblin’ Wreck here. Ramblin’ Wreck is the best college football song lyrically, talking about drinking a bunch of whiskey and rum and screaming to hell with Georgia. It feels more like a pirate tune that you want to be drunkenly swaying to in the student section to than it does a song you want to be listening to in order to get hyped to play a football game, but after a huge win it’s got to be electric to sing. As for White & Gold, it’s a great little melody that starts out very strong and has a classic college football sound to it with a ton of energy but fades a bit at the end.
14) West Virginia –Punctuated, upbeat, and even though there’s a lot happening it’s clean; it makes you feel like you’re running and fighting through the Appalachian foothills as it runs up and down the scales. The end high-note is absolutely beautiful.
- Note: I’m using “Fight, Mountaineers!” not “Hail, West Virginia” for this discussion. Although Hail WV is probably a borderline top 25 one in its own right; still very energetic.
- And lest we forget, from the Great John Denver…
15) Purdue — A lively, energetic number that just isn’t quite iconic enough to make the jump to the next level, but is very good nonetheless. Love the intro stanza. Makes you feel like you’re getting stormed by a steam train.
16) Clemson — The Tiger Rag closes out spectacularly and definitely has the hype factor, but takes a little too long to get there and is pretty simple. Simple works here, though. The first half of the song doesn’t really go anywhere, but it builds into something great, starting with that little call and response stanza, and then building some momentum with that excellent trilling. The ending “C-L-E-M-S-O-N” where they hold the O definitely fills you with a ton of dread if you are visiting Death Valley as an opponent. A huge issue with this song for Clemson specifically is that it’s too muddied by its usage by LSU and every other school that has a tiger as a mascot. So it’s iconic, but not as specific to Clemson as you’d like it to be. So don’t yell at me for not being ranked higher, Clemson fans.
17) Oklahoma — Unique, clean, and fun, it’s a great marching tune and a truly iconic college football sound, although it lacks a bit of a hype factor. And I think the song represents them well — you feel the Boomer Sooner when you hear it. But it just doesn’t quite carry the energy of some of those above. So yes, OU is now little brother to Oklahoma State.
18) Penn State — Another unique one that has a great melody. One of my favorite band traditions in college football is when the band cuts it off before they kick the PAT and then closes it out afterwards. A fun song with great marching quality.
19) Ole Miss — A classic, punchy, brassy, down-south high-quality melody. The ending leaves a little to be desired and it’s a little slow. But Ole Miss stays in the top 20 because there’s no better chant than the Hotty Toddy.
20) Northwestern — Just a really high-quality tune. Awesome melody, great structure, punches up at the high notes, gets you going. The bridge is great, unlike many fight songs. This song should be more iconic than it is, it’s just… well it’s Northwestern football we’re talking about here, that’s probably why.
21) Memphis — Another under the radar one. This feels like it should be an SEC song. A true marching number where you’re gesturing/ punching forward in the air. A little slow, otherwise could be even higher.
22) Oregon — A nice marching tune with a great melody, kind of iconic. Lacks high-end energy though.
23) Marshall — More energy than many above it, it’s lively as hell and gets the people going. Punches those high notes hard. Not an incredible song in itself though.
24) Wake Forest — A classy affair with great lyrics, feels like a down-home southern showtune. If it had a little more energy leading into the finale it would be ranked even higher.
25) Wisconsin — Pretty energetic, and the melody jumps with some ferocious velocity which is fun. Just not as quite as high quality of a melody or as classic of a sound as a Wake or an Oregon, even though the song is more upbeat than both.
26) East Carolina — Another great song from the AAC. A well written, classic fight song that is catchy and has all of the elements you like in a fight song.
27) UCLA — There’s some great moments embedded within this and some great harmonies. Feels like a going to war song from the early 1900s. There’s no real tenacity about it though. More of a high-quality song than a high-energy song.
28) Michigan State — Think this one is a bit overrated. Yeah, it has the one cool moment where it walks up and down the scale. Otherwise, it’s pretty simple, and the melody doesn’t really go anywhere.
29) Texas Tech — Catchy tune, and the melody careening up and down is definitely hype right after a score. It’s a great melody and highly energetic. Borderline iconic… would be higher with a stronger ending.
30) Kentucky — A classic sound, nothing special but definitely gets you hype, good structure.
31) Kansas State — Classic sound, brass punches upwards, it’s an energetic post-TD song. Nothing super iconic but solid nonetheless.
32) Pitt — Very energetic showtune, punchy trumpets going off. I like it. It’s not incredibly hype, but it’s super upbeat nonetheless.
33) Fresno State: Lively number with punchy brass that gets you going.
34) Cincinnati: A little TOO busy but it’s still very solid.
35) USC — It’s heavily overrated! The brass is cool and the sound itself is iconic, but it’s a simple, boring march that isn’t as strong as people believe it to be.
36) Miami (FL) — It’s a great song in itself, but it should NOT be Miami’s fight song. You know what I mean? It doesn’t fit for Miami, it sounds like a Mississippi show tune. Just my opinion. But my opinion is right.
37) Texas A&M — Boring as hell! Iconic, but boring as hell!
38) Syracuse — A fun, rambling melody that has a classic feel to it. Nothing iconic and not overly energetic, but it’s a high-quality song nonetheless.
39) Georgia/ Colorado — Nice tune you stole! It is so symbiotic with CFB though. Regardless, if Colorado has the same one, it’s not as cool!
40) (Similar to Georgia) NC State: it’s just an Army song sped up! Cool, but come on!
41) San Diego State — Like the energy in this one and it takes some fun turns.
42) Iowa State — Energetic, with some good structure, gets after the high notes. Hit that line!
43) Vanderbilt — A unique one, not the most hype song in the world but it’s got a good CFB feel and lot of running up and down the scales
44) Miami of Ohio — Actually a solid song with a great melody and decent lyrics! Hits the high notes!
45) Texas State — Another classic CFB melody, a little on the nose how they say “until the whole world knows our name”.
46) UCF — A fun one and I really like the walking up and down trumpet stanza. Kind of a simple tune.
47) Utah — A classic showtune. Lyrically a great song, just not too energetic.
48) Virginia — Nothing special, but a good, classic CFB showtune. Lyrically some great stuff — make the Blue Ridge roar.
49) Boise State — A great active song running up and down scales — but “keep the contest keen?” Really?
50) Rutgers — It’s okay! It gets you going. Nothing iconic about it, but it’s a solid song. It’s a quality marching tune.
51) Bowling Green– A fun melody, lame lyrics.
52) Nebraska — Spare me. I wasn’t alive when they were good, and it’s just not that great of a song. All of you that have it as a top 10 song, grow up. Such a simple melody. You’re right, you boys are squares.
53) Baylor — Kind of a fun punchy one, but it’s also just so basic.
54) Hawaii — Not the highest energy song in the world and the melody is pretty basic but it’s not bad.
55) Missouri — Pretty fun song and a little catchy, could use a little more energy. Kind of feels like the melody copies off of ND a bit, which I don’t appreciate.
56) USF — Not a bad one and there’s some fun parts to the melody, just not very high energy.
57) SMU — It’s okay, you can tell it’s got a classic feel. Just doesn’t do too much for you.
58) Iowa — Fun up and down action. But it doesn’t deliver much of a punchline. Does shout out the troops!
59) UCONN — The song is better than the football team. It’s a little too clappy for me. The end is great.
60) Air Force — This is more of a slow military march than a college football song. We can admit that. It’s a great song though!
61) Minnesota — Kind of boring, super simple, kind of catchy though.
62) Virginia Tech — A somewhat classic feel but it’s clappy, not very high energy, also kind of unclear where the melody is going.
63) Army — Classic tune… But again, not a CFB hype song.
64) Louisville — It’s very meh. Not very exciting. Just okay.
65) Boston College — Just cannot see how this can get you up for a game. But love the Boston pride. Oldest fight song ever allegedly, so I’ll give it a little bit of credit
66) Kansas — Kind of catchy, but not hype, and it spends way too much time talking about other teams in the conference. Focus on yourself king.
67) Cal — Has so much potential with those trumpets but they take it down such a boring, not hype route. They should have done so much more with the trumpets.
68) Arizona — A somewhat catchy tune but it’s boring and super not hype. So clappy.
69) Auburn — Another highly overrated song. It’s hollow, it’s boring, the punchiness has no punch, the melody is pretty lame.
70) Washington State — Not bad, but leaves you wanting more.
71) Illinois — Once again: Not bad, but leave you wanting more.
72) Oregon State — And once again: it just doesn’t give you much.
73) Arizona State — Just sounds manufactured, like they changed 3 notes around from several different fight songs, you know?
74) TCU — Super, super meh. Doesn’t really go anywhere. Lame.
75) BYU — Yeah it’s a kind of energetic brassy sound but what is the melody in that intro? It completely throws me off. Main chorus isn’t atrocious but even that is super simple. Also a clappy one.
76) South Carolina — Cocks will definitely struggle to get going with this dumb song with a weird melody that keeps acting like it’s going to go somewhere and makes little sense as you go.
77) Mississippi State — I mean this stinks. Boring. Yeah it twirls up and down but a lame, lame melody.
78) FSU — Super slow and boring. A little unique but who cares. You know why they play the war chant all game? Because this song stinks.
- HOWEVER: The war chant itself… it’s so simple and annoying and I hate it but it wears you the hell down over 4 hours and it’s powerful and such elite brass puncturing your psyche (when FSU is actually good) and I hate to admit it but it is one of the best sounds in college football. Definitely top 5 (maybe top 3?) non-fight-song sound.
79) Maryland — Pretty lame melody that travels around but doesn’t really go anywhere.
80) Indiana — Not hype. Way too much flute. At least the melody isn’t atrocious. But it’s too chipper and weird. Not a fan.
81) UNC — Melody is way too busy, don’t like the structure, this stinks.
82) Duke — Melody is bad. Not hype. There’s at least some brass. But this still is pretty stinky. This is another one that I’m curious how people are high on.
83) Washington — Horrendous. The melody is kind of a wild mystery throughout, and it’s super slow and lacks energy too. Your boys are there with bells huh? There’s a reason that Washington blares an alarm that drowns out its marching band when the team runs on the field.
84) Stanford — Referring to “Come Join the Band” here. This song is so boring, melody stinks, total lack of energy. This song is so bad that Stanford no longer even uses it as their fight song at sporting events; they use the English rock band Free’s “All Right Now”, which is not a bad song in itself, but it isn’t a college football fight song, that’s for sure. I guess that’s why the Farm always looks like the worst energy in college football, because they don’t even have a real fight song. Bang those cymbals in this stupid march for your loyal serpentine comrades you losers. The categorical WORST.
You know what? Screw it. I’ll include a video of “All Right Now” too from after these guys won the freaking ROSE BOWL and twelve fans stuck around to watch the band play this stupid, weak rendition. It’s spitting in the face of the pageantry of college football, and they aren’t even doing it in a cool way.
So there you have it! That’s your official rankings from 1–84!
I also have included some summary conference statistics to provide those regional bragging rights that I know everyone craves:
- As it turns out, even as it relates to fight songs, It Just Means More. There is some truly elite-level talent coming out of the Southeastern Conference given that the conference represents 40% of the Top 10 (and 60% of the Top 5). Having 3 songs ranked in the bottom 25 may come as a bit of a surprise to some, but I’m just glad that Vanderbilt isn’t the Vanderbilt of the fight song rankings for the SEC.
- The Big 10 lacks the elite-level quality of the SEC, but it is a very deep conference, with 6 top-25 ranked fight songs. Again, this is pretty reminiscent of rankings for the gridiron itself: a conference with a lot of fringe contenders with only 1 truly elite talent to compete against the top dogs nationally. Except in this case it’s Michigan, not Ohio State. Which is not encouraging for the conference.
- The American Athletic Conference has some low key excellent musical talent! And it’s even better than this table describes: East Carolina narrowly misses the top 25 as the #26 fight song, and Cincinnati gives the AAC 4 teams ranked in the top 34. Not bad!
- Some Independents do have some elite musical talent. They also can be horrendous. But while we’re on this note…
- Notre Dame’s positioning on becoming a full-time member of the ACC isn’t much different in this contest than it is on the gridiron. Again, while Notre Dame falls in elite territory, the ACC has no elite fight songs to their name, and only 3 fight songs that are competitive. Meanwhile, the conference has 6 fight songs ranked in the bottom 25. Why would Notre Dame dilute its image and strength of musical schedule by fully joining a conference with such a weak musical pedigree?
- But even the ACC isn’t as bad as the Pac 12. A joke of a conference from a fight song perspective, with only UCLA sneaking into the top 25 at #22. Meanwhile, the conference makes up a whopping 28% of the bottom 25, including the two worst fight songs in the country.
