College Football: Ranking the 20 best schools for tailgating in 2017

Tailgating is a staple for college football gamedays, especially among the major college football programs. But who’s experience is the best?

Tailgating has become a staple of college football season, just as much as the games themselves. It gives fans a way to connect with other fans in the same community and get excited for the game hours before kickoff. Some fans even look forward more so to tailgating than the actual game.

However, a lot of that depends on what school you’re a fan of. Some colleges do tailgating right. Other’s don’t. And just because you’re a top-notch football program, it does not mean that you have one of the best tailgating scenes in the country.

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Schools like East Carolina, Arizona State, West Virginia, Iowa State, North Dakota State, etc. do not have the biggest football programs or fan bases in the country, but all of them get down for tailgating season. Some fans even just go to the tailgates without going into the game itself. And they’ll stay at the tailgate for the entire game. It has become somewhat of a social event for the entire campus.

The metrics considered for this list include tradition, size of the tailgates, excitement surrounding the program, and any special parts of the tailgating scene (i.e. the cabooses at South Carolina and sailgating with Tennessee and Washington).

Now, let’s take a look at the 20 best colleges for tailgating in 2017.