Ultimate college football fan tailgating essentials guide

If you’re a college football fan you undoubtedly love to tailgate. Here’s a handy guide to help make yours a fantastic party.

Last season I put together a perfect playlist for your college football tailgating. This year, the focus will be on the food, accessories, and decorations to make you the talk of tailgate-town.

This guide is to go beyond just the standard wings and beer most people serve. If you’re tailgating, you’ve probably already got the basics down. No need to tell you how to open a bag of chips.

For starters, you’ll want to be sure your team is well represented at your tailgate. Whether you yell Fear the Frog, Fight On, Go Dawgs, War Eagle, Go Blue or Rooooooll Tide, our friends at Fanatics have the gear you need to personalize your tailgate.

Planning on some Cornhole before the game? Fanatics has some great team-themed cornhole sets for you. Check out this Alabama Crimson Tide edition.

Tents, jackets, flags, banners, coolers…you name it, and you’ll find it branded for your team at Fanatics.

You can even create some really nice ambiance at your tailgate with some colored laser lights from BlissLights. They have a variety of colors and laser patterns emitting from the bulbs that can really enhance the feel of your party indoors or at night. You can even put some motion lights and LED spotlights out to really give your tailgate a fancy feel.

Once you have your spot decked out to the fullest with all your team gear, you can concentrate on the important parts of a successful tailgate…

Food and beverages!

Sauce Up Your Food

If a grill is involved in your tailgate (and shame on you if it isn’t) then you’ll need some marinades and sauces to help bring out the flavor in your favorite meats. The good folks at Moore’s Marinades and Sauces have you (and your meats) covered.

Whether you are a traditional sauce person, or if you like to shake it up a little, there’s something at Moore’s for you. Like a little extra kick in your sauce? Give the Moore’s Habanero Hot Sauce a try on just about anything, but have a little milk or chocolate handy when you do!

If that bottle of peppery goodness isn’t enough to bring a few beads of sweat to your forehead, then you may want to head over to Ghost Scream, where salsas and sauces are not for the faint of heart.

Ghost Scream took the challenge of taking one of the hottest peppers known to man – the ghost pepper – and turning that into some sauces everyone can enjoy.

Their signature original hot sauce is delicious, but if you’d like to add a little extra sizzle to your steak, chicken or pork, give the Ghost Scream Chili Garlic Paste a try.

Beverage Holders

How in the world are you going to wash down all these delicious and spicy treats? Well, while beer may be the most common liquid ingredient at any tailgate, you’ll want to have some wine on hand for those who may not have a taste for a carbonated adult beverage.

Traditional wine glasses aren’t very practical at a tailgate party, and no one wants to enjoy a tasty sangria out of a plastic cup. Have some insulated, spill-proof wine tumblers from Swig on hand, and your wine-drinking friends will hail you a tailgate conqueror.

Swig has a variety of sizes, styles, and colors to suit your needs.

Party Sweets

No tailgate can be complete without some sweets to accompany the grilled goodness and snacks. We have two recommendations of fabulous sugary temptations that look and taste great.

Did someone say pizza? No, not that kind of pizza, but how about a chocolate pizza from the Chocolate Pizza Company? You can customize a pizza with different toppings and decorations, or get yourself a bag of their Peanut Butter Wings as a sweet-and-salty snack. You can’t go wrong with chocolate.

A s’mores chocolate pizza? Yes, please!

If you want some bite-sized (and I use that term loosely) sweets that are gluten-free, then check out Meli’s Monster Cookies. These delicious cookies are available in a dry mix for you to make as you need them (or you can buy the pre-baked cookies) and are high in fiber and protein. Healthy treats never tasted this good.

Recovery

Recovery time? We all need it after a long weekend of partying and football. Here are two great recovery helps to get you going for that Monday morning grind again.

If you like coffee then you’ll love the variety and delicious natural coffees offered by Swell Coffee Co.  Always shipped to you fresh, these coffee beans will be a great step towards getting your mind and body back to work. The beans are ready to grind when you get them, with lots of flavors to choose from.

If a boost of caffeine isn’t enough to restart your engine and get you feeling somewhat normal again, then add in a little collagen protein in the form of BUBS’ Natural Collagen Peptide. This product will promote some healing from the inside out, providing your body with the amino acid glycine to help supports metabolic functions and get your body recharged.

Music, food, drinks, and recovery. Everything you need to help prepare for the game and to cheer your team on.