Traditions are one reason why college football is the best sport in the world. Each school as their own unique quirks and rituals which help the fan base feel apart of the program. Doing the chants, singing the songs and attending events are important to fans of college football. Wisconsin has figured out a way to get the whole stadium involved. Plenty of people on the internet have told me this is an overrated tradition and I respectfully disagree with their sentiment. With only 23 days left until the college football season begins we are going to talk about Wisconsin’s tradition of Jump Around with today’s 99 Things.
The jump around tradition happens after the third quarter has concluded of every Wisconsin home game. In order to give the stadium an extra jolt of energy they play Jump Around by House of Pain. The tradition started in 1998 when a marketing intern came up with a list of songs for a game where Wisconsin hosted Purdue. Jump Around came on before the start of the fourth quarter with Purdue leading Wisconsin by seven. The student section obeyed the orders given to them by House of Pain which provided a newfound level of energy. Wisconsin would come back to defeat the Boilermakers by a score of 31-24. The Badgers would also finish the season with an 11-1 record and a win in the Rose Bowl.
You truly do not know what you are missing until it is gone. The Covid year saw numerous traditions fade where the season felt abnormal. The start of the 2021 season felt special. Fox knew traditions were missing from college football and put an emphasis on it from the start. Wisconsin hosted Penn State the first week of the season. Typically networks go to commercial during intermissions, especially after the quarter is over. Fox felt it was important to remind fans how meaningful traditions are to the sports where they stayed live on the broadcast. Fans from home were able to feel the energy in the stadium with all 80,000 fans jumping in their seats.
Traditions are great for home teams but opposing teams like to troll them as well. Penn State defeated in Wisconsin in the matchup we previously talked about. Penn State went back to State College and a bar decided to have some fun with the song Jump Around. Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford was a bar later that evening where he made a song request. Clifford was on stage and began playing Jump Around. All of the students in the bar began to jump as if they were the Wisconsin student section. In 2019 Illinois and Ohio State both trolled Wisconsin. Illinois first played the song after upsetting the sixth ranked Badgers. Wisconsin was undefeated while Illinois entered the game with a 2-4 record. The Badgers visited Columbus the following week and were throttled by the Buckeyes. The Buckeyes were getting ready to kickoff while up 38-7 in the fourth quarter when the stadium played Jump Around.
Wisconsin will need the energy this year to make it back to the Big Ten Championship. The Badgers non-conference schedule is highlighted by a visit from Washington State. The Cougars have a new quarterback in Cameron Ward who is likely to be one of the hidden gems in college football. The Big Ten slate features trips to Ohio State, Northwestern, Michigan State, Iowa and Nebraska. Minnesota, Maryland, Illinois and Purdue will get to experience live as they make the trip to Madison. The Badgers have a good team who have a chance at making the Big Ten Championship. When the fourth quarter starts they will be thankful for the extra juice given by House of Pain.
