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Tailgating at USC Football Games
Partying on Campus and at the Coliseum
The USC campus is alive with pre-game tailgate action.
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The USC-UCLA Rivalry
The prime cheer for USC fans is "Fight On." But when it comes to tailgating for home games at the Los Angeles Coliseum, it's more like "Party On."
Sometimes it seems as if the "Conquest" is not the song but the continued consumption of cocktails.
Like the city that surrounds it, the tailgate scene for USC games is as spread out as Los Angeles.The alumni tackle their tailgating in the parking lots by Exposition Park and the Sports Arena (the only action it gets all year, other than the filming of American Gladiators) around the Coliseum. Various Trojan clubs from the many cities that comprise L.A., have designated areas where tents are loaded with drinks and catered food. And security checking guest lists to discourage gate crashers.
Trojan babes are part of the scene at USC tailgating parties..
The students prefer to party where students party best – on campus. The Coliseum is on city property but across a 38th Street sits university. A walkway leads directly to a central gathering area with a large fountain and the landmark Tommy Trojan statue.
Thousands crowd in the area. They have coolers filled with cocktails and either park it or wander around the massive grounds. Mingling is at a priority here, making it like a friendly nightclub or, more accurately, a street or music festival.
A pregame highlight is the band starting the walk on campus.
About an hour and a half before kickoff, the USC Marching Band arrives and lines up to play to the crowd. The flag girls hold the crowd at bay and then the band pulls down their instruments, turns toward the Coliseum and begins their march through campus to the stadium. They are led by the famous Song Girls, loud drums announce their presence long before their arrival,and fans come running from all directions to get a glimpse.
 One big aspect is that at USC games, many people are just there to party.The weather is always great, the atmosphere is ideal and the football team so good that it lacks the sheer intensity of, say, a game in the South or Midwest. It's kicked-back craziness.
A few fans don't have tickets or even bother to go into the game. Instead, they prefer to patrol the ground around the stadium. Two bar areas to the public are set up.One is courtesy of Blue 32, a happening bar/lounge in Hermosa Beach where for $5 people get a drink coupon, have couches in front of TVs, access to a full bar and a Mexican food cart.
Those without tickets gather at the Blue 32 tent or the Sports Arena.
Another is at the Sports Arena, which has a full bar set up with TVs, some seats and a food station. Tickets, who needs tickets!? For some big games, such as UCLA, prime party people actually prefer this to going inside the stadium (as we said, this isn't exactly Alabama-Auburn).
Tailgating at USC games is hardly college football's premier pre-game party. That belongs to The Grove at Ole Miss, any LSU or Florida State night game and, most certainly, the annual World's Largest Cocktail Party between Georgia and Florida in Jacksonville.
Nor is the band's march to the Coliseum the ultimate experience. The University of Tennessee band's campus walk directly into Neyland Stadium and the "splitting of the T" is better, and at Ohio State it is a cherished honor to be chosen to "dot the i" in Ohio on the field.
But there is certainly something else that USC has above over an other school. That comes after the games. It's not just the seemingly endless string of impressive victories but a post-game celebration like none other anywhere.
After games, the band marches from the stands to in front of the student section where they are joined by the Song Girls. There, they play USC songs like "Conquest" and "Tusk" while the Song Girls dance. It's entertaining and the perfect finish to a great party
The band plays, the Song Girls dance and the fans enjoy the victories
 College
Football Rivalries – USC-UCLA
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