Photo courtesy of Louisiana Tech athletics
Welcome back to the ninth of 13 installments where we rank all 130 FBS fight songs!
BACKGROUND
Fight songs are one of, if not the, best parts of college athletics. Everyone knows their university’s fight song.
Each week, 10 teams will be covered, starting with No. 130, and ending with the No. 1 fight song. This is designed to carry fans past the midway point of the darkness that is the FBS offseason.
This is perhaps the most subjective ranking list you’ll read all offseason. Any and all feedback can be directed to @CJOlson2000 on Twitter — whether it be positive or negative. But also remember that this is one man’s opinions on fight songs.
Also, even the worst fight songs are still enjoyable; they just are worse than their counterparts.
This took close to eight hours to complete, and that’s before turning it into 13 weekly articles. If someone is upset and feels so inclined, they’re welcome to listen and then grade all 130 FBS fight songs. It could be made into a weekly activity that’s updated as articles are published.
Lastly, there’s a possibility that the wrong song was used. If the wrong song was considered for a team and it negatively impacted their ranking, we are very sorry.
CRITERIA CONSIDERED
There were three factors considered for each team’s fight song.
1. FLOW
Did the song flow from beginning to end in a smooth way? This was given a weight of 25%.
The average flow score was 6.7016.
2. CROWD FACTOR
Is the crowd getting into it? Fight songs are designed to engage the crowd and get the crowd going, because this is the purpose of a fight song; this was given a 50% weight.
The average crowd factor score was 6.7137.
3. NOSTALGIA/FEEL-GOOD FACTOR
How much does this trigger the nostalgia of someone who put thousands of hours into NCAA football video games back when they had fight songs in the main menu?
Some teams newer to FBS do have a little bit of a disadvantage here. To make up for that, there is also a ‘feel-good factor’ incorporated. Fight songs should give listeners a great feeling, hence the reason for this category.
It’s fairly self-explanatory, but also the most subjective of the categories. This was given a 25% weight.
The average nostalgia/feel-good score was 6.8189.
The average overall score was 6.7370.
As a disclaimer, this final category was where biases shone through the most. For the first two categories, an attempt to be as unbiased as possible was made.
To avoid ties as best as possible, each factor’s score is given to four decimal places. Even with that, there was coincidentally two ties.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Lyrics and vocals were not considered unless it dominates the song and is what is predominantly coming across for a brief section. To remain uniform across the board, vocals and lyrics were only considered for these brief sections instead of for the full song.
PREVIOUS ARTICLES
If you’re interested in reading the rankings revealed so far without going through individual articles, that can found here.
Let’s get back to the rankings!
T50. San Diego State
| Flow | Crowd Factor | Nostalgia/Feel Good | Overall | |
| Rating | 6.8915 | 7.4139 | 6.7735 | 7.1232 |
| Rank (Conf.) | 62/130 (4/12) | 37/130 (3/12) | 70/130 (6/12) | 50/130 (4/12) |
This one is not quite top of the line, but definitely deserving of the top 50.
The break in the middle is a little too separated in flow from the rest of the song, but it does help the crowd factor a bit.
T50. Georgia Tech
| Flow | Crowd Factor | Nostalgia/Feel Good | Overall | |
| Rating | 6.8583 | 7.7114 | 6.2118 | 7.1232 |
| Rank (Conf.) | 65/130 (8/14) | 31/130 (4/14) | 86/130 (9/14) | 50/130 (7/14) |
Lyrics are very cool, but unfortunately for Georgia Tech, this exercise is done sans lyrics.
As for the rest of the song, it’s not top of the line like many online seem to think it is. It is frequently placed at the top of online lists for both ACC songs, and the FBS as a whole. As for this list, it sits tied for 50th, and that seems more than fair.
48. Wisconsin
| Flow | Crowd Factor | Nostalgia/Feel Good | Overall | |
| Rating | 7.3811 | 7.4211 | 6.4334 | 7.1642 |
| Rank (Conf.) | 41/130 (7/14) | 36/130 (7/14) | 79/130 (9/14) | 48/130 (9/14) |
As far as the Big Ten goes, this is a fairly average song. But thankfully for Wisconsin, it is in a great conference as far as fight songs go.
It’s missing a certain je ne sais quoi that would really elevate it into the upper echelon, especially in the nostalgia/feel good factor. That is a shame, because it’s instantly recognizable, but somehow, it doesn’t trigger that elated feeling some songs ranked ahead do.
47. Memphis
| Flow | Crowd Factor | Nostalgia/Feel Good | Overall | |
| Rating | 8.1185 | 5.8578 | 8.8934 | 7.1819 |
| Rank (Conf.) | 18/130 (2/11) | 101/130 (6/11) | 13/130 (2/11) | 47/130 (3/11) |
We’re all for a good drum roll to start a song off.
A good (and unequivocally specific) sign of a solid fight song is if it can be hummed after being paused mid-play. In the process of taking notes, we were able to continue to hum along after pausing for said note taking.
There’s a few seconds at the beginning where it’s like the music equivalent of where people bump into each other and keep going in the same direction to pass. It also gets a touch disjointed in the middle at one spot, but that doesn’t hurt the song too much.
What hurts it is that it doesn’t scream “Memphis” when you hear it. That’s not a good sign for crowd factor, since a song’s recognizability is often linked with a fan base’s adoration of the song.
Lastly, the song definitely sticks the landing well. For the most part, this is a great, great fight song.
46. Louisiana
| Flow | Crowd Factor | Nostalgia/Feel Good | Overall | |
| Rating | 8.3158 | 6.2415 | 7.9513 | 7.1875 |
| Rank (Conf.) | 15/130 (1/10) | 84/130 (6/10) | 36/130 (1/10) | 46/130 (1/10) |
There’s some very good nostalgic vibes from this song. It flows extremely well.
However, how much gusto does this song really bring to the table (and therefore the crowd)? Not enough to bump it into the top 20 where it could easily be.
45. Syracuse
| Flow | Crowd Factor | Nostalgia/Feel Good | Overall | |
| Rating | 7.4983 | 6.6561 | 7.9983 | 7.2022 |
| Rank (Conf.) | 36/130 (4/14) | 71/130 (10/14) | 33/130 (6/14) | 45/130 (6/14) |
This one comes with big nostalgia and feel good vibes from the NCAA Football games, so a big plus in Syracuse’s favor.
It’s very similar to Louisiana in that it lacks the necessary ‘oomph’ to carry it a little higher. Does it have a high enough recognizability factor for the average football fan? Not really. But, at least it doesn’t do anything wrong.
44. Louisiana Tech
| Flow | Crowd Factor | Nostalgia/Feel Good | Overall | |
| Rating | 7.1136 | 6.9981 | 7.7831 | 7.2232 |
| Rank (Conf.) | 53/130 (5/14) | 58/130 (5/14) | 43/130 (5/14) | 44/130 (5/14) |
Did not realize this was Louisiana Tech’s, so that’s exciting to hear a memorable tune and have it be from a smaller school. A little short which causes the crowd factor to be the lowest, because it felt like there was a little bit more juice to squeeze.
All in all, very good. Any school would be happy to have this as its fight song, and it could be in the top 10 or 15 range if it were about 20 seconds longer with a little something in the middle.
43. Georgia
| Flow | Crowd Factor | Nostalgia/Feel Good | Overall | |
| Rating | 7.6531 | 7.2215 | 7.1381 | 7.3086 |
| Rank (Conf.) | 34/130 (8/14) | 42/130 (10/14) | 55/130 (10/14) | 43/130 (11/14) |
Short in the good way, but unfortunately, it feels like it lacks a little substance.
Something that is a very good sign is that it’s unique but also maintains a ‘Saturday afternoon, college football feel’.
42. Miami
| Flow | Crowd Factor | Nostalgia/Feel Good | Overall | |
| Rating | 7.2256 | 7.0455 | 8.1143 | 7.3577 |
| Rank (Conf.) | 46/130 (6/14) | 50/130 (7/14) | 30/130 (5/14) | 42/130 (5/14) |
Sorry Miami, you finish fourth in the state. So, congratulations to Florida International for sneaking onto the podium with Florida and Florida State.
As for Miami, this is still a classic fight song. Not quite top tier, but definitely a solid candidate for this second tier of 25 to 50.
It’s also great as an earworm that comes with major nostalgia vibes from having used Miami so many times in NCAA Football.
41. Southern Mississippi
| Flow | Crowd Factor | Nostalgia/Feel Good | Overall | |
| Rating | 7.4334 | 7.1138 | 7.8351 | 7.3740 |
| Rank (Conf.) | 38/130 (4/14) | 47/130 (4/14) | 41/130 (4/14) | 41/130 (4/14) |
Here’s another smaller school that provides a lot of nostalgia from the NCAA Football games, which is always appreciated. So far, these lists have been anti-chanting, but the chanting in this one is the right amount and is when the song dictates when chanting should occur.
The cut of this song’s jib is really solid; this is a quality song that doesn’t try too hard but still makes a big impact.
STILL TO COME: THE TOP 40!
Only 136 more days until FBS college football returns, football fans. Hang tough and see everyone each Wednesday morning for the next installation of ranking FBS fight songs.