Besides the obvious crowd size and location differences, Columbia has enough school spirit and a strong enough culture to rival that of the SEC and other FBS teams.

Coming from a small town in Georgia, my experience with football is day-long tailgates, large banners hanging from mailboxes, Monday morning quarterbacks, and 100,000-person stadiums. My classmates would spend downtime between classes arguing about the games over the weekend. It has always been an extreme experience that normally ends in “Roll tide!” or “Go Dawgs!”

This vitriol was not present on Columbia’s opening day (although it will probably come out more during Ivy League matchups); however, I can safely say that the gameday experience of Columbia football this season has taken on the same passion and excitement.

A large crowd of fans can be seen in the Columbia stands (bottom)

The game started the same way as all SEC games I have seen: “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses was blaring (a Southern football favorite, don’t ask me why) and a hype video played on the jumbotron. During the game, whenever Lafayette reached third down, the announcer yelled “It’s third down!” with AC/DC’s “Hells Bells” playing after it, another SEC staple. The fans even behaved the same, yelling at the refs and standing and waving their arms saying, “Where’s the flag?” for a missed penalty. I even saw a person ringing a cowbell!

Beyond the game, the music during time-outs and the dance team performance were similar to (and in the case of the dance team, arguably better than) all FBS football.

Columbia University Dance Team during their halftime performance

These might seem like quite innocuous details, but they prove that Columbia is a more serious football team than they are thought to be. I had just as much fun, if not more, at the Columbia game than at SEC games. Everyone is just as passionate about the game as Georgia fans are about their games. I encourage everyone to go out and support the Lions this year. It is truly an incredible experience.

Also, for those thinking that Columbia does not have the skill to be compared to the SEC, Vanderbilt is an SEC team and they lost to Georgia State, where Columbia beat Lafayette, a ranked team, 31-20. If Columbia played against Vanderbilt, I think the Lions could leave victorious.

Columbia simply has more spirit.

Football play, stadium, and dance team via author