It’s why we love college football. The team traditions, the family traditions, the rivalries and everything else in between.
Chances are you are a fan of a team because you either went to that school or your dad was a fan, because his dad was a fan, because his dad was a fan. The colors run through your blood.
The University of Oklahoma has many traditions. From the Sooner Schooner to the drum major tilting back, marching down the field before the game to the chants of “Boomer” from one side, with a response of “Sooner” from the other.
There are so many to choose from, but USA TODAY Sports chose one to be in its Tier 1 of traditions in the Big 12. That tradition is the one you see after every Oklahoma score.
The Sooner Schooner — The replica of the Studebaker Conestoga wagon that is the symbol of the University of Oklahoma is one of the best-known images in college sports. Powered by two ponies – Boomer and Sooner – the wagon first appeared at a football game in 1964. It rides on the field after scores, taking a circuitous route from one of the tunnels and back. Most of the time, the celebration goes swimmingly, but there have been a couple of instances where it has broken down and also famously drew a penalty for riding on the field too early in the Orange Bowl in 1985. – Erick Smith USA TODAY Sports
It’s simply one of the best. Not only in the conference but the entire nation. It’s one of the few places that still uses live animals.
I remember my first time seeing the Sooner Schooner as a 6-year-old boy on the half the Schooner runs out on. It was one of the coolest things I had seen, and the crowd was going nuts. I remember being mesmerized, but that soon changed to fear as it turned to head back up the tunnel, thinking a major catastrophe was about to happen.
But of course, the RUF/NEK handling the horse and his passenger duck right before they reach the tunnel and head up the ramp.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has been fooled by that the first time. I mean, I was only a child.
Traditions like that are why we love spending our time at Owen Field on a Saturday. It’s why we are anxiously anticipating the start of the 2023 college football season.
Most importantly, it’s why we love college football.
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