My first semester in college has been nothing short of the perfect combination of the essentials of Southern living: God, sweet tea and SEC football.
Fact: the Southeastern Conference is the greatest college football conference of all time.
I can hear my dad now: “You cannot love a contractual agreement. The SEC is just Alabama and a bunch of wannabes that think they rule the world”. If you can’t tell, I grew up on Big 12 football, specifically Texas football. When I was younger it was a lot of fun (i.e. 2006 Rose Bowl HOOKEM HORNS), sadly the older I got the less fun it got. Before college, SEC football was something I could only dream about and follow on Twitter. Now I’m not saying I chose Ole Miss because it was a founding member of the SEC in 1933, but it was a nice perk. When I announced my college decision, I was congratulated on not just my decision to continue my education at one of the top universities in the South, but also my decision to join the best football conference in the country.
I am #blessed that I got to spend my first SEC football season at a university with the greatest game day experience of all time. Unfortunately, my Rebs were not as great as the Grove, but let’s be honest will anything ever be as good as the Grove. For those of you that are scratching your heads at the term “The Grove”, the Grove is the site of the best tailgating in the South. Tucked in the middle of campus is 10 acres of prime tailgating ground where everyone from alumni to the Honors College to frats and sororities pitch up their tents, decorated with chandeliers and fully catered mind you, to celebrate everyone’s favorite holiday: game day. Despite our terrible record (6-6, 3-5 in the SEC), an interim head coach (Matt Luke may or may not be my head coach), an injured quarterback (sorry Shea, Ta’amu is my new bae) and the heartbreaking losses (here’s looking to you Arkansas), I still had an amazing first season as a real life member of the SEC.
Rivalries are no joke in college football, especially in the SEC. Lucky me, my first real home SEC game was against LSU (no offense Vandy). It was a culture shock to say the least. Items were thrown, “Go to hell LSU” was yelled by fans of all ages, people were arrested, police had to form a human wall between the students and the visitors, it was stuff I had only seen in movies. I now understood why my die-hard Longhorn fan of a father never took me to Texas-OU. I take my college football very seriously, but some people see it as a type of religion.
Now there is no bad blood between Ole Miss and Texas A&M, but that didn’t stop me from going all out on game day. Nothing gets a Texas girl’s burnt orange blood boiling like playing the Fighting Farmers of Texas A&M. Unfortunately, my Rebs couldn’t beat the Aggies this time. Everyone knows Ole Miss may not have won the game, but we always win the party, except for maybe when our tents blow away.
My new membership in the Ole Miss football family brought me a new Thanksgiving tradition: the Egg Bowl. I wore my Beat State button all day and it worked. My dad commented on how natural it was to dislike State, but in all honesty if you dress any team up in maroon, my dad will cheer against them. It is as if I am genetically inclined to hate agriculture universities that wear maroon. It has been 6 years since Texas and A&M have played on Thanksgiving and my favorite football clip of all time will always be Justin Tucker making that 40 yard field goal to win that final match up.
I have so much to be thankful for this year: my family, my new friends, my faith and, last but certainly not least, the SEC. I would like to thank the Southeastern Conference for welcoming this Big 12 girl into your wonderful family and for showing me that it is possible to fall in love with a contractual agreement.
Are you ready for next season?
HYDR