Auburn University (AU), located in Alabama, is known for many things including a rich history of traditions. Perhaps the most popular and cherished tradition at this particular college campus is something current students, alumni, and people local to the area are very familiar with that is known as the Tiger Walk, named after the school mascot which is a tiger.
Auburn usually has six or seven home football games every year that are played in their home football stadium that is named Jordan-Hare Stadium which holds over 87,000 people. The tradition known as the Tiger Walk involves the football players walking from the dorm known as Sewell Hall (a dorm specifically reserved and designed for athletes) to the stadium hours before kickoff. While the football players walk to Jordan-Hare Stadium literally thousands of loyal fans cheer them on in as both a way to show their appreciation and in an effort to get the team pumped up for a strong performance.
The history of the now infamous Tiger Walk dates back to the 1960s when young children would approach football players on their way to the stadium in an effort to collect autographs from their idols. It was former head coach Doug Barfield (head football coach at Auburn from 1976-1980) who is individually credited with encouraging fans to come out and support their players before they arrived at the stadium. Although a number of schools have since taken up some form of this tradition involving cheering on players as they enter the stadium (including SEC rivals the University of Tennessee and the University of Florida) it is Auburn that is credited with developing this popular pregame ritual.
During a typical football season AU usually has about eleven football games on their fall schedule. In addition to the eleven or so games scheduled during the regular season there is potential for as many as two extra games if the team is having a successful season. After the regular season play is completed there is a conference championship game played. As a member of the SEC (Southeastern Conference) West division of the SEC the Auburn Tigers have an opportunity to play in the SEC championship game against the winner of the SEC East if Auburn can win the difficult SEC West. In addition to the SEC Championship game if the Tigers win at least six games the team is bowl eligible which means they will likely be invited to play in a post season bowl game against an opponent from another conference.
The Tiger Walk has become so popular with fans that they emulate it with fewer numbers at road games where the tradition has expanded to cheering on the Auburn Tigers when they walk from the bus into a visiting stadium.
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