B1G 2016 // Indiana TRADITIONS! (Traditions!) TRADITIONS! (Traditions!)

It's traditional for the Wednesday article of each team week here on OTE to be about the traditions of the school, and why should we break from that tradition? Without further adieu, Indiana Traditions!

Football specific traditions:

The Walk

Approximately two hours and fifteen minutes before each Indiana home football game, the team and coaches walk over from Assembly Hall, where the team busses park, to Memorial Stadium, passing through a gauntlet of fans that include the Marching Hundred, the cheerleaders, and any other fans who wish to be a part of the experience. It's a recent addition to the game day festivities, but one that's worth seeing at least once if you plan on attending a Hoosier football game.

The Marching Hundred

As part of the pregame ceremonies, the Marching Hundred plays a quick show about 20 minutes before game time, and the centerpiece of that show is always the Indiana Fanfare, a medley of songs traditional to the University. Included are Indiana, Our Indiana (the official fight song), Indiana Fight (not to be confused with the fight song), and Hail to Old IU (the alma mater).

They also play a halftime show, which if you appreciate collegiate marching bands is something you'll want to stick around for. Usually, there's also a postgame show, if you're willing to stick around a while after the game, but that one is understandably less well-attended.

The Victory Flag

The newest Indiana tradition, when IU football comes home victorious, a large flag is raised in the southeast corner of Memorial Stadium.

If the last game of the year for the Hoosiers is a win, the flag will continue to fly until at least the start of the next football season. I cannot confirm if the athletic department counts postseason play for keeping the flag up or not, so there's a chance the flag has been flying for months now.

An IU Athletic tradition: Championships

Indiana has a long history of winning championships, be they conference or national, and in many occasions, both. The university recognizes 24 NCAA team national champions: 8 men's soccer titles, 6 consecutive men's swimming and diving titles, 5 men's basketball championships, 3 cross country titles, an outdoor track and field title, and an unofficial wrestling title that the NCAA recognizes from a season in which the sport was not officially sponsored. There is also a women's tennis team title from when the AIAW governed women's sports separately from the NCAA.

On an individual basis, Hoosier athletes have brought home 141 national championships, including 84 swimming and diving titles, 24 outdoor track and field titles, 15 indoor track and field titles, 11 wrestling titles, 5 cross country titles, and a men's gymnastics champion.

The Hoosiers have also claimed 172 Big Ten regular season championships across 20 different sports, and a further 18 Big Ten tournament championships, primarily from men's soccer (12 time tournament champions). Water polo has also won 3 conference championships under the banner of the Collegiate Water Polo Association, since the Big Ten does not have a conference for water polo.

Tailgating

At Indiana, tailgating is serious business. SERIOUS. BUSINESS. Got it? Good.