The regular season has ended, and for many of you, this means your tailgating season is now over. For those of you who’s team has made it to the post season, an entirely new tailgating season awaits you! While every division of college football have great tailgating, not all divisions have the same post season format.
In the FBS schools you have a series of conference championship games and bowl games. In the FCS, Division II, and Division III, you have a playoff system. To explore the two models, on December 3rd 2011, I visited an Appalachian State playoff game and the ACC Championship.
Appalachian State is an FCS division school. In the FCS (formerly Division IAA) there is a playoff system to determine its champion. After the regular season, teams are selected by winning their conference or chosen by a committee. They are seeded in a bracket and the playoff games are played in the stadium of the higher ranked team. For this 2nd round game, Appalachian State was facing Maine. With App being the higher seed, the playoff game was to be held in Boone.
As you may recall, earlier on the season I spent a full day tailgating in Boone, so I was pretty familiar with the area.I arrived in Boone pretty early, so I was able to see several tailgaters cooking up breakfast before the big game. This tailgater was pouring pancakes.
In addition to breakfast, App fans could be seen starting their morning with games of cornhole.
The benefit to the FCS model of post season tailgating is that you could potentially have 3 more home games to tailgate at! Tailgating at home allows you to tailgate in the same spot you did all season.
Earlier in the season, I met Charlie and Big C’s Tailgate. In my return to App, I was excited to see that they were tailgating in the same spot! In October, they were cooking a deep fried turkey. Today’s menu consisted of delicious Shrimp Po Boys!
Light crispy fried shrimp, lettuce, tomato, and Charlie’s “Angry Mayonnaise” A perfect way to celebrate postseason football.
With it being December in the NC mountains theses were a must to have at a tailgate.
Propane powered heaters. When the temperature is below freezing in the morning, these are what you need to stay warm!
Other than the snow behind the stadium, postseason tailgating at home is very similar to a regular season game!
Around noon, I left Boone and headed to Charlotte for the ACC Championship game. This FBS match between Clemson and Virginia Tech was for the ACC Championship and a trip to the Orange Bowl! Unlike the FCS playoff system, the FBS model has its post season match ups played on a neutral site. These match ups are usually far from a University’s campus and often take place in NFL stadiums. In this case, the ACC Championship took place at the Carolina Panther’s Stadium in Charlotte.
I have seen both Virginia Tech and Clemson in regular season play, so I was aware of what to expect from these fan bases when it comes to colors and traditions. What I found in downtown Charlotte was an atmosphere very similar to what you would find in these college towns. The only differences was the setting.
In Blacksburg and Clemson, the back drop to your tailgate was beautiful old historical buildings and the beauty of a college campus. In downtown Charlotte, the backdrop consists of skyscrapers and an NFL stadium. With this being a neutral site, there was no “home team” advantage. I saw an even mix of both Virginia Tech and Clemson Fans. To my surprise, I ran into some familiar faces right after I parked my car.
On top is the tailgating group who introduced me to bacon wrapped corn. On the bottom is Matt. The tailgating fan who drove is 2001 “Hokie” Grand AM to every VA Tech game this season.
While the venue might be different, the tailgating food found in Charlotte, was just as good as what I saw in Clemson and Blacksburg.
In the parking lots around Bank of America Stadium there was everything from steamed oysters to
Steak kabobs and BBQ chicken!
There were also sides like
fruit kabobs and a football shaped cake!
Whether your team is an FCS school with playoff games at home or a FBS school and takes its post season play to a neutral site, there is plenty of great tailgating left once the season ends! There are advantages and disadvantages to both. With the FCS playoff model, you get the benefit of home games. The downside is that having a home game that is dictated by your team’s ranking in the playoff bracket. You have to be the higher seed to have home field. When you win and advance, you will only have a weeks notice before the next game. The FBS model’s advantage is that you will have several week notice before your conference championship game or bowl game. The disadvantage is that you will have to travel to a neutral site for your tailgate. Regardless of which model your team plays in, post season tailgating gives you one or two more opportunities to continue your tailgating season! So enjoy it!
