The start of the college football season brings excitement and expectation for fans all over the country. Every team is a national title contender and every player has a shot at the Heisman Trophy.

With the beginning of the 2005 season just two days away, everyone is coming out with a list of those who will make an impact and what team to watch. Others are writing about what makes college football great, but that's what makes it great for them. For me, it's about what makes college football great for others. In the South there are stories and traditions that have survived generations and bring about feelings of euphoria or despair.

Nowhere are these feelings more electric than in the South, where, pardon the cliche, football is religion. The two main questions asked by people in the South are where do you go to church, and for whom do you root? Fans take their football seriously, and there's no reason why they shouldn't. Saturdays in the fall are filled with breath-taking spectacles that can get men to fight or drive them to tears.

In Alabama you have two of the greatest football teams of the past 50 years battling each other for recruits and bragging rights. Names like Bryant, Bo and Namath dominate the landscape while "Roll Tide" and "War Eagle" can be heard from Montgomery to Mobile.

In South Carolina, Tigers and Gamecocks roam the cities, a rock is considered sacred and a chicken is menacing. It's where fanatics still argue about Rod Gardener's "push off" and where kids are nicknamed "Big George" or "Fridge." It's remembering where you were during the 1982 Orange Bowl and where 1984 isn't just the name of a book. It's Black Magic, Orange Pants, 2001 and the Tiger Rag. Where 22-21 and 63-17 are more than just numbers.

Down in Georgia, Herschel Walker will forever be known as the greatest.

It's where the "Davids" dominated and Hines Ward played every position known to man. It's where boys, girls, moms, dads and grandparents all woof in unison after a kickoff, and where dawg is spelled with a "W."

In Tennessee, quarterbacks named Martin and Manning are etched into people's brains. Where the fans arrive by boat to cheer on the Vols.

Where over 100,000 people sing "Rocky Top," and where you will see 10 shades of orange in the stands. Where the players run out of the tunnel through a giant "T" and the starting quarterback is conducting the band at the end of big wins. Its Phil Fulmer patrolling a sideline, years after standing on it as a player.

For Florida fans Spurrier was a household name after winning a Heisman Trophy as a player and leading that same school to a national championship as a coach. It's the home of Chief Osceola, the "U" and Gators. Where the chop and chomp are separated by just a letter. Where the likes of Sapp, Irvin, Emmitt and Dunn made names for themselves in the NFL while Wuerffel, Weinke and Warrick have become lost in the shuffle. It's where they had the "Fun n' Gun" and the "Puntroosky." Where FSU became "Free Shoes University" and "Wide Right" still makes some people shudder. In Mississippi the name Manning ranks right up there with Faulkner and the effects can be felt all over Oxford. It's where Bulldogs and Rebels battle for an egg, and where the "Stars and Bars" flies proudly and cowbells are heard all over Starkville.

It's where Dixie is still played in the "Grove" and where the race lines of coaching in the SEC were obliterated by Sylvester Croom.

In Louisiana they take their tailgating very seriously, and "Death Valley" is more than just a name come Saturday night. Where Mike the Tiger stares at the opposing team before they take the field, and the "Golden Band from Tiger Land" gets the crowd worked into a frenzy. Where they wear white at home and crowds get so loud, they register as earthquakes.

It's the "Mighty Sound of the Southeast," the "Million Dollar Band," the "Sound that Shakes the Southland," the "Pride of the Southland Marching Band," the "Redcoat Marching Band" and the "Marching 101," entertaining the crowd at halftime.

Southern football is loaded with tradition and has a fan base that rivals any professional sport in America. All over the South, ladies spend Friday night or Saturday morning cooking for a tailgate, or men get behind a barbecue and hand out hamburgers and hot dogs to whomever might come along wearing the right colors. Where they pray before the game for the university and the student-athletes and every veteran stands a little straighter and wells up with pride when the National Anthem is played. That's what college football is to the South, and that's what it is to me.

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