Tailgates, rituals and attire: University of Kentucky

UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY

Hometown: Lexington

Team: Wildcats

Colors: Blue and white

Tailgating: Jill Risse, an employee at spirit-wear retailer Wildcat Warehouse, described the experience as "huge tents, food, a lot of drinking. People play cornhole.

"You just go out and mark your spot off outside of the stadium. It's ridiculous."

Kentucky fans party outside the stadium and at some of the "party houses" nearby, though football isn't as big as basketball at UK, Risse said.

Food: "It depends on the time of the game," said Gretchen Bower, program coordinator at the UK Alumni Center. 

"A lot of our games got moved up to noon games, so people do the full breakfast buffet. It's pretty active out there. Steaks, hamburgers, etc."

Attire: Everyone is encouraged to wear blue, Bower said. 

Sometimes people dress nicer in blue dresses or sweaters, Risse said, and many fraternities and sororities dress up for huge tailgate parties before the games. 

Rituals: In Kentucky, horse racing and football collide.

"In the month of October, we have a horse-race course called Keeneland Racetrack, and people go there to watch the horse racing and then drive in for the games at night," Bower said. 

The wildcat mascot and Scratch, its child-friendly counterpart, celebrate scores with pushups. 

"Every time we score, they do one-handed pushups on a board held by the cheerleaders," she said. "They do a pushup for every point scored, so if we have 50, they do 50."

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