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Gators, Sooners Rich With Tradition

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By JOEY JOHNSTON

jjohnston@tampatrib.com

Published: January 8, 2009

IAMI - Some fans might prefer orange and blue.

Others go for crimson and cream.

But one thing is beyond debate: The Florida Gators and Oklahoma Sooners have two of the most distinguished and colorful football traditions in America.

Somebody will get the leg up tonight when the Gators and Sooners meet for the first time ever - with the BCS title at stake - at Dolphin Stadium.

Here's a look at football pageantry and lore in each program:

NATIONAL TITLES

Oklahoma (7)

Oklahoma

•Bud Wilkinson (1947-63) - Wilkinson was 145-29-4. He won three national titles and led the Sooners to 47 straight victories from 1953 to 1957 and his teams were unbeaten in 74 straight conference games from 1946 to 1959.

•Barry Switzer (1973-88) - Switzer was 157-29-4. He won three national titles (the 1974 team, on probation, was voted No. 1 by the Associated Press).

•Bob Stoops (1999-present) - Stoops is 109-23. He won the 2000 national title and two other teams (2003, 2004) lost in the BCS Championship Game.

Florida

•Ray Graves (1960-69) - Graves was 70-31-4. The Gators won in four of his five bowl appearances. His 1969 team - the "Super Sophs" - finished 9-1-1 and was the first in school history to win nine games.

•Steve Spurrier (1990-2001) - Spurrier was 122-27-1 with six outright SEC titles. He won one national title and reached one other championship game, losing to Nebraska 62-24 at the 1996 Fiesta Bowl.

•Urban Meyer (2005-present) - Meyer is 43-9. He won one national title and has two SEC championships.

FAN ACTIVITIES

Oklahoma

•The Ruf/Neks shoot off pop guns in the end zone and heckle the opposition. In 2005, then-Nebraska coach Bill Callahan referred to them as "a bunch of expletive hillbillies."

Florida

•The Gator Chomp, with fans' arms simulating the snapping snout of an alligator, is performed to the music from "Jaws."

TRADITIONS

Oklahoma

•The Sooner Schooner - It's a covered Conestoga wagon, powered by matching white ponies (named Boomer and Sooner). After OU scores, it ventures onto the field for a triumphant victory ride. It was introduced in 1964 and became the school's official mascot in 1980.

•Boomer Sooner - The fight song, using the tune from Yale University's "Boola Boola" debuted in 1905 and later included an addition from North Carolina's "I'm a Tarheel Born."

•Oklahoma! - The Pride of Oklahoma band plays the final rousing chorus of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical, the state's most popular and recognizable song, from 1943.

Florida

•Mr. Two Bits - Since 1949, George Edmondson, a Tampa resident, has led the renditions of "Two Bits, Four Bits, Six Bits, a Dollar - All for the Gators, Stand Up and Holler!" He did a mass pregame cheer on the field, then moved from section to section during the game. Edmondson just retired from the tradition, but the "Two Bits" cheer will live on in some fashion.

•The Boys From Old Florida - At the end of the third quarter, the band strikes up, "We Are The Boys From Old Florida." Gator fans stand together and sway left and right, arm-in-arm, while singing the traditional tune.

•The Orange And Blue - In a relatively new Urban Meyer-inspired tradition, Florida players sing the school's fight song, "The Orange and Blue," after each home game, joining the band and student section.

OKLAHOMA'S FINEST

Our choices for the 10 best players in Oklahoma football history:

Our choices for the 10 best players in Florida football history:

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