( CNN ) -- For some fans , tailgating is something to do before a football game . For others , a football game is something to do after tailgating . It 's a religion at various schools , complete with copious amounts of food , games and flat-screen TVs . Even though the weather is cooling off , tailgating season is still heating up . We 're months away from the beginning of the Bowl Championship Series , which begins on January 1 with the Rose Bowl and ends on January 10 with the BCS National Championship . Until then , the best college programs in the country are still fighting for a spot in one of the highly competitive bowl games . And the fans are there every game , diligently camped out for hours -- sometimes days -- to show their support for the home team . CNN.com , with the help of experts at Sports Illustrated , chose five football programs with top tailgating institutions worth a trip . 1 . Louisiana State University Tigers -- Baton Rouge , Louisiana . Tailgating is of prime importance at LSU , and the ritual continues throughout generations of Tiger fans . `` It 's a tradition we want to pass down to our children , '' says Rusty Welch , the creator of Tigertailgating.com . `` We want them to see the camaraderie and spirit that 's centered around the game . '' Welch has been tailgating in the same spot before every home game for 19 years . He and his companions prepare everything from fried shrimp to whole pigs to white chili , changing the menu with every game . `` People in Louisiana take very seriously our food and our football , '' says Randy Rosetta , a football reporter for The Advocate , Baton Rouge 's newspaper . `` Tailgating is a perfect opportunity to wed those two seven or eight times a year . '' The tailgate begins on Thursday night for some diehard fans . Motor homes descend upon Baton Rouge and surround the stadium , setting up camp for the weekend . Season parking sells out quickly , but some spots are available on a game-by-game basis . Walking through the tailgate area offers some of the benefits of actually tailgating . You 'll smell smoke -- either hickory or mesquite -- and bourbon , and if you 're lucky , you 'll get invited to partake in a tailgate already in progress . `` We try to invite the visiting teams to our tailgate as they stroll by , because eventually we 'll be going to their campuses , '' Welch says . `` You hope you meet somebody who will reciprocate . '' A few hours before the game begins , Victory Hill houses a procession for the team and coaches . Fans press in on both sides , cheering the team as it heads to the stadium . `` It 's a Louisiana thing , '' Rosetta says . `` People love to have their parties . It can be a football game . It can be if the sun comes up two days in a row . Football is the heart and soul for a lot of people , and they love to combine an eating party and football . '' Check out other great destinations and tips at Five To Go . 2 . Auburn Tigers -- Auburn , Alabama . There are two types of tailgates taking place at Auburn , though both have the same goal in mind . `` There 's the students who do it in their front yards , then there 's the people who get in their RVs and drive from all over the South and make a whole weekend out of it , '' says David Morrison , a sports reporter for the Opelika-Auburn News . `` It 's not just a game here . It 's a cultural happening . '' As soon as classes let out on Friday , people begin marking their tailgating areas to claim a spot for the game . Mike Clardy , director of university communications for Auburn , estimates that 20,000 or so people show up on game weekends with no intention of actually going to the game . Morrison says the atmosphere gives off an `` oddly familial vibe for a college tailgating scene . '' Even if the University of Alabama , Auburn 's biggest rival , is the visiting team , the Tiger tailgaters invite the opposing fans to come to their cookouts , Clardy says . Fans can expect to find lots of barbecue and souped up RVs , complete with fully functioning entertainment systems for watching the pre-game coverage and other college football games . Two hours before the start of a game , the team arrives on buses and walks through the thousands of people lining the street toward the stadium -- a practice that , due to its popularity , takes place at away games as well . `` I do n't think there 's a better place to tailgate and a better atmosphere for college football than right here at Auburn , '' Clardy says . `` I think away teams would agree . '' 3 . Notre Dame Fighting Irish -- South Bend , Indiana . Though independent of a conference , Notre Dame is steeped in football tradition , and , along with it , tailgating tradition . It 's smaller than many Southeastern Conference and Big 10 schools , but Notre Dame sees a surge of people on campus for game day . `` We have a fairly small student body -- maybe 10,000 people , '' says Samuel Warner , a football beat writer and assistant managing editor for The Observer , Notre Dame 's student newspaper . `` But on game days there are as many as 100,000 people on campus . '' Game day really kicks off at midnight on Friday with the Midnight Drummer 's Circle , when the drum line plays through the cheers at the Golden Dome on campus . Even before that , however , people are lined up taking pictures of Touchdown Jesus , a nickname given to the Word of Life Mural painted on the side of the Hesburgh Library . `` Jesus has both of his arms raised , '' Warner says . `` It looks like he 's signaling a touchdown . '' Starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday , the band plays continually around campus . The players attend Mass and are cheered on by fans on their walk from the basilica to the stadium . Many of the pre-game rituals take place around campus , with tailgating interspersed throughout the town . `` Notre Dame is such a legacy school , '' Warner says . `` I have friends that are third or fourth generation graduates . ... Tradition is so ingrained in Notre Dame football that it kind of carries over to the tailgating . '' 4 . University of Washington Huskies -- Seattle , Washington . The scenery of Lake Washington adds a unique element to the Huskies ' tailgating experience : fans can spend their time on the water before a game . `` You can actually tie up to a dock that 's a few blocks from the stadium , '' says Kyle Griffith , a Washington alumnus . `` People take big charter boats that can hold several hundred people or they have their own boats . '' Tailgaters cook out and make drinks on their boats , interacting with other boaters close by . Some do n't fare as well on the water as others . `` Every year , during at least one game , somebody will fall into the water , '' Griffith says . `` Nobody gets hurt ... but that 's a sight to see . '' When it 's close to game time , shuttle boats pick up fans that are tied up to buoys and transport them to the docks , which are within short walking distance to the stadium . Of course , there are dry land tailgaters as well -- in greater numbers than the ones using boats . `` It 's more of an adult crowd than you would find at a lot of schools , '' says Bob Condotta , a football reporter for The Seattle Times . `` About 7,000 students get tickets to every game out of about 70,000 fans . '' Hundreds of RVs are set up in parking lots , where , weather permitting , fans grill out and play typical tailgating games . `` The University of Washington , compared to other Pac 10 schools , is definitely regarded as having one of the most intense and passionate fan bases , '' Condotta says . 5 . Pennsylvania State Nittany Lions -- State College , Pennsylvania . State College , Pennsylvania , is a small town smack dab in the middle of the state . Surrounded by fields and fields of farmland , Penn State 's grounds make room for plenty of tailgating . `` If you were at Beaver Stadium and looked out toward the farms , you 'd just see cars and cars and cars of tailgaters , '' says Brendan Monahan , a football beat reporter for The Daily Collegian , Penn State 's student newspaper . Though State College has a population of just under 40,000 , the stadium seats more than 100,000 , packing the fields with fans . `` There 's a certain escape that comes with the workweek ending , coming up here on a fall weekend and parking in the middle of a grass field to set up your tailgate , '' says Greg Myford , associate athletic director for marketing and communications at Penn State . Alumni , students and families make home contests into a weekend event , full of games , cheers and food . `` I think if it goes on the grill , it 's fair game , '' Myford says . `` We 're seeing food that at least psychologically is making people stay warmer if they eat it . '' The team arrives at Beaver Stadium about an hour and a half before every game , and the quarterback is always the first off the bus . The sound of cowbell clinks alternates with resounding cheers of `` P-S-U ! '' Myford says that walking through the fields of tailgaters shows him how committed the fans are to the program and the traditions . `` The amount of prep put into a tailgate is a real statement as to how they feel about the experience , '' Myford says . `` We do n't want to lose sight of that or diminish the value of it . How they tailgate outside is a reflection of how they feel about Penn State inside . ''
It is a tradition at many colleges , handed down from generation to generation . Many tailgates include music , food and an entertainment system . At the University of Washington , fans can tailgate on the field . Tigers fans -- both Auburn 's and LSU 's -- invite opposing teams to their tailgates .