Ringing Those Cowbells by Andrew Miller

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by Andrew Miller

Mississippi State’s cowbells are the best gameday tradition in college football. While the exact origin is unknown, the most popular story is that during a game against Ole Miss in the 1940s, a cow wandered out onto the field. The “Maroons” (as they were known at the time) won big that day, and from that point on, the cow was viewed as a good luck charm. Realizing that having a cow at every game would be impractical, the students decided to bring cowbells to games instead. Eventually, customized bells with handles for ringing where adopted.

In 1974, the SEC banned artificial noisemakers at football games in an attempt to silence MSU’s noisy tradition. But the Bulldog faithful were persistent, and they found plenty of ways to keep the bells ringing on gamedays. Years later in 2010, the SEC re-evaluated their stance on cowbells, and they ultimately decided to make an exception for MSU’s cowbells, allowing fans to fully embrace the bells in Starkville. In 2014, the rule was once again revised to give State fans further freedom to ring at Davis Wade Stadium.

Cowbells are a symbol unique to Mississippi State and the SEC. Receiving your first cowbell is your official welcome into the Mississippi State family. And despite how rival fans feel about them, the cowbells create a gameday atmosphere unlike anything else in college sports. You have not lived until you’ve witnessed 60,000+ cowbells ringing along in unison to Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.” You may think they’re the most annoying sound on the planet and that they should be banned. But to us, they’re music to our ears. That is why cowbells are the SEC’s and the nation’s best and most unique college gameday tradition. Hail State.

Andrew Miller is a Geosciences major at Mississippi State University. He is from Gulfport, Mississippi, and he will begin his junior year at MSU in the fall as he pursues a degree in Meteorology.