FiveThirtyEight.com has a fun new project in which it maps the fight songs for 64 Power Five schools plus Notre Dame, charting them all for length, pace and, most importantly, cliches.
Per the site: "College fight songs are Saturday staples, memorized in freshman orientation and blasted by marching bands at every game. The best ones are shouted from the rooftops and during Heisman Trophy presentations; the worst barely register with alumni."
"The Minnesota Rouser" checks in as one of the faster-paced songs, but it is shorter in duration than average. Seems like the perfect combo, right? But the Rouser does have three fight-song cliches: The word "rah," some "nonsense syllables" and a spelled-out word (M-I-N-N-E-S-O-T-A).
MICHAEL RAND
