Every Saturday in the fall, a Knoxville, TN, appears in Manhattan. As does a Berkley, CA; a Stillwater, OK; an East Lansing, MI; and even [shudder] a Gainesville, FL.
Alumni chapters from across the country host viewing parties at bars all over the city and they honor their school, traditions and alumni by turning the establishments to near atmospheric carbon copies. Sure, there are alumni bars in other large cities, but they can’t compare to NYC. In Manhattan’s 23 condensed square miles, they sprout mere blocks apart – rival schools within golf shots from one another. And it makes for superb football Saturdays and ones that you can NOT experience in anywhere else.
Every major conference and every size and type of school is represented in some form or fashion: from the giant public universities to the small private colleges (we even stumbled into a Davidson bar where the fans were incredibly entertaining during their 2007 NCAA tournament run). One can virtually go on a cross country college tour in one afternoon.
via 42screens.files.wordpress.com
And, in the spirit of sharing this unique experience, and for those who live in New York or are planning to visit the city this fall but don't know where to go to, I’ve developed a map of New York City alumni bars that host viewing parties, with most of the major schools listed. I have researched and contacted a lot of the NYC alumni chapters, however I don’t have all the schools yet, but I will be continually updating throughout the season.
You can click here for the most updated map of 2011 alumni bars on Google
**New** For Excel chart of the bars, click right meow