I only post this because this thread showed up on Cocky talk.
I went to Columbia in 2014 with 4 other guys.
Never have I been around a ruder and less welcoming group of people in my life. Made LSU look like saints.
1) As we got to Columbia Wednesday evening, we decided to go check out campus. Within the first five minutes on campus we heard a guy yell "GO THE **** HOME!" to us. As we turned around to see who had said it, the kid immediately took off running in the exact opposite direction.
2) We went out on Wednesday night. We ended up at a pretty cool bar (forget the name but it had a cool patio). Anyway, we were sitting in the patio at the very back (near an exit) minding our own business. In fact, at the table for 6 people, we occupied 5 of the seats and were talking amongst our selves. Every group of people that would walk by us on the way to the exit would make some nasty remark along the lines of "Go the **** home" or "Youre not f***ing welcome here!". Eventually one guy in a USC shirt came up and kindly welcomed us to Columbia and asked how we were enjoying our stay. We told him that everyone seemed a little rude and we hadn't really been around fans that rude before. He almost laughed in disbelief. He then started to say he couldn't believe USC fans would act in such a way. Mid sentence a group of cute girls walked by and proceeded to tell us to go the eff home.
3) Went to yell practice which was a cluster. Had at least 5 older (50+year old) USC fans apologize to us for the behavior of the students
4) Went to tailgate the next day (which was weak tailgating). As we walked around (again minding our own business, just taking in the atmosphere), we were told the "**** off!" or "Go the **** home!" by almost every group of students we came across. Interestingly enough, it was the girls that were (by far) worse than he guys. We even had a few guys apologize for the girls.
5) At one point we ran into some other Aggie students tailgating. We asked them what they were doing and they pointed up the street to a group of cops and a USC student sitting on the ground. The Ags said something along the lines of "A USC student sucker punched our buddy and now the guy is getting arrested". Apparently the Aggies knew some people in a Frat were tailgating with them. They were playing beer pong and one reached down to pick up the ball and on his way to stand back up he got sucker punched. Last I heard the student got arrested and the Aggie may have even pressed charges.
I would like to say that I experience was a one-off. But virtually every Aggie that I have talked to that has been to Columbia has a pretty similar story. On top of that I would say the stadium experience rates lower than most in the SEC and the tailgating was the worst of any SEC game I have ever been to. Finally, the town of Columbia was nothing special. 5 points (the bar area) was ok, but ultimately pretty small and underwhelming.
