Let's just say I thoroughly enjoyed the experience today. It was quite an eventful day that started around noon with Tie One On. If you're an NBA buff, you might be aware that Miami Heat Assistant Coach Keith Askins wears a bow tie to games. I was under the impression that he was the only man on the face of the Earth that regularly wore bow ties, but then I met Vanderbilt Chancellor Gordon Gee.

Chancellor Gee is a celebrity amongst Vandy students. Today on Alumni Lawn, he ran the Tie One On competition. Gee has been an avid bow tie wearer since he was 15, and today he showed 20 contestants, representing various organizations throughout campus, the correct way to tie one on.

"Long ties are out," Gee told the crowd. "Bow ties are in."

Then, the competition began.

The contestants competed, five at a time, to see who could tie a bow tie the fastest. They were judged by a panel of six judges who made sure the bow ties were tied correctly. The winner of each round moved on to the finals, where four people, two guys and two girls, competed for a $1,000 prize that went toward a new laptop.

The final round began, and in the end, it took Aziz Malik (last year's champion) about 16 seconds to defend his title.

"It feels good, especially to win a laptop two years in a row," Malik said.

What are you gonna do with the bow tie, Aziz?

"Add it to the collection. Wear it to the game tomorrow."

We took a lunch break and returned to campus a few hours later to check out the floats. 20 organizations lined Kensington Place near the Fraternity houses, working diligently to complete their Homecoming floats for tomorrow's parade.

In staying with this year's Homecoming theme, "Vandy Takes Vegas," students built floats with slot machines, playing cards, and other casino-style decorations.

"Everyone's doing Vegas-themed things," Student Government member Neily Todd told me in front of her "High Rollers" float. "We have a poker table and different casino decoartions."

The Vegas idea goes back to Thursday night's event, Fight Night.

"We just wanted to relate it to boxing and relate it back to the game," Homecoming Chair Breanne Hataway said. "The game is a showdown, which goes back to the whole Fight Night idea."

What happens at Vanderbilt Homecoming, stays at Vanderbilt Homecoming.

Back to the hotel for a little power nap. There wasn't much time to waste before we headed to Memorial Gymnasium on campus to check out Quake, the pep rally to end all pep rallies the night before the big game. And after the pep rally, it was time for Ludacris to perform for the Vandy fans. Not a bad way to spend a Friday night.

The band, the cheerleaders, a handful of non-football athletes, Vanderbilt students, and the surrounding community showed up for Quake. The crowd piled in, and as 8:00 rolled around, it was time to get pumped up for Vanderbilt-South Carolina. What would a pep rally be without a few words from your Chancellor, Gordon Gee?

"Who you with?" Gee asked.

"VU!" the fans screamed back.

"Who you with?" Gee repeated.

"VU!"

It was a little unexpected to hear a guy wearing a bow tie scream, "Beat the hell out of those Gamecocks!" But it happened, and it was great.

Shortly after, a video message from Coach Bobby Johnson and two football players appeared. It was followed by a performance from a Vanderbilt hip hop dance group. The crowd was on its feet, cheering for the most impressive moves. If this is how they reacted to hip hop dancing, I can't wait to see them tomorrow at the game.

At the center of it all was the Chancellor who reaches out to students as well as any university President in the nation.

"He's like a Dad," Hataway said. "He cares about all of us, and we all really love him."

They love their Chancellor. They love their Commodores. And, it's official... I love Homecoming. Go 'Dores!