Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG, Va. – One of the loudest, most electric entrances in all of college football has once again been recognized on the national stage. On Wednesday, Aug. 27, Virginia Tech’s legendary ‘Enter Sandman’ entrance was voted the No. 7 Best College Sports Tradition in the 2025 USA Today Readers’ Choice Awards. Iowa’s “Hawkeye Wave” claimed the top spot.
Widely celebrated as college football’s most iconic entrance, ‘Enter Sandman’ has electrified Lane Stadium since Aug. 27, 2000. That day, the Hokies unveiled their first videoboard and debuted Metallica’s anthem – a choice that beat out Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle” and the Alan Parsons Project’s “Sirius.” Today, the song has become the theme of Virginia Tech athletics, uniting fans in a tradition unlike any other.
What began with a few members of the Marching Virginians jumping in unison quickly turned into 66,000 fans bouncing in unison – so powerfully that seismographs have registered the impact. From the 2011 showdown with Miami, to the 2015 clash with Ohio State, to the unforgettable 2021 season opener vs. North Carolina, Lane Stadium has rocked hard enough to shake the earth.
On May 7, 2025, the legend only grew when Metallica themselves took the stage at Lane Stadium, and the crowd’s energy during ‘Enter Sandman’ once again set off seismic readings, according to the Virginia Tech Seismological Observatory.
The seismograph at Virginia Tech as Metallica took the stage. 🤘🏻 pic.twitter.com/kOEcCgrYJE
— Chris Michaels (@WRAL_Michaels) May 8, 2025