FanHouse Trojan Marching Band

You know how I know college football rocks? Sports Illustrated sends bikini models to the USC and Grambling State campuses to take photos of their lovely models hanging out with the pair of awesome college football bands.

Pictures: USC II Pictures: Grambling State

Mind you these aren't just any bands, they're USC's famed Trojan Marching Band and the Grambling State Marching Band. Models Julie Henderson (right) and Jessica White acquitted themselves quite nicely while hanging out to the background of drums, trumpets, horns and whatever else could be played. SI's Arash Markazi, a USC alum, was there for the Los Angeles shoot and relayed this predictable instrument bit:

Soon after, Jessica came out in a similarly skimpy USC bikini and lay down on the turf with the band around her as she placed one foot seductively on top of a trombone and gently held a flute above her. "Most of the flute players are girls so I guess this is one of the advantages of being a guy flute player," said junior flutist Conner Imes. "I can always say a supermodel held my flute."

The girls later created a bit of a stir with the USC football team, nearly cripping a backup quarterback in the process.

I [Markazi] taught them the importance of the victory sign when we returned to USC the next day. As I told Julie that throwing up the victory sign and saying "Fight On!" would elicit the same response back from anyone on campus she was excited to test the theory. So with nothing but a stringy cardinal and gold bikini on that was almost coming apart at the seems, she ran outside as the USC football team was returning from practice.

As players and coaches passed by she began showing them the victory sign and saying "Fight On!" to each one. While some players were too dumbfounded to know what to do when they saw her -- freshman quarterback Garrett Green walked into a golf cart while looking in her direction -- others were curious about what was going on. "What's happening here?" asked quarterback John David Booty as he smiled at the sight of Julie showing him the victory sign. "Don't worry about it," said Julie. "I'm part of the welcoming committee."

And you wonder why Joe McKnight ends up in Los Angeles instead of Baton Rouge? Just sayin'.

I'd show you some pictures on here but they're the property of Sports Illustrated so bang the links or buy a copy of this week's Swimsuit edition to get your fill of Bikinis Meets Band Nerds IV or whatever SI's calling this.
Sorry, No Photos

Proving that no cultural phenomenon is too overdone for the University of Southern California's Trojan Marching Band to exploit, this year's pop-culture song added to the Spirit of Troy repertoire is Cobra Starship's "Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)".

While most USC opponents complain that the USC band only plays one song, they in fact add at least one pop song each year to their playlist--with everything from Ricky Martin to Gwen Stefani.

The move may be a good omen for Cobra Starship, too. USC and Fleetwood Mac made "Tusk" the only college marching band to win a Grammy Award.