Sports and rituals have long gone hand in hand, and many of the country's colleges have their own unique traditions both on and off the field. To settle the score on which tradition is the best, an expert panel nominated their top college sports traditions, then readers and fans voted for their favorites. Here are the top 10 winners.

Tune into an Iowa Hawkeyes game at Kinnick Stadium and at the end of the first quarter, you'll witness one of the best traditions in college football. During the Hawkeye Wave, fans in Kinnick Stadium turn and show support to kids in the nearby children's hospital. The Hawkeye Wave has quickly become one of the most touching and uplifting traditions the sport has to offer. For just a moment, fans of both teams will come together to give a boost to children battling illness just across the street.

As a PhD candidate in the Department of Educational Policy and Leadership Studies at the University of Iowa, Mavis Gyesi researches the educational experiences of African immigrants in U.S. high schools and their transition to college. In a working paper, Gyesi interviewed 13 African immigrant students in Iowa high schools who come from different cultures and speak different languages. She found that many of them take advanced courses in high school and aspire to go to four-year colleges, busting what research has shown to be stereotypes about African students as academically unmotivated or likely to fail.

A University of Iowa game day tradition called the Hawkeye Wave has become a hallmark of the heartland for kids at Iowa’s Stead Family Children’s Hospital. At every home game, thousands of fans and players in Kinnick Stadium all turn and wave at the patients watching from the hospital next door.

Iowa researchers say they’ve excavated the state’s first well-preserved mastodon, a roughly 13,600-year-old specimen that was found in the southern part of the state. The University of Iowa’s Office of the State Archaeologist said in a Facebook post that the 12-day excavation involving staff and local community members yielded “several mastodon bones,” primarily from the skull.

Archeologists in Iowa believe they have unearthed an ancient mastodon skull dating back to when the first humans were roaming the Earth. Discovered in the southern part of the state, the find is Iowa's first well-preserved mastodon, according to the University of Iowa’s Office of the State Archaeologist. Scientists and local community members recently undertook a 12-day excavation at the site, which yielded “several mastodon bones,” primarily from the skull.

Tom Gruca, professor of marketing in the Tippie College of Business and director of the Iowa Electronic Markets, was recently a guest on the CNN podcast, The Assignment, to explain political prediction markets, how they work, how they differ from gambling sites, and why federal regulators tend to look askance at such prediction markets as PredictIt and Kalshi.

At the 2022 Beijing Olympics, a distraught Alexandra Trusova won silver and promptly declared, “I will never skate again.” Swimmer Michael Phelps displayed a mix of frustration and disappointment at the 2012 London Olympics when he added a silver to his trove of gold medals. At those same games, gymnast McKayla Maroney’s grim expression on the medal stand went viral. These moments, caught by the camera’s unblinking eye, reveal a surprising pattern: Silver medalists often appear less happy than those winning bronze.

A new effort is underway to help rural hospitals provide the highest level of care for cancer patients so that patients don't have to travel as far for treatment. It's a growing need in our state, as Iowa now has the second highest rate of cancer in the country.