Anyone who is under the impression that Manhattan is an island with no college football representation is sorely mistaken. Diehard college football fans spanning every corner of the country routinely flock to their favorite sports bars all over Manhattan to relive their college days in the midst of the hustle and bustle that is New York City.
School colors from wall to wall, alumni from every generation and team fight songs echoing off of every wall are just some of the sights and sounds at these bars.

In Tuscaloosa, Alabama it’s a beautiful, 60 degree day as the Crimson Tide prepare for their biggest game of the season against No. 1 ranked Mississippi State. A thousand miles north in frigid New York City, the second largest contingent of Alabama fans and alumni are gathered at an upscale sports bar called The Ainsworth preparing for the same game.

The Ainsworth has housed New York’s Alabama transplants for the last seven years, providing an experience for alumni that many say is only topped by Bryant Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. It’s a home away from home for these Crimson Tide alumni, whether they graduated in 2013 or 1973.

Chris Hollinger, former president of the NYC Alumni committee for The University of Alabama, was the first to contact the Ainsworth and request that they house Alabama fans before the bar even opened. As he tells it, it took a little bit of imagination on his end to visualize the potential that existed at the Ainsworth. “When I came down here with the owner, it was all gutted out,” he said gesturing to the now opulent looking bar area. “There were just wooden panels and dust everywhere and he said ‘and this is where the bar will be, and we’ll have tvs all over here.’

It was hard to see his vision at the time but its worked out quite well.” While the owner of the Ainsworth had a vision of what his bar would look like, it was Hollinger who had the vision of a sea of crimson populating it every fall Saturday. For Hollinger, seeing it all come to fruition, has been a surreal experience. “We like to say in all of our marketing materials and Facebook and what not, that this is the second best place on the planet to watch an Alabama game besides Bryant Denny Stadium,” he said.

The Ainsworth is just one of many bars around the area that are home to transplanted college football fanatics. A few blocks away from the Ainsworth sits The Liberty, a decidedly less exorbitant watching experience than that of the Ainsworth, but still a mecca for fans and alumni of the Clemson Tigers.

Bryn Smith has been the head of Clemson’s Tri-State alumni committee for the last 13 years, and was the first to negotiate a home bar for the Tigers. The group has called three different bars their home base over the last 13 years but seem like they have found a more permanent home in the friendly confines of The Liberty.

“I’ve had alumni come here from all over the country, and they like to call it Death Valley north here,” said Smith, alluding to Clemson being known as Death Valley. “For us it’s become home, our relationship with The Liberty and the staff has been great and they really make us feel at home here.”

When you first enter The Liberty it’s easy to feel as if you’ve been transported straight back to South Carolina. Clemson colors line the walls amidst a sea of orange-donning Clemson faithful and the Tigers fight song is blared through the restaurants speakers after every score. Clemson faithful gather by the dozen, friends from their college days and friends made at alumni events like this all join together in footing on the Tigers.

Kevin Komb has been a contributing member of the Clemson Alumni Association since 1992 when he graduated from the school, and today he’s at the Liberty with his wife and three-year-old daughter. For Komb, it’s part nostalgia, but also equal parts pride that he has in his alma mater and the newest generations of it that keep him coming back year after year. “It’s a great feeling to come down here and see all of the new alumni enjoying the game, said Komb as his daughter climbed onto his lap.

“It’s been decades since I’ve graduated, literally, and seeing all of these kids enjoy the experience that I did all those years ago is really something else.” The crowd comes out in Clemson orange and white, but the alumni committee also plays a large role. Smith and others come down early and set up the bar for the alumni, but an equal amount of the excitement comes from the bar staff, who become de facto school supporters from watching their games and interacting with their fans every week.

Dave Elix has been the general manager at The Liberty for the last year since moving to the U.S. from Australia, and one of his favorite days to work is Saturday due to the interaction with the Clemson alumns. “They bring a real energy to the bar you know?” Elix said. “Between their energy and our energy, it really brings a great vibe to the bar on an otherwise slow day.” For Elix, the relationship with the alumni committee has been an easy and a fruitful one from the outset, not to mention his staff certainly doesn’t mind the influx in traffic.

It’s a symbiotic college football match made in heaven, and it’s going down all over the city week in and week out. Fans of these college football teams may be far removed from their college days, but they’re never far from their fellow alumni and a good place to watch their beloved alma maters in New York’s concrete jungle.