To say that Jane Foster (right) loves tailgating would be the understatement of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) season. The devoted Ole Miss Rebels fan actually attended Mississippi State, but changed allegiance about 14 years ago to align with her husband's alma mater, the University of Mississippi. Now Foster puts in countless hours planning, cooking and lugging crates for her famed tent in the school’s legendary 10-acre tailgate area known as The Grove. Even beyond The Grove, many people consider Foster’s tent to be the most-impressive tailgate in all of college football. Take this tour of her setup and we bet you'll agree.

Photos: Courtesy of Jane Foster

Foster’s appropriately named Zebra Tent stands out from the crowd — and that's on purpose. “We want to make sure that people who come to The Grove have a place they can find easily,” she says. To secure their spot for Saturday, Foster and some helpers, including a few fraternity brothers, get to the area just before 7 p.m. on Friday night. There’s a barricade and a countdown to to exactly 7 p.m. When the timer goes off, everyone runs to save their spot. And the whole thing is taken very seriously: “Some guy tried to hide under a garbage can on the other side and the police took him to jail,” Foster says. By now, most people know the Zebra Tent usually gets the same spot week after week. 

Foster and two other helpers meet in the summer to plan the themes for every game in the upcoming season. “We try to be as different and creative as possible,” says Foster. For one game, the Zebra Tent had Mexican-style decorations and food, plus fun props for the photo booth. (Yes, they even have a photo booth!) For other games, they’ve planned a luau theme with a seafood tower and a palm tree made out of stacked pineapples. They’ve carved mascots out of watermelons; they’ve had a carnival-themed tent and a Halloween-themed one. They’ve done every idea you can think of — and dozens you can’t! 

On game day, Foster and her crew get to The Grove around 5 in the morning to put covers on all the chairs, hang chandeliers and decorations, and bring in all the food (wheeled in on specially made carts). “We could fill a moving truck with all we bring,” she says. After they set up, everyone runs home to change clothes and get back to the tent by 8:30 a.m. “Then we sit in our Adirondack chairs and enjoy each other for about an hour. Once the people start coming, I don’t sit down again until it’s ballgame time,” Foster says. After the game, packing up and loading the three vehicles (a Suburban, a pickup truck and a car) can take four hours.