When it comes to the NCAA, there are a number of unusual traditions. Whether it’s Taylor University students taking a vow of silence before the basketball finals, or the University of Pittsburgh students showing up to games dressed up as animals in the ‘Oakland zoo’, college game traditions are wild. But is there’s none as far-reaching as Auburn University’s chaotic rolling, i.e., the lobbing of rolls and rolls toilet paper into the hundred-year-old oak trees on campus?

The ritual, bizarre and beautiful in equal measure, dates back to the 1960s, when Toomer’s Drugstore — a charming, century-old pharmacy and lemonade dispensary (yes, really) — was the only place in town with a telegraph machine. When Auburn won an away game, staff would toss the telegraph paper over the power lines to let everyone know. That evolution into toilet paper in the ’70s stemmed from a particularly spicy Iron Bowl and the unforgettable words of Terry Henley: “We’re going to beat the number two out of Alabama.” They did, and Auburn has kept rolling ever since — even after the original oaks were poisoned and had to be replaced twice.

And the most recent win against Michigan secured the SEC’s first seed in the final four with Duke, Florida and Houston, and also secured the TP to the top of the oaks, within just minutes!

Even Chipper Jones Can’t Resist the TP

If you needed proof that rolling Toomer’s has become something bigger than just a response to football wins, let’s talk about Chipper Jones. Yes, that Chipper Jones — Baseball Legend, Hall of Famer, and perhaps most importantly…Florida native! Not only did he show up to watch the Tigers play, he joined in the post-game festivities with a roll in hand.

Jones, whose two kids go to Auburn, was seen celebrating after the Tigers defeated Michigan to make the Elite Eight. He even posted about it on X: “Went to 1716, saw the Tigers make it to the Elite 8. Then we rolled Toomer’s Corner… pretty cool!”

Pretty cool indeed. He may have grown up shouting “Go Gators,” but once you’ve had the legendary lemonade from Toomer’s and launched paper into the limbs of a tree in collective euphoria, it seems you’re an honorary Tiger for life…or at least until Auburn plays Florida in the Final Four and another toilet paper mass hoarding event takes place.

Toomer’s gets rolled…for Trump?

This isn’t the first time fans have wrapped the trees in celebration for reasons completely unrelated to football. Last November, Auburn football was 3-6 and morale was low, to say the least. But when Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election? The oaks got a TP shower. Which could be a metaphor, or a hark back to the mass hoardings of the pandemic era, or simply the traditional celebration of victory by Trump supporting students.

Starved for a win of any kind, students rushed to Toomer’s and turned the square into a rave, belting out the national anthem under the stars and the steady unraveling the paper, though as the tariff wars rage, they might find themselves holding on to it a bit tighter in the coming months.

Either way, depending on how Auburn does against Florida, we may see a resurgence of the paper on the Oaks for all the right reasons. Auburn’s last stint in the final four resulted in a heartbreaking loss to Virginia, so if they manage to keep it cool this time, then you better get ready to head on over to the oaks, and leave a tip for the clean-up crew!