Stealing their mascot, painting their statue, desecrating their field, sabotaging their band - pranks and college football go hand-in-hand - and some pranks are more challenging, more original than others.

Yale vs. Harvard, "THE GAME" - a classic football rivalry since 1875 - but what happened in 2004 took originality, creativity, ingenuity and execution to a new level.  That year, Harvard was   the home team and undefeated - a prohibitive favorite.  Yale students were desperate to put down their archrivals.  A killer idea was born and a plan was hatched – but could they pull it off? They did. 

It happened like this: November 20, 2004, Yale at Harvard. Prior to the game, Yale students, dressed as Harvard cheerleaders, distributed large squares - some red, some white - to Harvard students. The Harvard students were told that the squares, when raised, would spell out "GO HARVARD".

The Harvard students filed into their assigned seats carrying their colored squares, confident and cocky - anxious to see their undefeated Crimson lay waste to the hated, hapless Yale Bulldogs.  At the signal, they proudly raised their cards and spelled out, for all the world to see: "WE SUCK".

Yale fans were beside themselves, delirious. Victory was theirs, and "THE GAME" hadn't even kicked off.  And while Crimson fans tasted a measure of revenge that very afternoon with a 35-3 Harvard win, the Bulldogs claimed their own victory, as they returned to New Haven with a treasured memory to keep and a tale to tell their grandchildren. It's a true, prank story that will endure through the years, no doubt.  It's that good – NUMBER ONE. 

Do you have a college prank story? Tell us.

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