Not only are Purdue students drunk and dressed in crazy costumes before 9am, they get t-shirts. Brian Spurlock/Getty Images

AFTER 2 A.M.: The generous folks at Mad Mushroom Pizza do specialty pizzas, like the Philly Cheesesteak, past 4 a.m. When the ESPN GameDay crew visited in 2004, MM treated diehard overnight campers with free pies.

MUST-EAT: Triple XXX. The 24-hour barstool diner makes namesake sandwiches (like Bob's B.B.Q., a pork-and-cheese combo named after former Purdue QB Bob Griese) and a homemade root beer.

DOSE OF CULTURE: The annual Feast of the Hunter's Moon on the banks of the Wabash River (Sept. 24--25) is about as close to a real pilgrims-and-Indians Thanksgiving as you'll get in September.

RULE #57: Pssst! Harry's Chocolate Shop doesn't sell chocolate. They do serve something called the Buttery Nipple, though.

MUSIC MUST-STOP: The university hosts Jazz on the Hill and a Twilight Concert series at Slayter Hill, which also doubles as a tailgating mecca and sledding spot. (Don't be surprised to see students surfing couches down the incline.)

GETTING AROUND: CityBus is free for ID-toting students, but pretty unnecessary. The campus is walkable.

TICKETMASTER: Ross-Ade is slow to sell out, but last-minute football seats can be scalped along Northwestern and University Avenues just outside the stadium.

ONLY AT PURDUE: They don't just watch The Breakfast Club in West LaFayette. They participate. Before home football games, early morning bar-goers turn into Supermen and Wonder Women, donning Halloween duds while sucking down Screwdrivers and Bloody Marys. Perhaps attributable to a lack of telephone booths, most just stay in their costumes for the game.

PREGAME: What's a Breakfast Club without Kegs 'N' Eggs?

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Notre Dame at Purdue football, Oct. 1. Iowa at Purdue football, Oct. 8. Purdue Grand Prix Go-Kart racing --and the only spring season Breakfast Club-- in late April.

PACK YOUR: Superman tights. (See above.)

RITE OF PASSAGE: Do: run through the Engineering Mall fountain at year's end. Don't: walk under the Heavilon Hall bell tower if you're an undergrad. Rumor has it, you'll be cursed and won't graduate.

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