A lunatic is a person whose actions and manner are marked by extreme eccentricity.
Auburn has a special group of lunatics who devote their eccentricity and recklessness to the men's basketball team. They call themselves the Lebo's Lunatics.
The Lunatics are the official student section of Auburn basketball.
Membership is open to every Auburn student, and students can join by signing up at a home basketball game. Brendan Christy, a junior majoring in management, said he joined freshman year and plans to join every year.
Being a part of the Lebo's Lunatics brings with it certain benefits.
Every member receives an official Lebo's Lunatics T-shirt, free admission to all home games, access to the reserved Lunatics seating section and a chance to play Guitar Hero before games.
The Lunatics are sponsored by Loco's Grill and Pub on South College Street. All members can receive 10 percent off meals or free chips and salsa with their food.
Junior RTVF major Tyler Till is also a member of the Lunatics.
"I love not having to worry about getting the wristband to get into the games for free, I can just walk up and show my membership card and that's it," Till said.
The Lebo's Lunatics' first duty is to cheer the basketball team to victory.
If Auburn falls behind in the game, a simple "Defense" or "Let's go Auburn" tells the team that the fans haven't given up yet and there's time to get back on top, Till said.
"I feel like we are a part of the team when we cheer them on," Christy said. "I hope that the Lunatics can help spur our team on to victory and make sure we won't be snubbed out of the NCAA tournament next year."
However, the Lunatics are not only there to cheer on the basketball team.
They are also there to keep the rest of the student section interested in the game.
"When I am at the game I see students in the student seats sitting down and not really paying attention to the game and that angers me," Christy said. "I hope the Lunatics increase their membership and participation and make the Coliseum an SEC loud house like it was during the heart breaking game against Baylor during the NIT."
Till agreed that seeing students sitting down during the game is disheartening.
"It's bad for our players to look up and see their fellow students sitting down while they are doing everything they can do to win the game. It's especially bad when you see that during conference play." Till said. "I hope that next season the team can take the next step and make the NCAA tournament, with the Lunatics behind it the whole way there," Till said.
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