The Rutgers marching band has been on an incredible ride over the past six weeks. It began with the drum line's performance at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show and will culminate in a pregame performance by the 200-member band at the Super Bowl.

For band director Tim Smith, a performance at the Super Bowl is as big as it gets.

"Everybody holds up the Macy's Day Parade, the Rose Bowl Parade, several of the bowl games are huge," Smith said. "But for us, we like to position the band in the biggest stage possible whenever we're performing to call attention to our art. I think we've scored big. For us, the Super Bowl stage is just where we want to be."

The NFL reached out to Smith six weeks ago about the performance. The league wanted to highlight the New York/New Jersey aspect of the Super Bowl, so it also tabbed Syracuse to get the premier marching bands from each state.

The last six weeks have been a whirlwind, as the bands have rehearsed separately for the joint performance. The NFL told Smith and Syracuse band director Justin Mertz what it's looking for, but the duo has been able to chose the songs and design the on-field formations for the 6-1/2 minute performance that will take place on the MetLife Stadium field a half hour before kickoff.

"It's going to be heavily New York and New Jersey," Smith said. "There's some Bon Jovi, Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen is in it, Jay Z is in it. I can let that out and then leave it up to speculation. I'm sure some of your readers are going to be smart enough to fill in the blanks."

The bands will rehearse together for the first time Sunday morning on Rutgers' campus and then it's off to MetLife for the performance.

"When the time comes, literally the students are going to march off the buses into the stadium and then onto the field," Smith said. "They'll do their 6-1/2 minute performance and then we march out right out, load up our truck, get on our buses and we come home and watch the last three quarters from the warmth of our homes."

The entire performance won't be televised, but there's a chance at least some of it will be broadcast to the worldwide audience of more than 100 million. That would seem to be a recipe for stage fright, but band members are embracing the moment.

"I think more so being excited just because we perform on the football field all the time, but there's definitely more of a 'this needs to be awesome' kind of element," said Lindsey Malko, a senior drum major. "There's a little bit of nerves, but mostly excitement."

Much like the coaches of Rutgers' sports teams, Smith is gearing up for the bigger stage that will come with the Big Ten next year. The conference has a long history of top-notch bands and Smith hopes the recent exposure will have Rutgers ready.

"We've been on such a ride the last couple of months with the drum line appearance in the Victoria's Secret Show and this invitation came on the heels of that," Smith said. "Our students are over the moon. One of the most important things for us, is if those guys in the band are having a great experience, then that's going to translate into more interest in the band and better performances because they're enthused. The spirit in the group is really amazing right now."

Smith said he thinks readers will be able to figure out the set list, so what songs do you think will be included in the performance? Here are my guesses: 'Livin' on a Prayer' by Bon Jovi; 'New York, New York' by Frank Sinatra; 'Empire State of Mind' by Jay Z and 'Glory Days' by Bruce Springsteen. Share your guesses in the comments section.