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Best College Football Stadiums
Determined by the quality of team,
tailgating,
history,
fans, and sportsmanship
1. Ohio Stadium, Ohio State
University
Ohio Stadium is also known as The Horseshoe and is the home of the Buckeyes
football team at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The
stadium was added to the National Register of Historic Places by the National
Park Service on March 22, 1974.
Ohio Stadium saw its largest crowd on October 25, 2008, with 105,711 fans in
attendance for the Buckeyes' matchup against rivals, the Penn State Nittany
Lions. Ohio State lost that game to the Nittany Lions by the score of 13-6. The
game broke an attendance record set in a 2006 contest with Michigan by having
three more fans in attendance.[10] Mel Kiper has stated that Ohio Stadium has
the second-best atmosphere of any college venue, "second only to Penn State,"
and Beano Cook said, "There is nothing better than when the Ohio State Marching
Band and the sousaphone player dots the 'i' for Script Ohio."
The crowd attending these home games is known for creating harsh and difficult
environments for opponents. University of Iowa coach Hayden Fry complained after
a 1985 loss that the fans were too loud for his quarterback, Chuck Long, to call
plays and suggested sound meters be used to gauge the noise level, penalizing
home teams if there was too much noise.
2. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, University of Florida
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field is better known as The Swamp. The
stadium and the university are located in Gainesville, Florida. Regularly
holding just over 90,000 fans per game, it is the 12th largest college football
stadium by capacity.
The Swamp has acquired a reputation for being a very difficult place for
opposing teams to play, and has regularly been ranked at or near the top of
lists of top home field advantages and/or best game day experiences in college
football.
One of the major reasons is the stadium's design. Originally built in a ravine,
the playing surface is below ground level. Various expansions over the years
have enclosed the playing area on all sides with steep stands, and further
placed the fans are within a few feet of the action.
The enclosed playing area also enhances the effects of Gainesville's warm and
humid fall climate. Game-day temperatures at field level have been known to
exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit, creating a swamp-like atmosphere. This was the
impetus for a University of Florida researcher Robert Cade to develop Gatorade
as a way to combat dehydration.
3. Memorial Stadium, University of Nebraska
Memorial Stadium is located on the campus of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
just north of downtown Lincoln, Nebraska. It is the home of the Nebraska
Cornhuskers football team.
The stadium holds an ongoing NCAA-record 297 consecutive sellout crowds; this
streak began in 1962. When full, Memorial Stadium holds more people than any
Nebraska city except Omaha and Lincoln, a fact that is often used to point out
Nebraska's devotion to Husker football. Because most fans wear red apparel, the
stadium is often referred to as the "Sea of Red" on gamedays.
4. Neyland Stadium, University of Tennessee
Neyland Stadium is a sports stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. It serves primarily
as the home of the Tennessee Volunteers football team. After 79 years and 16
expansion projects, Neyland Stadium now has an official capacity of 102,037
seats. This makes it the largest football stadium in the South, the fourth
largest in the United States, and the seventh largest stadium in the world.
5. Tiger Stadium, LSU
Tiger Stadium or Death Valley is the home field of Louisiana State University.
With a seating capacity of 92,400, it is the seventh largest on-campus college
football stadium in the nation and third largest stadium in the SEC after
Tennessee's Neyland Stadium and Georgia's Sanford Stadium. In terms of general
population, Tiger Stadium would be the sixth-largest city in Louisiana for the
seven home games each year.
Tiger Stadium is commonly referred to as "Death Valley," due to its high level
of cheering during games. The original nickname of "deaf valley" was applied to
the stadium, but over the years was misunderstood for "death valley." During a
nationally televised game against Auburn in 2003, ESPN recorded a noise level of
119 decibels at certain points in the game. During the October 6, 2007 game
against the University of Florida, CBS recorded 130 decibels, making Tiger
Stadium the loudest stadium in all of college football.
The standard cheer among Tigers fans is "GEAUX TIGERS!" (pronounced "Go")--the
spelling of "geaux" reflecting Louisiana's French roots. Fans also commonly
taunt opposing players and fans by yelling "Tiger bait!" while waving and
pointing their fingers at them in the same manner as Florida State University's
"tomahawk chop".
6. Beaver Stadium, Penn State
7. Notre Dame Stadium, Notre Dame
8. Michigan Stadium, University of Michigan
9. Sanford Stadium, University of Georgia,
10. Doak Campbell Stadium, Florida State University
11. Kyle Field, Texas A&M, Schedule
12. Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn University, Schedule
13. Folsom Field, University of Colorado
14. L.A. Coliseum, University of Southern California
15. Bryant-Denny Stadium, University of Alabama
16. Lane Stadium/Worsham Field, Virginia Tech
17. Camp Randall, University of Wisconsin
18. Autzen Stadium, University of Oregon
19. Memorial Stadium, Clemson
20. Michie Stadium, Army
21. Rose Bowl, UCLA
22. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, University of Texas
23. Husky Stadium, University of Washington
24. Falcon Stadium, Air Force Academy
25. Kinnick Stadium, University of Iowa
Top
10 College Stadiums by Capacity
|
Rank |
Stadium (School) |
Capacity |
|
1 |
Michigan (Michigan) |
107,501 |
|
2 |
Beaver (Penn State) |
107,282 |
|
3 |
Neyland (Tennessee) |
104,079 |
|
4 |
Ohio (Ohio State) |
101,568 |
|
5 |
Texas Memorial Stadium |
100,119 |
|
6 |
Bryant-Denny (Alabama) |
92,138 |
|
7 |
Sanford (Georgia) |
92,000 |
|
8 |
Tiger (LSU) |
91,600 |
|
9 |
L.A. Coliseum |
91,000 |
|
10 |
Ben-Hill Griffin (Florida) |
88,548 |
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