CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Five => Big Ten => Topic started by: SFBadger96 on August 18, 2025, 01:29:12 PM
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The games you are going to thread got me thinking: what stadiums have you seen a game in, and what was your impression (in 10 words or less)?
1) Camp Randall: loud, fun, students border on obnoxious.
2) Stanford: (a) old: cavernous and sparsely populated; (b) new: nice atmosphere for fans of opposing teams.
3) San Jose State: small.
4) Cal: Pac-whatever football is not Big Ten football, but a decent effort.
5) Rose Bowl: home game for Wisconsin. Amazing atmosphere and tradition.
6) Fresno State: small, but enthusiastic.
7) UNLV: Power 5 programs should never lose to non-power 5 programs.
8) Air Force Academy: cool spot next to the mountains.
9) UTEP: decent backdrop in the high desert, mediocre football (see UNLV).
10) Metrodome (UMN): stale, aging badly, weird (this was 1993).
11) Notre Dame: (a) old: classic, smallish, fired up, but friendly; (b) new: still classic, a little corporate, still fired up, still friendly.
12) Ohio State: cool facade, great atmosphere and tradition, steep.
13) Penn State: Giant; architecturally basic, rabid fans. (Was fun shutting them up.)
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1993 in the Metrodump had to have been super-shitty.
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I saw a Vikings game in the Metrodump in 1994. It was pretty shitty.
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The Badgers lost one f'ing game in 1993, and it had to be to that shitbag team.
Still pissed, 32 years later.
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It was. Started with a poor stadium, ended with a bazillion INTs.
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E-W:
- SHI Stadium (Rutgers): small but fun and friendly, this was right after they joined
- SECU Stadium (Maryland): small but fun, they are REALLY proud of Alum Jim Henson
- Beaver Stadium: loud and feels much larger than tOSU or M because that upper section towers, looks like an erector set
- Ohio Stadium: huge and loud
- Michigan Stadium (before renovation/addition) the world's quietest 100,000 people - partially this was that the home team lost but a lot of it was architectural
- Spartan Stadium: small but spirited especially giving them credit for the fact that it was a terrible year for them
- Memorial Stadium (Indiana): more tailgates than actual fans, when does BB season start?
- Ross-Aide: smallish but spirited
- Ryan Field: looked like a HS Stadium
- Memorial Stadium (Illinois): 🥶 🧊 ☃️ COLD 🥶 I was there for a late season game in a cold snap
- Camp Randall: great atmosphere, loved jump around
- Kinnick Stadium: loved the Kinnick Statue and story, friendly fans, great time
- TCF Bank (then name of Minnesota's brand new stadium): Sparkling new (we went the first or second year), great time
- Memorial Stadium (Nebraska): friendly and knowledgeable fans, great host (thanks again @FearlessF (https://www.cfb51.com/index.php?action=profile;u=10) ), lots of tradition
- Rose Bowl (1997 tOSU V ASU): spectacular setting, so much tradition, history, and pagentry
Outside of the B1G
- Lane Stadium (VaTech): highly recommended, great setting, environment, and GameDay experience, Enterent Sandman Stadium entrance is cool
- Hard Rock Stadium (Orange Bowl): very bland
- Superdome (Sugar Bowl): NOLA should host all bowls
- Sun Devil Stadium: awesome college environment
- University of Phoenix Stadium (former name of PHX NFL Stadium, Fiesta Bowl): more bland than Hard Rock
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1. UGA Sanford Stadium, situated E-W which is fairly rare.
2. Kentucky - Nice stadium, for visiting teams.
3. Cincinnati - Surprisingly loud for such a small venue.
4. Neyland - Surprisingly loud for such a large venue.
5. MB Stadium - Weird, but cheap hotdogs.
6. Ole Miss - Nice stadium, nice tailgating, not so nice for the visiting team that day.
7. Wisconsin - Nice stadium.
8. Georgia Tech - Really old stadium, interesting siting. I hear they did some upgrades.
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- Beaver Stadium: loud and feels much larger than tOSU or M because that upper section towers, looks like an erector set
Perfectly described. I was thinking of how to describe it, but couldn't come up with it. You nailed it.
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Perfectly described. I was thinking of how to describe it, but couldn't come up with it. You nailed it.
That is compliments of my late father. When we walked up to it, my dad said "That looks like an Erector Set".
(https://i.imgur.com/ptaUy9w.png)
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That was my first thought too. I played with a lot of erectors as a kid.
(https://i.imgur.com/DNpfK31.jpeg)
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Yes, the Metro-Bowel of Horrors was every bit as shitty as advertised.
https://youtu.be/RJnQB1pG_YM?si=jxrgNI1HpEWYT0Bw
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well, I can't really remember all the different stadiums and especially can't remember many details
all stadiums are similar to me, a seat with a view of the field
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I haven’t been to very many.
WVU- Unremarkable. At 60k it isn’t big but it isn’t small. Nothing from an architecture perspective stands out to me. It can have a good atmosphere for big games but most stadiums do. It isn’t consistently loud though.
VT- Loud. Really good atmosphere. Enter Sandman is really cool. Good place to watch a game.
Cincinnati- small, but surprisingly loud. Holds 35k but it was packed when I was there and I thought it had a good atmosphere.
Tennessee- big, and high. The height and steepness stood out to me. I wasn’t blown away by the noise for as many people as were there though. But both games I attended were day games against opponents UT was pretty heavily favored against. Cool venue though
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The Swamp - home....architecture helps with the noise, the north end zone being finished as Spurrier arrived. I like the unique triangles in each corner....the expanded pressbox structure was done well.
Neyland - big and loud...i think they have a brick facade now, but back then it was all khaki painted metal...odd color choice imo
Jordan-Hare & Tiger Stadium - same basic architecture, both Tigers....both loud. Saw AU upset #1 Florida and the fans stormed the field. We blew out LSU and a drunk dude stole my afro wig after a tug-of-war with my friend
Jax Altell Everbank Whatever the Hell it's called WLOCP - great 1/2 and 1/2 seating of rivals, no open-carry drink rules, good times on the St. John's.
Sun Devil Stadium after the renno....it's nice-looking, but western people don't get loud or risk passing out for their team, so it's kinda ho-hum. Looks better than it used to, but at the expense of maybe 10K seats or so.
Williams-Brice - big, full and loud, even if they're not good. They get in a bad mood if your team starts to smoke 'em. Lots of people standing in the corners.
Raymond James (USF) - weird that the Bulls play in a stadium with a pirate ship in it. This was way back, so the upper decks were covered. Small-time G5 game with a smattering of fans. Idk what else to put.
Starkville - idk what the stadium is called....Davis Wade? Wade Davis? It was a high school-level stadium when I went, as they've added a lot on since. Yes, tons of cowbell. It was just so tiny, it felt odd they were a fellow SEC program.
Camping World old Citrus Bowl? Stadium....super steep upper deck. It's a lot of stadium to just be sitting there all year doing nothing. ELA mentioned the game I went to, with Florida lining a 5'8" CB up against Plaxico Burress. Results were predictable. But a good, biggish solid stadium with no tenant.
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I guess that's it.
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I have a lot of work to do to post all the visits here, but I'll post of the Top and Bottom.
The Best College Football Stadium is Kyle Field. I've been there three times (90s, 00s, and 2020s), comment applies to current iteration.
I tell people it's better than their favorite NFL stadium. it is.
Bottom: Yale Bowl: Zillion dollar endowment, and this is what you've got?
if P4 only: tie: Northwestern old, KU old Memorial Stadium and Baylor's old (Floyd Casey). Sorry places, mercifully replaced.
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Darrell K Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium: Home. Large stadium, pretty quiet wine and cheese crowd, but can get rowdy for big games.
Kyle Field: Large stadium, great crowd for big games, pretty weak crowd for no-namers
Cotton Bowl: For TX-OU, it's the best atmosphere I've ever experienced for a sporting event. Recent renovations have improved it greatly.
JerryWorld: Sterile, soulless, cavernous. Absolutely terrible environment for a college football game. Pretty much the opposite of TX-OU at the Cotton Bowl.
Reliant Stadium or whatever it's called in Houston: Sterile NFL stadium but nice amenities, way better than JerryWorld.
Superdome: Rowdy, lots of fun. I've been to a Sugar Bowl there and a Texas-Tulane game. New Orleans is a great party town.
Alamodome: Surprisingly good venue, seats are all pretty good, easy access, and close to downtown SA and River Walk make it a fun trip.
Floyd Casey (Baylor): Awful dump. Glad it's gone.
McClane Stadium (Baylor): Decent amenities, kind of generic. I mean, it's Baylor.
Amon Carter (TCU): Pretty much a dump the last time I was there but that was 30 years ago. They've done a lot of renovations and the pictures look nice.
Rice Stadium: Old-school bowl-type stadium. It's been 30 years and I don't remember much about it.
Razorback Stadium, FayetteNam, Arkansas: Very rowdy when Texas comes to town. You don't want to be wearing burnt orange in that town.
Jones AT&T Stadium (Texas Tech): Another rowdy crowd when Texas comes to town. Tortillas, everywhere.
Robertson Stadium (University of Houston): Complete dump. Torn down in 2012. It was a mercy killing. Haven't been to their new stadium.
I think that's it for college games. I've also seen pro games at Jerryworld, Texas Stadium, the Metrodome, and Reliant Stadium or whatever it's called in Houston. All were good, as pro stadiums.
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An oddity, only one stadium seats more than 90 K but fewer than 100K.
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I have been to 26 different home stadiums. Three of those don't exist anymore, for Hawaii, San Diego State, and UNLV - interestingly all Mountain West Schools. And I've been to games in all three of their new stadiums too.
26 home stadiums undersells how many others games I've been to such as Bowls, Conference Championships, and Neutral Site games. At some point after the season is over I'll break it all down.
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I have a lot of work to do to post all the visits here, but I'll post of the Top and Bottom.
The Best College Football Stadium is Kyle Field. I've been there three times (90s, 00s, and 2020s), comment applies to current iteration.
I tell people it's better than their favorite NFL stadium. it is.
Bottom: Yale Bowl: Zillion dollar endowment, and this is what you've got?
if P4 only: tie: Northwestern old, KU old Memorial Stadium and Baylor's old (Floyd Casey). Sorry places, mercifully replaced.
I didn't go to a game in Kyle from 2014 to about 2021 or such. I had no idea what the new stadium looked like, it was amazing and so different than what I grew up with (from 1996-2000). What did you think of the renovation, redevelopment, or whatever you want to call it? It's just almost a completely different stadium.
Sadly, I've never attended any games outside of College Station, except for a bowl game in San Antonio in '99. Bad memory.
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Not in order of rank. These are the places I have viewed college football at:
- Camp Randall
- Kinnick Stadium
- Arrowhead Stadium (FSU v. Iowa State) -- This was a very good venue
- Doak Campbell Stadium
- Acrisure Stadium (FSU @ Pitt) -- I was not impressed by the venue, or maybe it was the sparse crowd - 49,641 in a stadium with a 68,400 capacity
- Alamo Bowl (2x) It was okay
- Rose Bowl (Early 1986) It is an okay venue for college football
- Ryan Field - I wasn't impressed by the stadium, but we had great seats in the second deck between the 45 and 50
- Fulton County Stadium (The worst site for football is in a multipurpose stadium - Was there for a 1980s Peach Bowl)