Except the stadium is full of a 100,000 pedophile enabling fans in denial.
After the Big House and Waldo Stadium in Kalamazoo, I've seen more football games at Sun Devil Stadium, home of Arizona state. While the atmosphere was nowhere near what it's like in Ann Arbor, and while I wasn't as emotionally invested in the games like I am for Michigan and WMU games, there's no denying how nice of a stadium this is. Built between two very small mountains (well, more like two really big hills) and on the banks of Tempe Town Lake, it's hard to find a stadium that provides a more aesthetically pleasing backdrop.
Ummmm... regarding
it's hard to find a stadium that provides a more aesthetically pleasing backdrop.
...Both BYU and Utah State for starters.
ASU does have the pretty girls angle completely covered though!
Yeah, but those stadiums in themselves are not very attractive. I'll rephrase and say it's hard to find a stadium that fits in so well with it's backdrop.
As for the young ladies at the tailgates who sometimes decide to come into the stadium for a quarter or two, yes, they absolutely add to the beautiful scenery.
Rose Bowl too... as others mention. See it's not hard nor impossible and I'm just screwing around at work not putting a lot of thought into this.
You've named 3 stadiums out of 130+ D-1 fields which doesn't back up your point that it's not hard to find stadiums that may better fit their environment better. To top it off, you're trying to debate a topic that is heavily subjective and opinion based. In my opinion, though I know there are plenty others that other people may like much better, I think ASU's backdrop is one of the best, and certainly is out of the ones I've actually been to.
As unintended as it may be, you're veering towards trolling here and turning a fun topic into an annoying one, so give it a rest, guy.
Take it easy Mr Sensitive... did mommy not hug you this morning? Or put your twinkie in your lunch box? You said you'd be hard pressed to find something... in reality, it's not that difficult. You're a fan of ASU, great. It's a nice location. If you're going to continue to cry about it, I'll stop. Perhaps you'll learn when you speak in absolutes (about something subjective) it opens you up to criticism.
How bored must you be right now if you have nothing better to do than to be a jerk off who completely sucks at reading comphrension? This is a thread based off opinions (I find it concerning that I need to repeat that for you), you took my opinion much too seriously and also mistook a common colloquialism for more than it was worth. I never said it was the best, but my statement implied I think it's up there. It's a fucking opinion, quit making it a personal crusade of yours to prove me wrong. Neg me and move on if my opinion and choice of wording rubs you the wrong way.
No wonder you've been on here for so long and I have no idea who you are. Your commentary and communication skills are pretty worthless and unremarkable.
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There is nothing quite like it honestly. When Michigan is good, I think has the perfect combination of interest in football (which leads the way) to drunkeness, where as Camp Randall has the opposite mix, but still it is still pretty awesome (as in people are more interested in drunkeness than football but there is a burning passion for both).
Neyland Stadium (Tennessee) - Huge. The upper-deck rings in the sound. Everything is prison orange. Friendly southern atmosphere for opponents not named Florida or Alabama. There's a tailgaiting scene on the river next to the stadium. Rocky Top as a fight song would fire my ass up if I had any love for U of Tennessee.
Kenan Memorial Stadium (UNC CH) - The pines and the Bell Tower rise up above the upper lines of the stadium. It's in the middle of a beautiful campus. However, the whole experience is wasted on an apathetic crowd.
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Spartan Stadium is just a dump
Then I've been to Lane Stadium (VaTech). It's novel, but definitely has a mid-major feel. Sideline stands are concrete but the endzone student section is metal bleachers. Didn't feel like a major CFB stadium
I had gone to....
Jordan–Hare Stadium (Auburn)
Bryant–Denny Stadium (Alabama)
Kelly/Shorts Stadium (Central Michigan)
Spartan Stadium (State)
Louis Crews Stadium (Alabama A&M)
Legion Field (UAB)
Fisher Field (Lafayette, La.)
Michigan Stadium
Michigan always be my number one. I pick Auburn second the most beautiful stadium i had been to. Also their tailgate is great as well.
Best friend is an alum. He offers me discounted tickets to games he can't make. Saw MSU there two years ago and UoM last fall. A few years back got to see USC also. Love rooting aginst the Irish, although I keep it mostly internal except for the UofM game. It is a nice atmosphere on game day though.
- Rose Bowl
- Death Valley (LSU)
- Camp Randall
Husky Stadium is honorable mention.
You want a band entrance that rivals ours? Try the LSU band playing the first notes of Hold That Tiger.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiZoYQSqu-A&feature=youtu.be&t=1m20s
Where else can you watch the game from your tailgate?
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a couple of times and have seen the stadium, but haven't attended a game there.
Pretty amazing and fun concept.
I understand that the local high schools also use this stadium, and I imagine that this setup would be a teenager's dream come true for a Friday night game.
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Of the others I've been in:
- Sanford Stadium, University of Georgia - beautiful historic stadium, one of the cathedrals of college football, games played "between the hedges" and Uga parading around
- Bobby Dodd Stadium, Georgia Tech - Did you know that this is actually the oldest FBS stadium? Small, but also makes for an intimate atmosphere (as intimate as a football game can be, I suppose).
- Legion Field, University of Alabama-Birmingham - This was back in 1996 during the Olympics to watch soccer. Even back then, I think capacity was over 80,000.
- Ryan Field, Northwestern - it's tiny and it's usually only half full, but it's still better than the concrete slab that is...
- Memorial Stadium, University of Illinois - the outside brick facade is nice, but it's just a giant block of concrete when you get inside.
- Spartan Stadium.
Spartan stadium is ranked way too high in your list.
Have an upvote for Bobby Dodd. I forgot to put it in my comment, but it is actually very nice and intimate. Georgia Tech in general is a very nice campus, so much so that it is almost out of place, smack dab in Atlanta there.
Unbridled Elitism . . . Four-Way Tie
Michigan of the East (Harvard) Stadium
The Yale Bowl
Franklin Field
Ye Olde Princeton University Palmer Stadium (R. I. P.)
No College Football (other than the international style)
Nickerson Field at Boston University, Site of the home field of Major League Baseball’s Boston Braves from 1915-1952 (for whom Babe Ruth played during his final season in 1935); the 26-inning, 1-1 tie played between the Braves and the Dodgers in 1920 (longest game for innings played in MLB history -- and both pitchers went the distance); the 1936 Major League Baseball All Star Game; the first home field of the NFL franchise that now calls Washington, D. C. home; the first home field of the Boston (now New England) Patriots; the first regular season game played in the history of the American Football League on September 9, 1960 . . . and, currently, Boston University’s soccer and lacrosse teams. (Interesting side trip for those baseball history fans who will be going to see Michigan's hockey team play against Boston University this coming season.)
Any field with a track sucks. Too far from the action and bad sight lines. Like a high school game.
I almost played at Penn. Franklin field is awesome, especially now that their weight room is right down on the field with a glass wall looking out on it. It's like an old cathedral in Philly
No love for Clemson in here? That's a place with a great fan experience.
I second West Point as well.
...Memorial Stadium at Cal-Berkeley is tremendous.
For me Michigan Stadium and the Rose Bowl are the best.
But Memorial Stadium at Cal is a great place too. The surrounding areas and views of the Bay Area from the top of the stadium are spectacular.
Most of the best college football stadiums were built in the 1920s (Michigan, Cal, Rose Bowl all opened in the '20s, along with many others). Then the Depression and WWII....
Cal Memorial is underappreciated becasue Cal is usually not a top team and, therefore, the stadium rarely gets national TV exposure.
MUCH smaller than The Big House (40,000), but very stylish. Two decks on the west side (home sideline, just like Michigan Stadium), but one deck around the rest of the stadium. The best place to sit is actually the upper deck, becuase you see tremendous fall foliage across from the eastern side of the stadium. The Black Knights of the Hudson haven't been good in years, but the ambiance of a West Point football Saturday has to be experienced to be fully appreciated.
Great, smaller stadium with a lot of atmosphere, and fans who are very nice and respectful to all. If you have kids, it's great.
three times. Great mid-sized stadium. Great surroundings. I would recommend it to anyone.
Here's how I'd rank the overall stadium experiences just from the gamedays I've attended.
1. Camp Randall: Went for road games in '05 and '07. Place is just a nuthouse. Great student atmosphere. Home fans are jerks during the game but morph into delightfully helpful midwesterners immediately thereafter. Fantastic experience despite the two close losses.
2. Sanford: Top-tier SEC environment. Consistently loud. They're eventually going to expand over 100k like the others, but I like that they purposefully aren't going to fully enclose the bowl because they want to leave the view of campus open behind the scoreboard. Stadium is right in the middle of the campus- somewhat inconvenient for parking, fabulous for tailgating.
3a. Jordan-Hare: Another solid SEC fortress. Gets the tiebreaker nod over Clemson because the tailgating scene is so much more efficient- you'll almost certainly be in a random field somewhere, but they have a great bus system to run you right up to the stadium.
3b. Death Valley (Clemson): Stadium environment virtually identical to Auburn's, except that their upper deck seems much steeper and scarier. Good view of the lake though. Loses tiebreaker because like Auburn you will also be tailgating in a random field, but you'll be walking from there to the stadium. Their pregame schtick is way overrated. Team gets on a bus on one side of the stadium. Ride the bus to the other side of stadium. Touch rock, run down hill. I don't get the hype.
4. Michigan Stadium: Press boxes helped a bunch. Put the goddamn keys away.
5. Williams-Brice Stadium: SANDSTORM SANDSTORM SANDSTORM. Their pregame schtick (2001 theme + smoke tunnel) is way underrated- it's probably my favorite overall. Lower on the list because the stadium is a good ways away from their campus and the surrounding area sucks.
6. Neyland: Shadow of its former '90s self. Feels like you're in a giant erector set the entire time. Vol Navy is very cool though.
7. Spartan Stadium: Feels like a bland concrete 3rd-world Olympic stadium. Not much going for it. Worst fans, by far, on this list.
Have not been to games in Baton Rouge or Alabama, though I suspect LSU would slide in to at least 2nd if not 1st on this list based on what I've seen and heard.
but the South Carolina fans at the Outback Bowl were the worst I've ever encountered.
Took my dad to the game, and their horrible, racist, obnoxious drunken fans managed to damage what should have been a great memory.
I remember hearing about how bad/racist the fans were when Michigan went down to Columbia in 1985 and crushed the Gamecocks. Michigan didn't play another game in the south (bowls excepted) until the 'bama game at Jerry World in 2012.
Haven't been to any SEC-country home games, so I have no frame of reference - but man, those South Carolina people were awful. Even the idiots in Columbus, OH were better.
but the neighborhood is so bad, we needed guns to leave afterwards (slight hyperbole).
If we're going for total package, I have to say LSU at night against an SEC opponent is one of the craziest atmospheres I've ever experienced. I saw them play Ole Miss there and it was an 8pm local time kickoff. Plenty of time for the locals to inebriate themselves. Had some great conversations and interactions with the fans. LSU won by a point and Devery Henderson broke his arm on a TD catch. Craziness.
I've done Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia from the SEC. I'd be splitting hairs if I tried to compare those three. Just a slight notch below LSU, but all three feature your typical pictureque setting and great atmosphere that you find in the SEC. +1 for Tennessee's setting next to the Cumberland River, -1 for closing up the top deck of the stadium, making it impossible to see from inside the stadium.
I've done Florida State and that's an SEC-type atmosphere as long as they are playing an opponent with a pulse. Doak Campbell is imposing and the fans are into if it's Florida or an ACC team that poses a threat (Clemson, GA Tech, Miami).
My most frequented venue is Bobby Dodd Stadium at Grant Field. While I absolutely love the place, it's only 55,000 and doesn't really compare to the aforementioned venues. Not to say it's not a great experience, but it's just not 80,000+ like the others.
The Big House may be the most aesthetically pleasing venue I've seen in person. The place looks like a cathedral. The suites that were added make it an even more imposing facility. However the atmosphere has seemed a bit subdued lately, but that's probably due to the lackluster football. I'll be there this season for hopefully BYU, so that will give me a better idea of what the atmosphere is supposed to be once Michigan is back to the elite under HARBAUGH.
Clemson's stadium is an erector set. Seats above basically the 10th-15th row in the upper deck suck. Way far away from the action. Clemson, SC isn't much to begin with. It does have a lake, whoever cares about that.
Others I have done and don't have much if anything to say about:
Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama - absolute dump...rust everywhere, tiny-ass scoreboards...can barely see the numbers on them.
Georgia Dome...typical generic, antiseptic dome.
Tulane...new stadium is very nice but concourse and seating are very tight. Not bad if you don't mind rubbing shoulders all game.
Vandy...really not much.
Shreveport (site of Independence Bowl)...not much.
Duke...simple bowl that isn't full. Looks and feels like a high school stadium. They are doing renos on that stadium this off-season, though.
Alabama State...been to the Cramton Bowl and their new on-campus stadium. New on-campus stadium is quite nice and overlooks I-85 in downtown Montgomery, but the atmosphere and attendance is what you'd expect for a SWAC team.
I am doing Notre Dame this year when GA Tech plays them and am really looking forward to that.
Autzen is up there. Not only for the stadium and exciting offense, but those cheerleaders.... I was going to link a photo, but borderline NSFW.
Maroon