The Road to CFB: Visiting Every Division-I College Football Stadium

What is the best stadium you have ever visited?

This is a very important question and usually the first one asked (that or how many times have I been there). The honest answer is, I can’t name just one. Nor can I rank my “top 3” or “top 5”. I see stadiums on several levels. My top tier in terms of overall playing experience is:

Ohio State University, LSU State University, Texas A&M University, University of Wisconsin, Penn State University.

However, this may change if you ask me only about the stadium & its structure. The tiers will consist of:

Ohio State University, Texas A&M University, University of Tennessee, Clemson University, University of Texas

The same goes for atmosphere, tailgating, etc. There are many things that affect the playing experience.

What’s your favorite part about game day?

The beautiful thing about college football is that it’s all subjective. What I love about certain places might annoy other fans. A great example is Mississippi State and their cowbells – ask any Ole Miss (or SEC) fan, and they’ll tell you it makes them mad. I, for one, love the cowbells.

I love it when the stadium is really loud. If I have a headache when I leave the stadium, chances are it was a great stadium experience. The fans are also an integral part of the experience. Their friendliness and openness to conversation go a long way. I’m not a big fan of people who like to yell at the coach or the referee—or anyone on the field, really—from the stands. I also love the freedom and accessibility that a tight schedule, a complicated stadium, or strict officials can take away from a venue.

What I love most is exploring new places and experiencing the boundless excitement that fans feel for their team. Outside of very rare cases, I get to be a fan of that school for a day.

What’s the worst place you’ve ever been?

Almost every game day experience I’ve had has been a positive one; it’s hard to have a bad time when you’re watching a game you love with tens of thousands of your closest friends. Some aspects are subpar (Eastern Michigan isn’t exactly the best in the world of college football stadiums), but there’s almost nothing that really ruins game day for me.

Outside of the game, I was very disappointed when I visited ULM. It was rundown and dirty and, frankly, it didn’t feel safe. The home stands were large squares that barely covered the sidelines and the away stands were bleachers with gaps; there was a rusty, bent temporary fence around the stadium that was meant to be permanent. High schools beat ULM.

Of all the great matchups in Week X, would you pick Team A vs Team B?

One factor that doesn’t really affect my game selection is the schedule of the week’s major games. Typically, these games are very expensive for poor seats and anything outside of a walk-off winner or a nail-biter is going to be a disappointment. If I spend $250 to see Georgia play Alabama and the Crimson Tide win 41-14 (or, hell, even a tight 13-10 game), it’s not going to be a satisfying experience for the money.

I look for value. Sure, if I can get a reasonable ticket to a big game, I’ll do it. For example, I got tickets to #7 Oklahoma at Texas Tech for under $50 and it was a great experience. However, I could have had an equally great experience at a much tighter game between two evenly matched Sun Belt schools. It’s all about balancing price with outcome – which is the value I’m looking for.