Haven't been here, but it sits on top of a hill, and looks amazing on TV. The stands are very close to the field, and it seats over 80,000. Amazing stadium!
2. Spartan Stadium (Michigan State)
Another great one that I haven't been to. The field barely fits because the stands are so close. I love it! Looks like great sight lines too. The atmosphere isn't the best from what I've seen, but that could be due to the quality of the team recently.
3. Kinnick Stadium (Iowa) saw 1 game here! ('99 v. MN)
Stadium itself is not very impressive(looks like a bunch of bleachers), but the sight lines inside the stadium are great! and the fans are right on top of the field. Stands are very close to the sidelines and fans in the endzones actually have their feet on the field grass!
4. Camp Randall (Wisconsin) saw 1 game here! ('03 v. OSU)
Not very impressive from the outside, especially with the expansion. Stadium looks great from inside, sight lines are pretty good, but the distance between the stands and sideline is way too big. There is no concourse, fans walk behind the benches along the sidelines to get up to the stands with a medal fence separating them from the field. (remember the incident of the early 90's?)
5. Michigan Stadium "The Big House" (Michigan)
Stadium is actually built into the ground, so is not impressive at all from the exterior. Sight lines seem okay, but the large bowl makes most seats near the top or in the corners not even worth sitting in. Plus that flagpole on the field is well....shitty and stupid! Most overrated stadium in the Big Ten.
6. Ohio Stadium "The Horseshoe" (Ohio State)
The lore of the horseshoe helps tis one out a bit. It's a very sweet looking stadium both inside and out, but the field is SO far away from the stands, with that old track going around it, that it ruins the whole look of the stadium. It's okay, but again, overrated.
7. Ross Ade Stadium (Purdue)
Nothing spectacular, but it is a horseshoe, and the stand seem close to the field. Always looks fairly attractive on TV.
8. Memorial Stadium (Illinois) saw stadium in '05, no games
It actually looks very cool from the outside, but on the inside it's really just 2 large stand on the sides of the field. I couldn't figure out how they get 70,000 in there. When the finish the improvements and close in one end it will jump up a couple spots.
9. Metrodome (Minnesota) saw ~70 games here! ('86-'06)
I know, I know, its the Dome. But it's really no that bad a place to watch a game. The stands are way too far away from the field, and the atmosphere cam be pretty stale, but when it gets fairly full it can be loud and a lot of fun.
10. Ryan Field (Northwestern) saw 2 games here! ('96, '99 v. MN)
Its outdoors....it's old, etc. But it's really not that impressive. It's kind of a stale atmosphere. It doesn't feel like a Big Ten stadium. It feels like you're at a MAC game.
11. Memorial Stadium (Indiana) saw 1 game here! ('05 v. MN)
Yuck, not a good stadium. No atmosphere at all. The stands are strange...almost vertical. 2 open ends is not good, although with the new improvements it will jump ahead of the Dome and Ryan Field. I do like "the rock" addition from Heoppner.
7 comments:
Great post! So nicely formatted and everything. I'm just not sure what the criteria is.
1. Intimacy (how close are the fans to the game)
2. Exterior Ashtetics (what does the stadium look like from the outside. Is it impressive, looming, scary, dull, run-down, etc.)
3. Interior Ashtetics (same as above, but inside the stadium)
4. Sight Lines (are there bad seats, do you have a good view and feel close to the field in most seats)
5. Atmosphere (does it give you goos bumps, pump you up, or put you to sleep to watch a game there)
6. Capacity (I gave small pts. to stadiums that were large, assuming they filled up most of the time)
Does that help? Anything else I should consider?
I should give bonus points to Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana for being the only schools that have solid colored endzones! Why is that? That looks so much better than the plain endzone with colored letters or logo. I really hope the Gophs put in Maroon endzones in "The Vault."
I have seen the gophers play in all but three stadiums in the BT. I have yet to see a game at Wisconsin, Illinois, and Ohio State. This will certainly color my judgment of those stadiums but I have seen enough to feel reasonably confident in my rankings.
1 Beaver Stadium
Do yourself a favor and watch a game in this stadium before you die or become an invalid. I am telling you nothing else in the BT compares to it-its not even close! The stadium is not a spectcaular architectural structure but it sits alone on top of a hill above the campus in the valley and as you drive toward the campus it suddenly appears as the only landmark for miles- what a unique sight! People park on the grassy hill next to the stadium and amid the cow pies-really. Everyone is tailgating and talking college ball. Inside the stadium it feels packed and large but not overly expansive. the seats come prettty close to the field and the sight lines are great. The "we are...Penn State" chant begins and it gets VERY loud and intimidating. The rolling hills in the distance is a bonus view from the seats and the field is natural and well decorated. The fans are into the game-not reading books (MN) or talking about vacations (mich) and it feels like a genuinely rabid college football setting. If I was a recruit I would be very impressed with the atmosphere and it would be my second choice behind Minnesota- loved it and want to return some day.
2 Memorial Stadium- Minnesota
I know its a bit of a homer choice but it was a BT stadium and I was there many times. The bench seating sucked and I never liked the open end of the stadium next to Cooke Hall or the distance between the stands and the field but it was still great. The old brickhouse held such a unique and powerful smell- I always associate it with the smell of College football. Plus the flags flying all around the stadium and the old PA speaker in the endzone and "home" "guest" labels for the scoreboard. There was no video screens or even out of town scores, Jules Pearl had to announce the other BT scores during stoppages in play! It was a grand old beauty with tons of history and character. Just think how special it would be today if it were still standing. Watching a game at Memorial Stadium was like traveling back in time-even in the 70s-a pure football experience and I will always cherish those wonderful memories.
3 Iowa-Kinnick
As much as I hate to admit it, the stadium is a model for what college stadiums should look like. The field is close and that really makes it a perfect venue for wathcing football. The crowd is in to it in their typically annoying Iowa way but the scenery around the stadium is awful-but then everything in iowa is boring to look at. The structure itself is nothing special but it feels like a college atmosphere.
4 Michigan State
Read Iowa. Better decorated on the outside than iowa but not quite as close to the field-but still very close.
5 Illinois- memorial
I like the old structure a lot. The columns are great and it felt like a college stadium. Hope to see a game there sometime
6 Metrodome
It gets too much bashing. It is a good place to play but it needs more fans to make it an advantage. It is not great but the sight lines are good and it is comfortable to watch a game. Not much character but it serves its purpose as a functional stadium.
7 Wisconsin- CR
Looks ungodly ugly from the outside. It should be considered eye pollution the way it hangs over the road and the pressboxes are offensive. Still I hear good things about it inside and the campus is nice.
8 Big "boring" House
By far the most overrated and dissapointing stadium in the BT. It is like a huge mine pit. It is definietly big- too big in my opinion. I cannot figure out how one can see the game from near the top of the stadium. Honestly, I was expecting more. The crowd was very quite and the atmosphere for 100000+ was surprisingly stale. If you like giant craters in the ground then Mich might be for you otherwise do not believe the hype.
9 Indiana
Has great potential with a hill on one end of the stadium but it is not exploited. The curved seeating is awful- otherwise nothing special
10 Purdue -Ross
I feel this stadium lacks any personality - it is as ugly as the campus
11 Northwestern
what is going on with the open end of the stadium? Looks bad from the outside too.
12 Ohio State
Horseshoe? It is like 200 miles from the stands to the field. A track around the stadium is a bad idea. I simply hate looking at it. Ohio State should be able to do better.
I would like to rank these but I have nothing ...
Come on, you can rank them based on what you've seen on TV. You can kind of get a feel for a stadium from TV can't you? I know its not the same, but it's something aint it!?
1. Although I haven't been there, from 2nd hand reports, I'd have to say happy valley. I've met a number of the PSU fans and each one has been class all the way.
2. I simply can't pick Iowa #2 at anything and from what I've heard and read MSU gets the 2 spot.
3. Fucking Iowa. Nothing like picking up Tyrone Carter after a win and hauling him around the field, followed by picking grass and tackling the field goal pad.
4. Illinois. I like the classical look and feel. Seems like what college fb should be about. I'm curious about the rennovation and also intend to see a game w/in a few years here.
5. Whisky. May be hideous from the outside but I doubt a gameday atmosphere from the interior can be matched if you're cheering for the home team.
6. OSU. Beautiful from the outside, but agree the track screws things up a bit.
7. Indiana. I've been there so it's better than Purdue. Semi-cute female officers, waffle house not too far away, nice campus, and of course the rock. The rennovations should help and I like the access to the endzones from the low chain link fence.
8. Purrude. I have no idea other than photos and images of Toledo on astroturf. I hate Tiller, the fans, and the entire god bless the university thing. Ick.
9. Northwestern. Most Texas high school stadiums sound and look better from what I've seen and heard.
10. Michigan. The most overrated venue in the country. Arrogant and asshole fans, BORING design, built like an outhouse, not a bighouse. Quiet for it's size and field too far from the stands. Sterile.
11. Minnesota. the Metrodome. Enough said. Good sightlines, but plastic as hell. Simply not a college football stadium and it was never intended to be a college football stadium. At least the outhouse was desinged for college football. The dome was rocking for the short while that Holtz was here and showed that it was possible to have a home field advantage, but other than the potential for noise factor, very little excited me about this piece of crap facility.
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