SEC Stadium Rankings

[chris324]

SEC Stadium Rankings: Sanford Stadium Holds Top Spot | Bleacher Report (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/27272-SEC-Stadium-Rankings-Sanford-Stadium-Holds-Top-Spot-040608)

[SCRooster68]

Bama has a great stadium except for the blind spots the vistors get. I am surprised LSU was not ranked higher.

I have not been to a bad SEC stadium....even Vandy is a fun trip.

[GeauxTo]

It is, of course, the ambiance and atmosphere that make a stadium a unique and remarkable experience. And, in that vein, no stadium in the SEC or anywhere else can hold a candle to LSU's Death Valley. It is, on a Saturday night, the college football experience of a lifetime! Every place else sucks hind titty.
:thumbs:

[SCRooster68]

It is, of course, the ambiance and atmosphere that make a stadium a unique and remarkable experience. And, in that vein, no stadium in the SEC or anywhere else can hold a candle to LSU's Death Valley. It is, on a Saturday night, the college football experience of a lifetime! Every place else sucks hind titty.
:thumbs:

I have never made it to LSU for a game yet.

Why did they move you down the list? Is it the smell of Cajun people? Maybe the public address announcer nobody that is not from La. can understand? Maybe you could shed some light GeauxTo.....:whistle:

[geechee]

Largest Football Stadiums In The World | Sports Crunch (http://sports.popcrunch.com/20-biggest-american-football-stadiums/)

[crawfish]

http://www.crescentcitytigers.com/images/TigerStadium20000920LSU38Tenn31.jpg

LSU Tiger Stadium

Despite being 14-1 at Tiger Stadium, famed Alabama head coach Bear Bryant once remarked that "Baton Rouge happens to be the worst place in the world for a visiting team. It's like being inside a drum." In 2001, ESPN sideline reporter Adrian Karsten said, "Death Valley in Baton Rouge is the loudest stadium I've ever been in." In 2002, Miami (Ohio) coach Terry Hoeppner said of Tiger Stadium, "That's as exciting an environment as you can have ... we had communication problems we haven't had at Michigan and Ohio State." In 2003, ESPN's Chris Fowler called LSU his favorite game day experience.

Survey after survey has concluded that Tiger Stadium is the most difficult place for a visiting team to play, including surveys by the College Football Association in 1987, The Sporting News in 1989, Gannett News Service in 1995, and Sport Magazine in 1998. More recently, in 2007, ESPN named Tiger Stadium "the scariest place to play," saying that "Tiger Stadium is, by far, the loudest stadium in the country."

Case closed!

[gatorunvrsty]

I have never made it to LSU for a game yet.

Why did they move you down the list? Is it the smell of Cajun people? Maybe the public address announcer nobody that is not from La. can understand? Maybe you could shed some light GeauxTo.....:whistle:

Well, to be fair, it's not a they that compiled the list. It's some kid who just submitted his own rankings in an article, based on some pretty strange criteria. It's his first, and maybe last, article. There are no fewer than 20 members on this board who could've submitted a better written one, regardless of how they ranked the venues.

[timNem]

It is, of course, the ambiance and atmosphere that make a stadium a unique and remarkable experience. And, in that vein, no stadium in the SEC or anywhere else can hold a candle to LSU's Death Valley. It is, on a Saturday night, the college football experience of a lifetime! Every place else sucks hind titty.
:thumbs:

that depends on whether one would prefer an ambiance with a stench of urine and vomit draped within thousands of cajuns dressed as pimps and their favorite comic book characters.

:laugh::laugh::laugh:

[geechee]

Survey after survey has concluded that Tiger Stadium is the most difficult place for a visiting team to play, including surveys by the College Football Association in 1987, The Sporting News in 1989, Gannett News Service in 1995, and Sport Magazine in 1998. More recently, in 2007, ESPN named Tiger Stadium "the scariest place to play," saying that "Tiger Stadium is, by far, the loudest stadium in the country."

Case closed!

I don't think anyone was arguing against what you are saying. He wasn't ranking the stadiums by the loudest or the most difficult stadium to play in. He was ranking them by how nice he thought they were.

1. Georgia

"The ole boys from Georgia have added and added to an already nice stadium. Everything from the locker rooms, to the field, to the scoreboard is first class. The stadium sits by the old traditional railroad tracks that use to bring people to the game. The stadium sits in the middle of campus, and people tailgate throughout. This stadium is very impressive in every area imaginable, and gets nicer every year."

http://sports.popcrunch.com/wp-content/football-stadiums/pics/sanford-stadium.jpg

"Sanford Stadium [Capacity 93,000] Located in Athens, Georgia this is the stadium where the Bulldogs play. It is infamous for being a stadium that has seen frequent renovations designed to enlarge its capacity while maintaining the look of the stadium. You wouldn’t want to upset football fans by drastically changing the place where games are played!"


You can see above how compact Sanford Stadium looks and yet it holds just as many people as every other stadium in the SEC except for Knoxville.

[GatorNation]

Death Valley is the most intimidating place to play football....until Florida schedules a home game.

:D

[crawfish]

I don't think anyone was arguing against what you are saying. He wasn't ranking the stadiums by the loudest or the most difficult stadium to play in. He was ranking them by how nice he thought they were.

1. Georgia

"The ole boys from Georgia have added and added to an already nice stadium. Everything from the locker rooms, to the field, to the scoreboard is first class. The stadium sits by the old traditional railroad tracks that use to bring people to the game. The stadium sits in the middle of campus, and people tailgate throughout. This stadium is very impressive in every area imaginable, and gets nicer every year."

http://sports.popcrunch.com/wp-content/football-stadiums/pics/sanford-stadium.jpg

"Sanford Stadium [Capacity 93,000] Located in Athens, Georgia this is the stadium where the Bulldogs play. It is infamous for being a stadium that has seen frequent renovations designed to enlarge its capacity while maintaining the look of the stadium. You wouldn’t want to upset football fans by drastically changing the place where games are played!"


You can see above how compact Sanford Stadium looks and yet it holds just as many people as every other stadium in the SEC except for Knoxville.

Yeah, I'm with you. I was just throwing in a plug for the ole Tiger Den! Every stadium has certain things that make it special and intimidating. All good stuff. The SEC is packed full of awesome stadiums.

[AUviaDC101]

how did they forget the first FULLY HD video screen above the BLACK student section?

[GatorHunter]

Wow...what a horrible list. I've seen a game at Sanford...'94 or '95 UF-UGA game. Very clean stadium...beautiful "scenery". I don't think it's Tops in the SEC though. I know UT's isn't. It may be the "largest"...but I was there in '96 and let me say, you have about 14 inches "butt" room...very cramped...and old stadium. No way UT's is that high, either.

I know this is where I'm suppose to say "The Swamp is #1"...although I believe it is...:)...I think BDS is a pretty formidable stadium because of the history. The absolute scariest stadium for me is JHS...because when you play Auburn at their house...you better get ready for some "home cooking"...;)

[D^3]

Sanford is just a beautiful place altogether. There's nothing quite like sitting in the student section and seeing the sun set behind the trees in the southwest corner of the stadium. That and there has always been something special about having that open end where you can still see the street behind the scoreboard. Oh, and then the chills that run up your spine when the trumpeter plays the battle hymn of the republic from the front row of the upper deck in the southwest corner..... in fact, I've got goosebumps talking about it! Damn I can't wait for opening day!

[D^3]

Wow...what a horrible list. I've seen a game at Sanford...'94 or '95 UF-UGA game. Very clean stadium...beautiful "scenery". I don't think it's Tops in the SEC though.


"Thirty luxury suites were added above the south stands in 1994, and were expanded to 50 suites in 2000. These expansions cost a total of $18 million, and raised total capacity to 86,520.

In 2003, another upper deck was added to the north side of the stadium. This added 5,500 new seats to the stadium at a cost of $25 million, bringing total stadium capacity to 92,058. Currently, most of these "upper-upper deck" seats are reserved for the fans of the visiting team.

In 2005, installation of a new video display on the West End zone was completed. Ribbon boards were also added along the sides of the stadium. These additions, constructed and maintained by Daktronics, establish Sanford Stadium as one of the most visually media intensive venues in the SEC.

The stadium reached its current capacity of 92,746 in 2004, when 27 SkySuites were added to the North side of the stadium at a cost of $8 million."

A lot has changed since you were last there, GH. And none of the above includes the renovations to the concourse facilities, locker room facilities, etc.

And nobody else in the SEC has a tomb for all of their deceased mascots in the corner of the stadium, either. Thats just badass. Uga's I-V are resting near the southwest corner of the end-zone.

[gatorunvrsty]

"Thirty luxury suites were added above the south stands in 1994, and were expanded to 50 suites in 2000. These expansions cost a total of $18 million, and raised total capacity to 86,520.

In 2003, another upper deck was added to the north side of the stadium. This added 5,500 new seats to the stadium at a cost of $25 million, bringing total stadium capacity to 92,058. Currently, most of these "upper-upper deck" seats are reserved for the fans of the visiting team.

In 2005, installation of a new video display on the West End zone was completed. Ribbon boards were also added along the sides of the stadium. These additions, constructed and maintained by Daktronics, establish Sanford Stadium as one of the most visually media intensive venues in the SEC.

The stadium reached its current capacity of 92,746 in 2004, when 27 SkySuites were added to the North side of the stadium at a cost of $8 million."

A lot has changed since you were last there, GH. And none of the above includes the renovations to the concourse facilities, locker room facilities, etc.

And nobody else in the SEC has a tomb for all of their deceased mascots in the corner of the stadium, either. Thats just badass. Uga's I-V are resting near the southwest corner of the end-zone.

Why did you include the negative aspects of the stadium? I was just beginning to get warm and fuzzy thinking about the setting; and you go and tell me about rotting mutt carcass. Just teasing... but, seriously, who else could realistically even do that? There are only a few teams where that would make any sense... if any at all.

I just can't see a tomb full of:

Elephants - Tomb would have to be as big as the stadium itself, even if they used real ones; and elephants live for 60-70 years anyway, so there'd be a grand total of 1.

Tigers and wildcats - They COULD do it, I suppose; but, personally, I'd just as soon see all cats in a Glad bag at the bottom of a river anyway.

Wild boar - They could pull it off; but I don't recall ever seeing anyone walking the sidelines with one.

Alligators - Have had live ones in Lake Alice on campus; but same rule applies as with elephants. Alligators live for 50+ years, and some have lived to over a hundred. So, there'd be a grand total of 1, maybe 2.

Men - Somehow, I think people would object to burying the guys playing Reb under/beside the stadium. Same rule for the guys playing the Commodore.

Chickens - They could do the tomb thing; but why waste the meat.

So, that leaves only two other schools in the SEC who could realistically even build a tomb for their mascots... UT and MSU, the other 2 with dog mascots. Besides, the only UGA who really deserves a tomb is the one that tried to bite the Auburn player in the crotch.;)

[D^3]

Why did you include the negative aspects of the stadium? I was just beginning to get warm and fuzzy thinking about the setting; and you go and tell me about rotting mutt carcass. Just teasing... but, seriously, who else could realistically even do that? There are only a few teams where that would make any sense... if any at all.




No, I doubt anyone else could do it... but few schools can say they have as much tradition or importance placed on their mascot as we do, either. Uga is as much a part of UGA as the football team, the student body, or even the arches themselves. He's the most famous dog in college football, and the treatment he gets is nothing short of kingly. Only fitting that we have a memorial for his predecessors in Sanford.

[cocky87]

Carolina's stadium was favored a little to much... Don't get me wrong, I love the stadium, but it has alot of improvements to be made... Mainly the fair grounds is what gets me. We should have a more scenic background, but hey I will love it no matter what. I do enjoy the actual stadium itself, just needs some updating; that's all.

The atmosphere is still one of the best in college football in my mind.

LSU got robbed... Ive heard the stadium needs some improvements, but as far as atmosphere goes.... I think they are probably the loudest from what ive heared.

[Cjssax]

They say Williams Brice is expaning the North end zone, to make make it mirror the South end zone pushing the capacity towards 90,000! Just rumors from what I have heard, anyone else heard that?

[PuddingTime]

I appreciate the fact that they do recognize the fact that Kentucky's Commonwealth Stadium is nice for 99% of the conferences out there, but in the SEC, it's not even in the top half. And it isn't. But that doesn't mean it's a crappy facility, it's pretty nice. But you know, we've invested more $ into facilities of other sorts. Of the basketball variety lol. UK is supposed to break ground on a new baseball stadium here in the coming months as well....fwiw.

[Cockfan720]

They say Williams Brice is expaning the North end zone, to make make it mirror the South end zone pushing the capacity towards 90,000! Just rumors from what I have heard, anyone else heard that?

They're doing a feasibility study on expanding the north end zone right now. I've heard they are talking to the same group that is building the new baseball stadium. I'd say that if we have a good year this year (9-10 wins), they'll speed up the process as demand for tickets would definately increase.

[nellanaesp]

From what I read, the plans are already made and the expansion is scheduled at the end of this season in between 2008 and 2009.

[geechee]

From what I read, the plans are already made and the expansion is scheduled at the end of this season in between 2008 and 2009.



USC News - Athletics unveils master plan for facilities (http://uscnews.sc.edu/ATHL_Web068.html)

[TDArkansasOhmy]

http://d16653.hosting.web.com/images/War%20Memorial%20Web.JPG

This is the dump in which he spoke of. How can one degrade a stadium that is name for the soldiers of past and present wars.
I love the old man and what he stands for. Great games has been seen here. And it should continue to play host as Arkansas 2nd home.
believe, the joint can rock.
God bless War Memorial Stadium and what he stands for.

[The Ramp]

LMAO@ those rankings. I may be a homer but I've been to 11 of the 12 stadiums.and that rankings is just hilarouous

[the Prodigy]

War Memorial needs to be retired. And Donald W. Reynolds needs to be expanded. The home of the Razorbacks' should and always will be in Fayetteville. That stadium could easily be expanded to hold over 100,000 people. And if Petrino is successful, I imagine that just might become a reality sooner than most would like to think possible.

[gangstaback]

war memorial, BY COMPARISON, is a dump. Razorback Stadium is better in all aspects save tailgating (where students cant drink on campus, unlike at War Memorial) and noise (War Memorial is much louder, kind of sad...... mostly cuz of Fayetteville old people... #1 retirement place in America lol). if war memorial owners are serious about this, they need to expand ASAP and clean-up the place.

[Choctaw]

http://www.tigerstadium.com/quotes/lsu3.swf

No Place Like Home: The 10 Toughest Venues in the World | Bleacher Report (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/3172-European_Football-No_Place_Like_Home_The_10_Toughest_Venues_in_the_W orld)

[Cjssax]

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a142/cjssax/800px-LSU_Tiger_Stadium_west_side.jpg
Yea thats a pretty sweet stadium!

[the Prodigy]

Sometimes I think that Arkansas' PTB are too concerned with making the stadium look like a Pro stadium, with nothing but seats. I'd rather have bleachers because that would mean more people. You can't get an environment like Death Valley with seats at the endzones.

Question: How many SEC stadiums have non-box chairback seats in their stadium?

[geechee]

Sometimes I think that Arkansas' PTB are too concerned with making the stadium look like a Pro stadium, with nothing but seats. I'd rather have bleachers because that would mean more people. You can't get an environment like Death Valley with seats at the endzones.

Question: How many SEC stadiums have non-box chairback seats in their stadium?

That is the best part about Sanford Stadium. It is so compact that you are right in the game. Sanford holds about 20,000 more people than the Georgia Dome and yet it could almost fit inside the Dome.

[the Prodigy]

Sometimes I think that Arkansas' PTB are too concerned with making the stadium look like a Pro stadium, with nothing but seats. I'd rather have bleachers because that would mean more people. You can't get an environment like Death Valley with seats at the endzones.

Question: How many SEC stadiums have non-box chairback seats in their stadium?

[the Prodigy]

http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/2729/athenssanford1hi8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/2729/athenssanford1hi8.768869b55d.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=299&i=athenssanford1hi8.jpg)

http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/250/athenssanford2lz7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/250/athenssanford2lz7.e4b99e6613.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=299&i=athenssanford2lz7.jpg)

[the Prodigy]

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/9281/auburnjordanhare1si5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/9281/auburnjordanhare1si5.ea96d49bd2.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=338&i=auburnjordanhare1si5.jpg)

http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/8817/auburnjordanhare2tt1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/8817/auburnjordanhare2tt1.3c89242113.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=521&i=auburnjordanhare2tt1.jpg)

[*bama boy*]

i have been to Jordan Hair and was not impressed, it just seemed old and crappy, they recently fixed it up some though.

Neyland was pretty impressive but seats were tiny so your screwed if you sit beside a gravity-challenged loud vol fan.

i was unimpressed with mississippi state's stadium, you should build endzones before you do upper decks.

Ole miss was okay, i cant really complain. other than about the ole miss fans.

Vanderbilts was tiny and didnt have the feel of an sec game, 3 times more bama fans there. Fantastic sightlines though.

Best overall stadium i have been to, (of course, ^_^) Bryant-Denny, seats not usually too cramped, good sightlines, great atomsphere, loudest game ive ever been to was in tuscaloosa.

this year i might be able to visit Neyland, Georgia dome, and LSU. possibly sanford.

[shanksta13]

The Swamp also has that distinctively "closed off" feeling. There really isn't a bad seat in the house, due to the closeness to the field and the upwards angle of the stadium.

[the Prodigy]

The Swamp also has that distinctively "closed off" feeling. There really isn't a bad seat in the house, due to the closeness to the field and the upwards angle of the stadium.

And no seats... all bleachers.

[shanksta13]

And no seats... all bleachers.

Trust me, that's intentional. I guarantee you we overfill that stadium 9 times out of 10.

[*bama boy*]

bama is mostly bleachers too, but so wat? Bama, florida, lsu, barn, tennessee, Georgia, and south car all do, and all have better atomosphere and more noise than W, D. Reynolds.

[the Prodigy]

Trust me, that's intentional. I guarantee you we overfill that stadium 9 times out of 10.

I know it's intentional. Arkansas' stadium is huge, but we have 20,000 people sitting in seats where we could have 40,000 standing on bleachers.

[Noah.Dreams]

I prefer smaller stadiums like Vandy's. It's much more intimate. Bama has a great stadium except for the blind spots the vistors get. I am surprised LSU was not ranked higher.

I have not been to a bad SEC stadium....even Vandy is a fun trip.

[DEHIII]

Here are my rankings excluding Bryant Denny. My only problem with Bryant Denny is that I wish the seats were right on top of the field. Instead we have the walk way which means the noise level will not be as loud as some other places.


LSU
Tennessee
Florida
Auburn
Georgia
Arkansas
South Carolina
Kentucky
Ole Miss
MSU
Vandy


And for the record I have been to them all.

[the Prodigy]

I prefer smaller stadiums like Vandy's. It's much more intimate.

Intimate... like a candlelight dinner.... I want massive waves of sound and emotion!

[GatorNation]

Here are my rankings excluding Bryant Denny. My only problem with Bryant Denny is that I wish the seats were right on top of the field. Instead we have the walk way which means the noise level will not be as loud as some other places.

LSU
Tennessee
Florida
Auburn
Georgia
Arkansas
South Carolina
Kentucky
Ole Miss
MSU
Vandy
And for the record I have been to them all.

Not sure how Neyland is above the Swamp...

Knoxville is often considered underwhelming in terms of home-field advantage, especially considering the number of fans at the game.