Goal: To thoroughly experience gameday at every FBS college football stadium. STADIUM COUNT: 108/134
Occasionally overlooked as it sits 10 minutes from Michigan’s “Big House” and 35 minutes from the metropolitan area of Detroit, Rynearson Stadium is a jewel off the campus of Eastern Michigan University. This home of the Eagles is situated in the quaint, yet vibrant college town of Ypsilanti – a great setting for gameday.
Husky Stadium lies on picturesque Lake Washington in Seattle. Home to the Washington Huskies, the scene has become one of the most iconic in college football. The purple and gold have reigned in the Pacific Northwest since 1889, and it’s a program abundant in tradition. Autumn Saturdays in the Emerald City provide a gameday saturated with passion and pageantry.
Continue reading “WASHINGTON – HUSKY STADIUM”
Auburn is nicknamed “The Loveliest Village on the Plains” taken from a line in the poem “The Deserted Village” by Oliver Goldsmith. The university is lovely and far from plain as it is home to some of the most incredible traditions and one of the best gameday atmospheres in college football.
Continue reading “AUBURN – JORDAN-HARE STADIUM”
“Out in the west Texas town of El Paso, there is a team that they call the Miners.”
This eclectic border town is home to the University of Texas El-Paso. Originally founded as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, UTEP’s nickname of Miners is a perfect fit. The school has embraced its Miner identity with a swagger-filled mascot (Paydirt Pete), pickaxe icons that engulf campus, and a historic stadium carved into the mountains.
Continue reading “UTEP – THE SUN BOWL”
The foundation of college football culture is constructed on small campus towns that swell to ten times their size on gamedays. Locations like Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Norman, Oklahoma attract most of the spotlight. But, more impressive are the dots on the map that are typically less hyped, but emit the same passion and pageantry as universities that are consistent gridiron thoroughbreds. Hattiesburg, Mississippi qualifies as one of these special campuses. Located one hour from both the Louisiana and Alabama borders, the University of Southern Mississippi is an underrated hot spot in college football that deserves more of that spotlight.
Continue reading “SOUTHERN MISS – M.M ROBERTS STADIUM”
Located in Mobile, South Alabama is one of the youngest college football programs in the FBS. Established in 2009, the Jaguars were tenants of Ladd-Peebles Stadium for its first ten years of existence. Now the proud residents of the sparkling new Hancock Whitney Stadium, South Alabama is rapidly establishing the gameday traditions that make college football so special.
Continue reading “SOUTH ALABAMA – HANCOCK WHITNEY STADIUM”
Starkville, home of Mississippi State, has been nicknamed StarkVegas. Originally, the moniker stuck as a sarcastic insult toward a town viewed as small and sleepy. But, the rise in Bulldog athletics has transformed the name into a badge of honor. Coincidentally, gamedays in Starkville are an outstanding event when this town with old southern charm becomes a cauldron of cowbell cacophony.
Continue reading “MISSISSIPPI STATE – DAVIS WADE STADIUM”
Quintessential gamedays are characterized by gorgeous settings with iconic on-campus stadiums. Passion and pageantry are on full display with traditions that cross generations. Vibrant downtowns adjacent to campus strengthen the community and keep the energy level running high on a football Saturday.
Athens, Georgia checks all of these boxes.
Fort Worth is home to the Texas Christian Horned Frogs – a football program decorated in history and tradition. TCU has been snapping the pigskin since 1896, and gameday in Fort Worth offers a perfect blend of modern traditions and timeless classics that have lasted generations.
Continue reading “TCU – AMON G. CARTER STADIUM”
The shift from decaying Legion Field to the newly built Protective Stadium has reenergized a program that completely dropped football after 2014, only to have it reinstated two years later after a flurry of protests. The next four seasons saw a program notch two conference titles and build an impressive new stadium in the bustling Uptown district of Birmingham. Gamedays here are building new traditions while integrating everything that makes a college gameday special.
Continue reading “UAB – PROTECTIVE STADIUM”