The loudest and craziest venue I’ve been to is the old Orange Bowl. When there was a big Miami game – usually visiting Florida State – there was nothing like it. The closest I’ve seen is LSU’s Tiger Stadium. my coworkers athletic EA Sports had their own thoughts on the list, and now here’s my ranking of the 10 hardest places to play in college football.
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The 25 Hardest Places to Play in College Football: Debating the Rankings
1. LSU: Tiger Stadium
This place is going to be absolute mayhem, and it starts long before kick-off. I’ve heard from many coaches over the years about how hostile their teams’ behavior is, from rattling their bus upon arrival to serving alcohol to visitors. Just seeing Mike Tiger in person adds another layer of fear.
Mike Leach told me the story of the first time he went there when he was the offensive coordinator at Kentucky.
“There were these little old ladies getting off our bus with their grandchildren,” Leach said. “Then as we got closer, they started shaking our bus!”
Count Leach among those surprised by Mike Tiger and the entire experience.
I remember being there in 2007 when Florida and Tim Tebow came to Death Valley on a Saturday night for a top-10 showdown. Les Miles went for it five times in the fourth and his team – and their faithful – supported him every step of the way for a come-from-behind 28-24 victory. This was a record crowd at the time of 92,910. It seemed as if there were twice as many people packed into the stadium, which now holds more than 100,000 people.
There was also the famous earthquake game in 1988. Technically, there were fewer than 80,000 fans there to see LSU defeat Auburn 7–6. But a seismograph recorded the earthquake after Tommy Hodson connected on a fourth-down TD pass less than two minutes later.
I asked former LSU staffer and longtime Louisiana media member Derek Ponamsky about the loudest place a game has been, and he said it was in 2019 when another Florida team, ranked No. 6, Had visited.
“As soon as we got off the bus, that game was crazy,” he said. “Ja’Marr (Chase)’s TD and our stop on fourth down in the red zone was almost as good as the Earthquakes game or Ruben Randle’s catch and run against Alabama in 2010. But that stadium was a jet engine for six hours. It was very strong even before they hit the ground running. ‘College Gameday’ on campus. It was electric.”
If you meet someone who has never been around college football but wants the full experience, there’s only one place they need to go to fully get it: LSU’s Death Valley.
2. Alabama: Bryant-Denny Stadium
My favorite trip here was to the 2010 Iron Bowl – Cam Newton game. There was a lot of drama that season based on the NCAA’s recruiting investigation regarding Auburn and Newton.
In the wake of this game, an Alabama employee was let go due to his decision to play the Steve Miller Band song “Take the Money and Run” on the stadium sound system during warmups. This added to the noisy energy in the building that day. The Tide swept the Tigers early and went 24–0, but Newton was Superman that season. He led a comeback victory over Auburn 28–27, snapping a 20-game home winning streak for the Crimson Tide.
Bama should also be given a lot of credit for increasing the energy of the stadium with the lights, audio and video boards they have added over the years. When they roll over it can feel like a very mind-blowing experience.
3. Penn State: Beaver Stadium
The Nittany Lions’ white out games are deafening. Penn State usually saves it for the toughest matchups of the season, although due to Fox’s recent “Big Noon” strategy in Big Ten scheduling, sometimes it doesn’t end up that way.
The Nittany Lions have won six of their last seven prime-time whiteouts, six of which have been against ranked opponents – including a 2016 win over No. 2 Ohio State. The only loss came against No. 4 Ohio State in 2018 by one point, 27–26. Last year, Penn State defeated No. 24 Iowa, 31–0.
But I can say from experience that it’s not just the whiteouts that make this place special. When No. 3 Michigan visited Happy Valley last November, the atmosphere was the loudest afternoon kickoff game of the last decade that I can remember – louder than any other “Big Noon” game – with nearly 111,000 people in attendance. was present. Michigan, which had the most experienced team in the country in 2023, won that game 24–15.
4. Ohio State: Ohio Stadium
The Buckeyes have long been the Big Ten’s most dominant program, so whoever shows up typically faces a stacked team with a more talented roster. Still, the Horseshoe is a tall building that looks much different and more intimidating than rival Michigan’s Big House. The crowd comes prepared to tear down their opponent early and will be surprised if the Buckeyes deliver anything other than a dominant performance.
5. Virginia Tech: Lane Stadium*
The asterisk is here because I’m thinking about what this place was like in the past, not necessarily how it has been in recent years. I understood. Recent results indicate something else. As colleague Pete Sampson noted, the Hokies are 2-10 at home against Top 25 teams over the past decade, but when the Hokies are playing well, this spot is unique. I’m here for some Hokies beatdowns of top-10 teams, this place is awesome. It’s got some Tiger Stadium vibes, and there’s something special about it, too.
It only takes the first two seconds for “Enter Sandman” to play and I get goosebumps. It happens every time, even after more than a decade. It immediately takes me back to how Lane Stadium comes to life differently than Camp Randall Stadium and “jumps around” like no other venue. He is crazy; This is more ominous.
It also fits perfectly with his playing style. Based primarily on their elite special teams as well as their aggressive defense, the Hokies were college football’s premier sudden-change/quick-strike team. It often felt like they were one blow away from turning the game or even ending it.
Frank Beamer’s peak days from the late ’90s to the early 2000s were more than a decade of Hokie magic, where the lane was a chamber of horrors. In 1999, Virginia Tech faced three top 25 teams – Syracuse, Miami, and Boston College – and defeated them at home by a combined 143–24. In 2002, Tech defeated Nick Saban’s No. 14 LSU team, 26–8. The following year, a top-10 Hokies team defeated No. 2 Miami, 31–7. In 2004, the Hokies defeated No. 6 West Virginia. In 2005, they defeated No. 15 Georgia Tech and No. 13 Boston College by a combined score of 81–17. In 2009, Lane Stadium hosted consecutive top-20 wins over Nebraska and Miami.
If Brent Pry can lead the Hokies again, Lane will be an opponent’s worst nightmare.
6. Florida: Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
In my experience, The Swamp doesn’t rank with LSU and Bama, but it’s right up there with Tennessee and Georgia when it comes to big-time, true SEC heavyweight experiences. It was great to see the Gators face FSU and Bobby Bowden during Steve Spurrier’s days in the 90’s.
7. Tennessee: Neyland Stadium
On my first trip to Knoxville, I saw Tennessee play Georgia in the late 90s. The Vols were really coming back then, and I was on the field in the end zone behind the Dawgs’ offense when they backed up inside their own 10. I couldn’t even hear the person next to me. It was a sea of orange, and it’s easy to see why so many Top 25 teams have lost there over the past few years when UT has been on the rise. Georgia was ranked No. 13 that day and lost to the Vols, 38–13.
Autzen Stadium punches above its weight in crowd noise. (Tom Hawk/Getty Images)
8. Oregon: Autzen Stadium
I remember a rival staffer telling me they had to make noise at practice the week before facing the Ducks. It doesn’t seem like a place its size – seating 54,000 – could be that noisy. It didn’t make any sense to him. But in a matchup of top 10 teams, the Ducks outscored their visitors by nearly three touchdowns.
Autzen Stadium is also a place where you can see almost every kind of weather in a single day. Oregon has been performing well there for a long time and has defeated 31 of its last 32 opponents in Autzen.
9. Georgia: Sanford Stadium
I remember a good No. 18 Boise State team in 2005 against No. 13 Georgia. The Broncos looked completely undermanned and lost 48–13. It was 38–0 before the Broncos stopped. Jared Zabranski, who was a really good QB for Boise State, intercepted his first two passes and turned it over six times in the first half.
It doesn’t seem like it’s any easier for visitors now that the Dawgs are even more talented. UGA has won 13 consecutive games against Top 25 opponents at Sanford Stadium.
10. Texas A&M: Kyle Field
When the press box moves I go there. Kyle Field is an amazing building that gets really loud, and opponents complain that their sideline smells like horse manure. My first trip to a game was Johnny Manziel’s first trip against Florida. He was dynamic. The building shook. However, A&M lost. That’s why Kyle Fields isn’t higher up on my list, even though he’s No. 1 in EA Sports’ rankings.
Even when A&M has been really good, the Aggies have struggled at home more than they should have. Manziel led them to victory at Bryant–Denny Stadium in 2012, but the next year, as it headed for a rematch at Kyle Field, A&M lost.
(Top photo: Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
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