Oil Money, Buffaloes, & Jesus - The Best College Football Stadiums

Good morning and welcome to 4th & Forever, Rand & Tate’s College Football Newsletter. Nature is truly healing in the world of college football - we’re less than 100 days away from Week 1, the NCAA is about to be sent into true irrelevance by the United States judicial system, and the college football video game is BACK! Our season previews are just around the corner, we’ll be making official 2024 season predictions that you all can come back to make fun of us for, and we may just have to tap into some video game content along the way to get ready for the season. Exciting times are in our near future, so without further ado, let’s get to it!

College Football Stadiums

What was the last NFL stadium you saw or went to and thought, “Wow, this place has some distinguishing features and is not completely devoid of character or charm?” The answer is never and if you try to convince yourself otherwise then congrats on being a mindless drone for Roger Goodell, Jerry Jones, or worse yet, David Tepper. You’d also make a great North Korean citizen. Luckily for college football, there’s not a domed stadium arms race that’s sucking taxpayer money out of the residents of Chicago, Nashville, and when Tepper gets his way, Charlotte. Instead, college football has 134 FBS stadiums, all historical, unique, and captivating in their own way. A half-assed apology is owed to Pitt, Miami, Temple, and UNLV fans who share their stadium with said NFL overlords. We’ve both gallivanted across the country absorbing college football games, traditions, and players in the stadiums that house this great sport so let’s break out some lists and iCloud memories to discuss our findings to date: the best stadiums in college football.

Our Top 5 CFB Stadiums

Why did you rank your #1 stadium first?

Tate: Despite the fact that the Rose Bowl as an institution has time and time again slowed the progress of creating a bigger, better postseason format throughout the history of college football, there truly is nothing like it. I got to witness arguably the greatest college football game of all time in the UGA/Oklahoma game, and I couldn’t have been more impressed. It reminded me of how I felt when I first saw the Grand Canyon - I knew it would be pretty cool, but you don’t really get it until you see it. We tailgated on top of an elementary school, overlooking the beautiful San Gabriel mountains surrounding Pasadena and the stadium itself, our seats were higher up in the bowl so we had an unreal view of the sunset over the mountains entering the 4th quarter, and the history of the place just really set in. The stadium itself is a bit old and doesn’t function super well because of it, but the experience is unlike anything else in the entire sport of football. If your team ever plays in the Rose Bowl, you need to go. 

Rand: The number one choice between Army and Ohio State was a lot tougher than I thought, but the edge goes to Michie simply because it’s not in the state of Ohio. Getting to West Point is an absolute pain in the ass, but once you’re there it’s more than worth the trek. It’s almost like the government wants to make a high-profile military base relatively hidden and inaccessible to the greater public. Situated right on the Hudson, you’d be hard-pressed to find better scenery in college football. Sure, the Rose Bowl has some mountains and sunset, but with the combination of Army’s gothic campus, the Hudson River, and surrounding mountains, you can’t beat it. Once inside the stadium, they’re shooting off cannons, Apache helicopters are flying over, paratroopers are jumping out of planes, and half of the 38,000-seat venue is filled with rowdy cadets. I went with my uncle three years ago when Wake went up to West Point and the game turned into a 70-56 barn burner and thankfully, a Wake victory. It was mid-October so the leaves were turning on a day that ended up being 60 and sunny at kickoff which certainly didn’t hurt. Michie is a bucket list stadium whether your team is playing Army or not, trust me.

Explain the rest of your list - go!

Rand: I haven’t been to all 100,000+ seat stadiums, but for my money, Ohio State is the best of them. I’ve been lucky enough to get up there on three separate occasions and I’d be more than happy to go back. My first two trips were in college to visit and friend and the games were noon kickoffs against Hawai’i and Bowling Green maybe? Miami (OH)? Doesn’t matter because that place was rocking. Whenever you hear announcers describing the ‘atmosphere’ I think it’s a tired trope, a cliche. Yes, thank you, Joe Tessitore, no shit the fans are loud, the players are hype, and you can feel the tension. Maybe it’s because there’s nothing else to do in Ohio, but those fans are the most passionate I’ve come across. For God’s sake, they watch the halftime show and brag about it. My third trip was a blackout, primetime game against Michigan State when they had Justin Fields as QB. That gave me all the evidence I needed to close my case as to why Ohio Stadium is the best big-game CFB environment. And yes, I’ve been to a Georgia game…at night…with Justin Fields. 

I first went to Notre Dame Stadium in 2012 with my dad and two family friends to watch the Deacs get rolled by Manti Te’o and company as they marched towards their infamous shellacking to Bama in the national championship game. It should be noted this was before the catfish scandal broke so it’s likely the Deacs only lost because Te’o was playing hard in honor of his fake and fake-dead girlfriend. It was a surreal experience because I felt like I should’ve been wearing a coat and tie to the game. We were sitting on these wooden bleachers designed for midgets, the field was still grass, and there wasn’t a video board. Whenever my grandfather talked about going to Purdue-Notre Dame games in the 1960s I understood what he meant because the place hadn’t changed in 80+ years. I’m not Catholic, but if I were I’d treat a pilgrimage to northern Indiana as a religious experience too. I went twice last year and while stadium renovations have brought the iconic venue into the 21st century, the ambiance and charm remain. The Ohio State-Notre Dame last year was the coolest college football environment I’ve ever been a part of and the Wake-Notre Dame game a few months later…well it was great to see some old friends!

Back in 7th grade my dad and I started a tradition that we’d going to go to a random college football game together every year. The only stipulation is it has to be a cool stadium. Doesn’t have to be a blockbuster game, doesn’t have to be a certain number of miles from Winston, it just has to be cool. You can see where I get my verbose vocabulary from. We also tend to avoid games that conflict with Wake games but if they’re playing at Sisters of the Poor College and we can go to USC instead, we’ll choose the latter. Our first trip together was in 2009 to Rocky Top for a late November game against Vanderbilt and Neyland lived up to the hype. Walking down the riverwalk before the game, checking out the sailgaters, and grabbing lunch at Calhoun’s is stereotypical, but people don’t tend to recommend boring activities. Neyland isn’t built out like Michigan Stadium or the Rose Bowl, but straight up. If you’re in the upper deck it feels like you can fall over onto the field. As annoying as that damn Rocky Top song is, it’s awesome to sing at a UT football game. Folsom Field in Colorado was the site of the Fisher Boys College Football Tour this past season and I’ve written about it extensively, even last week. Until there’s another college football stadium that lets a live Buffalo and Lil Wayne run around on the field simultaneously Folsom will be on my list.

Tate: Tiger Stadium at #2 certainly has more to do with the atmosphere than the actual stadium itself, but there is a literal tiger that lives right outside the stadium which is pretty damn cool. But the sight of tens of thousands of drunk Cajuns is something you just don’t get to witness anywhere else in the world, and those people produce some of the loudest roars, the most confusingly mean-but-welcoming trash talk, and quite literally the best food in the entire world. I’ve only experienced Tiger Stadium once, a day game where LSU absolutely embarrassed the Dawgs, and somehow all I want to do is go back. Elite experience.

Notre Dame Stadium is Notre Dame Stadium - I don’t have a ton more to say. You absolutely feel like you’re at a historical venue, Touchdown Jesus looms large, and sometimes you watch a guy you once threw an alley-oop to make a one-handed catch for a touchdown to help your favorite team win a one-point game on their way to the aforementioned Rose Bowl game later that season. I think those last two things might have something to do with their presence on my list.

Kyle Field is just an absurd place - you can literally smell the oil money. There is an indoor lobby area within the stadium that could legitimately be a wedding venue, I’ve never seen anything like it at any other college venue. To a lesser degree, Boone Pickens Stadium gives off the same sort of “these people have entirely too much money” vibe, but this money came almost entirely from just T. Boone Pickens himself. It’s a smaller stadium, but it looks tasteful and intentional in its design, the fans can get very loud, and I mean, who doesn’t like the Pokes?

What stadium that you have not yet been to is #1 on your bucket list?

Tate: There are probably a good 25 stadiums that are in consideration here, but if I have to pick one, it’s Autzen Stadium for a night game. It’s nicknamed “The Zoo” because Oregon’s fans are a bunch of weird Oregonians who lose their minds at the games, their mascot does pushups for every point that the Ducks score and it’s my belief that Oregon is on the precipice of becoming a powerhouse in college football. And now they’re in the Big Ten, which means I could go see them play their new local rivals like Maryland, Rutgers, and Indiana!

Rand: The biggest shakeup in my top five could come this fall when the Fisher Boys College Football Tour heads to Baton Rouge to take in Tiger Stadium so that answer is a copout. Autzen is a great pick by Tate but I’m going to stay out West and pick Washington. Any stadium you can tailgate and arrive at via boat automatically gets a spot on my bucket list. Bonus vote for Rice-Eccles Stadium in Utah. Unofficially voted as one of the hardest places to place by Pac-12 coaches, I’m excited to watch the reactions from a bunch of corn boys from Oklahoma and Kansas venture to Salt Lake City for the first time. Mormons don’t fuck around when it comes to their football or uh...well, nevermind.

What stadium have you visited that you found to be very overrated?

Rand: I went to a game at Texas last year and honestly it was underwhelming. In a high-stakes conference game against Kansas State that went into overtime, I expected more firepower from the 100k+ fans. The stadium was nice and smack in the middle of downtown Austin but there wasn’t much to it aside from being big. The students freaked out every third down when they’d play this animated graphic of Bevo ripping up a Kansas State flag, but did they not know the real Bevo was right in front of them? Why not let him run around on every third down? Put a student on the back of him and give free tuition if they last 8 seconds. Get Matthew McConaughey to brand students on the field for charity. I’d donate to that. For a state that prides itself on excess, I want more than a massive slab of concrete that does little to distract from the historically underperforming football team.  

Tate: I’m sorry to any Michigan readers that we may have, but… it’s the Big House. Don’t get me wrong, it’s pretty cool. It’s built into the ground, so while you’re in this massive stadium you somehow feel like you’re on the ground which is certainly a unique feeling. But there is just a lack of pop from the crowd, a lack of the feeling of “I might actually die tonight if we do not win this game” that you get at games in the South. Maybe that lack of excitement was because I saw this the one time I went there, but I digress. The tailgate experience anywhere north of the state of Kentucky is weird and underwhelming, they all talk weird, and outside of the unique design, there isn’t anything overwhelmingly cool about the place. Am I being biased because I don’t like Michigan? Maybe, but this is my newsletter dammit.

Where in the World is Tate?

Having a girlfriend who works for Delta certainly has its benefits. Specifically, the benefit where I get to fly anywhere I want, whenever I want, for free. We love going to different beachy and tropical locations - we’ve been all over the barrier islands in Georgia, multiple places in Florida, Aruba, Turks & Caicos, among many other lovely places. I figured we could try out a new location over Memorial Day and I thought Amelia Island had a nice ring to it. If you have any recommendations, send ‘em my way!

Have a great Memorial Day weekend and we’ll talk to you again next Thursday.

Thank you for reading 4th & Forever. Feel free to forward this to friends & family and if you have comments or suggestions on the newsletter, please let us know. We really appreciate any and all feedback on this project. Check out our website by going to 4thandforever.beehiiv.com where you can drop us suggestions, read and comment on previous newsletters, and argue with us and other readers.

Rand Fisher & Tate Smillie met a few years ago through their good buddy Dave Peljovich who went to college with Rand and high school with Tate. Tate went to Georgia and has spent two years of the last three years collecting championship rings while traveling to watch the Dawgs. Rand went to known CFB powerhouse Wake Forest and currently pays rent in Atlanta but is rarely found there with all the work & CFB travel he does.