Big Ten Bucket List: Football Stadiums
Not only is college football one of the most popular sports in America, it’s also home to some of the most iconic stadiums in all of sports. From Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, there is no shortage of spectacular venues for college football fans to visit across the country.
However, the Big Ten conference takes the top spot when it comes to bucket list stadiums – boasting some of the oldest and most iconic venues in all of college football. With that, here are the five Big Ten football stadiums that should appear on every sports fans stadium bucket list.
5. Ohio Stadium
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Ohio State hasn’t lost a home game since Sept. 9, 2017 when Baker Mayfield and Oklahoma pulled off the upset in primetime. However, that was the exception to the rule. Typically when you enter Ohio Stadium as the visiting team, you do so as the heavy underdog.
The Buckeyes have owned the Big Ten conference for the better part of the last decade and a visit to Ohio Stadium at night is typically a guaranteed L. While the official seating capacity is 102,780, Buckeye Stadium will often welcome upwards of 110,000 rabid Buckeye fans when the lights come on.
4. Camp Randall
Andy Manis/AP Photo
Serving as the Badgers place of business since 1917, Camp Randall Stadium is the oldest stadium in the Big Ten conference. It is also one of the most raucous. With a seating capacity of over 80,000 fans, Camp Randall is home to one of the most recognizable traditions in college sports. Between the third and fourth quarter, “Jump Around” is pumped through the stadium speakers and nearly all of the 80,000 fans in attendance begin to jump – creating a scene that is definitely a bucket list experience for any college football fan.
3. Kinnick Stadium
Andy Abeyta, Quad-City Times
Regardless of Iowa’s record at the time, Kinnick Stadium at night is essentially a death sentence for the hopes and dreams of a visiting team. Though it is only the seventh largest stadium in the Big Ten, the near 70,000 fans in attendance make it feel much larger than it is. Back in 2016, the No. 3 Michigan Wolverines went into Kinnick Stadium at night to face the unranked Iowa Hawkeyes – and walked out with their first loss of the season. The very next season, No. 6 Ohio State made the same journey into Kinnick to face an unranked Iowa team under the lights. The Buckeyes not only lost the game, they had their doors blown off by a score of 55-24.
Beyond the play on the field is a tradition that has become one of the favorites throughout the college football world. At the end of the first quarter of every home game, players and coaches from both teams turn to the nearby Stead Family Children’s Hospital and wave – while children who are patients within the hospital flock to the windows and wave back. The tradition began 2017.
2. Michigan Stadium
Tony Ding, AP
Opening in 1927, Michigan Stadium – otherwise known as “The Big House” – certainly lives up to its name. As the largest stadium in the Western Hemisphere, Michigan Stadium is home to the largest crowd anywhere in the world on fall Saturday’s. The Big House has a record attendance of 115,109, which occurred during a night game on September 7, 2013 against Notre Dame.
Though Michigan Stadium isn’t traditionally known to be the most raucous environment in the Big Ten, something magical happens when the lights come on. With over 110,000 fans in attendance creating a sea of maize, visiting teams find out pretty quickly that The Big House isn’t to be taken lightly
1. Beaver Stadium
Matthew O’Haren-USA TODAY Sports
There is no sports scene in the world like a white out night game in Happy Valley. Not only are visiting teams welcomed by over 105,000 raucous fans all wearing white, the noise within the stadium is so loud that players have reportedly felt vibrations on the football field itself.
Put simply, Penn State provides the most intimidating night game atmosphere in the Big Ten – and quite possibly in all of college football. If you’re a sports junkie looking for an experience unlike any other, put a white out at Beaver Stadium at the top of your list.
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