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Sports Travel: College Football Must Sees

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College football has a tradition that no other North American sport can boast. Travel. College football fans are more prone to pack up the tailgating supplies and head to an opposing venue than any other fan.

That's why I felt it was important to compose a list of the best places for any fan to visit.

There's something electric in the air for any college football weekend, but even more so when you pick your travel destination for the year and prepare for new experiences.

For those of us who can't afford to travel whenever we get the urge, planning out trips is critical to our year. Perhaps you have the ability to make only one trek per year, making the decisions even more important, so that you can visit everywhere on your list before it's too late.

I consider myself to be a fan of the sport of college football as a whole, rather than any specific team, which makes my vantage point unique. I enjoy the traditions of all schools and make sure to take in as much of the atmosphere as possible.

To truly enjoy a college football road trip, try visiting as a fan of the home team. Don't make a trip to Alabama as an Auburn fan and expect to have the best experience possible.

While I'm sure the Tide fans would be respectful, think how much more exciting it would be to join in the cheers and walk through the parking lot with people shouting "Roll Tide!" in your direction.

If you do make the trip as an opposing fan, try to mingle with the home fans. I've done this on several occasions, and I've been sure to be welcoming to any fans visiting my tailgate.

I always see it as something to take pride in when someone spends their hard earned dollars to make the trip to my home stadium.

Located near Ann Arbor, Mich., I find myself at a lot of Michigan home games and have become a fan over the years. I've spent a lot of Saturday mornings and afternoons hanging out with fans from Iowa, Utah, Miami (OH), and Appalachian State.

On the other hand, I've traveled to Clemson, Notre Dame, Boston College, and Penn State, and enjoyed the hospitality of the tailgaters. The people and places are what college football is all about.

Whether its based off of tradition, local cuisine, campus events, game atmosphere, or anything else, these locations (in no particular order) have all made the cut as places I would like to experience. Let me know some that I may have to consider adding.

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20 comments Last one added 6 months ago — Leave a Comment

  1. David Hedlind 6 months ago

    For the ones I have been to
    Autzen at Oregon billed as the loudest on the west coast and one of the loudest in the nation. better seats for proximity to the field the louder it is.
    Washington when they are good is quite impressive. and the scenery is nice. right now not so much though eventually they should draw a crowd again go then.
    Hawaii is fun because tailgating is a differnt experience due to the local foods.
    Fresno was pretty good too. pretty good party on game day not a bad stadium. fans left a little to be desired.
    I enjoyed Purdue but it wasnt anything special.

    avoid San Jose State-ghetto, glad i made it out alive
    avoid Martin Stadium Washington State just wasnt that great to me.

    the others Ive been to were just ok. little good little bad

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    • Rob Smeltzer 6 months ago

      I appreciate the west coast suggestions. I haven't had the ability to travel out there myself but I've heard that Autzen is a great experience. I know that year after year, teams make the trip out there and come back having been upset. I can only imagine how good a Hawaiian tailgate would be, but I imagine most fans don't have the resources to make it out there.

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  2. Isaac Luber 6 months ago

    How about Beaver Stadium, home to the Nittany Lions? The famous creamery right next door, best ice cream in the world. Not to mention, the largest stadium capacity in college football. Biggest stadium in the country, third biggest in the world. Look it up if you don't believe me. Also, I know UM is expanding but so are we. We're redoing the press box and adding more seats.

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    • Isaac Luber 6 months ago

      Oh, also, we're the best tailgating school in the Nation, and have consistently been in the Top 3 party schools over the past 5 years, yet we still have great academics. scUM and the *uckeyes can't stand up to that, so hah!

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    • Rob Smeltzer 6 months ago

      Well, so much for the PSU fans keeping this a classy discussion. I've got nothing against the State College experience. I've been there three times and just didn't come away with a great impression. I've tried staying in town and driving in the for day and both left a little to be desired. The one road in and out of campus to I-80 made it nearly impossible to move for hours. I'm sure some others on the list have some issues, but none that I've experienced.

      I have a great deal of respect for the RV nation that moves in for the game weekend and the tailgating that takes place. But walking around town and the parking lots, I was never invited to anyone's festivities like I have been at other locations. Maybe I just had bad luck on my trips.

      Inside the game, I wasn't blown away. While it did get loud at times, I wasn't blown away with the volume. I thought it was a little louder than Michigan Stadium, but Michigan isn't known to be great for volume. My one experience there as a visiting fan was a bad one. I had things thrown at me after every Boston College score because our group was rooting for them. While I expect to take my fair share of ribbing, I haven't been treated like that at other venues.

      Just my experience, I'm sure many people would back you up and say PSU is a great time.

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    • Isaac Luber 6 months ago

      Well, which game was it? If it was the Michigan State game, I agree, but that was the softest the stadium has ever been. If it was Indiana or something, we rout them so it isn't always loud. You have to come to a good game, like Ohio State or Michigan, to get real noise. Also, we're always invited to tailgates, maybe you just weren't at the right spots.

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    • Rob Smeltzer 6 months ago

      I may have been in the old school lot where people are hanging out with their tailgating buddies they've been with for years and years. That could have been the issue as the parties seemed kind of closed off. But I couldn't put PSU on the list for the noise factor because you have to bring it game in and game out for that to be your calling card.
      I would never tell anyone to steer clear of PSU, like I would say Ohio State. It's a good, and probably great, experience. If nothing else, it's great to see the monster of a stadium rise up in the middle of nowhere. I love that State College is so secluded if it weren't so hard to get in and out.

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    • Isaac Luber 6 months ago

      Well, the traffic is really horrible. You just have to go up midday Friday and come back early Sunday. Its hard, but me and my dad manage. For me, its my home. I love it there. If your not a PSU fan, you probably don't get the same experience, but I personally love everything about PSU and State College

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  3. Joshua Joffrion 6 months ago

    Tiger Stadium should be called Deaf Valley, btw, check out my article, LSU Football: And The Earth Shook...

    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/95289-lsu-football-and-the-earth-shook

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    • Rob Smeltzer 6 months ago

      I've always wanted to make it down there for a game. Any excuse to visit Louisiana is a good one. A day or two in New Orleans and a day or two on campus for a game sounds like one of the best trips I can think of.

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  4. Joshua Joffrion 6 months ago

    If you wait till they're having a good season and playing 'Bama or the Gators at home, it will be especially loud

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    • Rob Smeltzer 6 months ago

      What's the ticket situation for those caliber of games? Any idea what the going rate would be on EBAY or from people looking to sell on a message board? I haven't been to an SEC game without a ticket connection so I wasn't sure how hard it was to dig up tickets.

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  5. Joshua Joffrion 6 months ago

    StubHub has the ticket prices for the LSU-Florida game in Baton Rouge at $299 - $899 but you could always go to say, the Tulane game where the fans will be loud because LSU is almost guarenteed to win. But the big games are the best.

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  6. Roberto Arevalo 6 months ago

    I love the Big House. Granted it could be louder but I think it's a one-of-a-kind experience to watch football with that many people. GO BLUE!!

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    • Rob Smeltzer 6 months ago

      There is something hard to explain about it. It's not rowdy and deafening like other stadiums, but it's still a great experience. I think the tradition factor plays into it as a lot of the fans between the 30's have had season tickets so long, they are the tradition. I should have also mentioned the student section leading a couple great variations of the wave. The regular, slow-mo, fast-forward, and double waves that bounce off each other are always fun if the game isn't in jeopardy.

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  7. Vernon Rice 6 months ago

    Great article! Were you taking a shot at UCLA by showing USC in the Rose Bowl. You could have used pics of the Big Ten team or whoever else was competing in the game.

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    • Rob Smeltzer 6 months ago

      No shot intended. It was hard to find a picture of the Rose Bowl on the resource online. I was actually excited to find this one. All the available pictures were of players playing in the Rose Bowl. Too bad, because I've seen some great images of the Rose Bowl through the years.

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  8. Jennifer Mercer 6 months ago

    There's only one "Mermorial Stadium" in my mind and it's in Lincoln, Nebraska. You should check out a Nebraska home game. 80,000+ constituting the "Sea of Red" is truly a sight to behold.

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    • Rob Smeltzer 6 months ago

      I'd love to make it down for a Nebraska game. I can only imagine the Sea of Red back in they heyday of Nebraska football. Hopefully, more of those days are just around the corner. Has the atmosphere lost anything over the last few season? How is the tailgating situation outside of Memorial Stadium?

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  9. Jennifer Mercer 6 months ago

    Rob,

    I haven't been to a Nebraska home game since the 2001 season so I really can't comment on the current tail-gating situation.

    The atmosphere however, is even better now from what my friends in Lincoln tell me. Nebraska really lost it's luster, its swagger, its heart & soul during the soon to be forgotten Bill Callahan years.

    Make no mistake Bo Pelini is the guy who will get the Huskers back to national prominence / relevance again.

    Jennifer

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    • by Rob Smeltzer (Scribe)

    December 22, 2008

    898 reads

    20 comments

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