NCAA Football NEWS
College Football’s Best Stadiums
Published by MoonDog on July 25, 2008
Many of us spend a lot of time writing about the coming season and with good reason. The 2008 season figures to be just as exciting as last year and with just over a month before kickoff, the anticipation is rapidly building.
I’ve seen a host of blogs covering just about everything a college football fan can sink their teeth into. However, I haven’t seen a lot of discussion about the best stadiums and there are many throughout the nation worthy of special attention.
I thought it would be fun to take a look at the venues we’ve become familiar with over the decades. Instead of listing all of them in one post, I’ll start with the stadiums along the east coast and work my west before the start of the season.
This is entirely subjective and these happen to be some of my personal favorites but I believe you’ll find them to be among your favorites as well.
Here we go!
Beaver Stadium – Penn State Nittany Lions
Beaver Stadium, home of the Penn State Nittany Lions, is the second largest stadium in college football. Named for James Beaver, President of the Board of Trustees, Beaver Stadium is actually the second stadium named Beaver.
The Nittany Lions played in the original Beaver Stadium until 1959. At the conclusion of the season, the university decided to disassemble the stadium and move it to its current location. The team played its first game in the newly rebuilt Beaver Stadium on September 17, 1960.
The first of many expansions came in 1969 when the capacity was increased by 2,000. Since then, Beaver Stadium has undergone many renovations bringing its current capacity to 107,282.
The latest renovations were completed before the start of the 2001 season which included the addition of a 10,000 seat upper deck, a new scoreboard, 60 luxury suites, 4,000 club seats, and new restrooms and concessions.
Doak Campbell Stadium – Florida State Seminoles
One of the many grand college football stadiums in the south, Doak Campbell Stadium is the home of the Florida State Seminoles. Named after former Florida State President Doak S. Campbell, the Seminoles played their first game at the stadium on October 7, 1950 in front of a capacity crowd of 15,000.
Over the past five decades, Doak Campbell Stadium has been renovated many times. The stadium was expanded in 1954, 1961 and 1970 with additional renovations occurring in the 80s and 90s. Among the many improvements was the construction of a new building that contains a food court, restaurant, and sports grill.
Today, Doak Campbell Stadium has a capacity of 82,300 making it the largest stadium in the ACC. The field at Doak Campbell Stadium was named after current coach Bobby Bowden on November 20, 2004 and the facility is currently known as Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium.
Williams Brice Stadium – South Carolina Gamecocks
Nicknamed “The Cockpit,” Williams Brice Stadium is the home of the South Carolina Gamecocks. Built in 1934 and originally known as Municipal Stadium, the venue didn’t receive its current name until the start of the 1970 season.
The estate of Mrs. Martha Williams Brice left the University $2.5 million which officials put to use by making the first of many significant renovations. Because of Mrs. Williams Brice’s generous gift, the stadium was renamed in her honor.
The latest additions to Williams Brice Stadium occurred before the start of the 1995 season when $9.9 million was spent on the west side with the construction of luxury suites, club seats and a new press box. One year later the $13.5 million south end zone project was completed, adding new club areas and the upper deck.
Today, Williams Brice Stadium is the sixth-largest in the SEC and has a seating capacity of 80,250. Future plans call for an upper deck to be added in the north endzone that will increase capacity to 88,000.
Memorial Stadium – Clemson Tigers
Known to many as Death Valley, Memorial Stadium, home of the Clemson Tigers is one of the top stadiums in college football. Former head coach Frank Howard began calling the stadium Death Valley in the 1950s, mainly because many opposing teams said they got killed at Memorial Stadium.
Originally built in the 40s at a cost of $125,000 and seating 20,000, the Clemson Tigers played their inaugural game at the stadium on September 19, 1942.
Over the years seats have been added to bring the capacity to its present-day total of 80,301. Prior to the start of the 2006 season, major renovations took place adding club seats, a museum and new locker rooms.
Throughout their history at Memorial Stadium, the Tigers have won 70% of their home games. The stadium has become known as Death Valley for several reasons. It literally sits in a valley and the university cemetery once overlooked the field before the construction of the upper decks.
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium – Florida Gators
Nicknamed “The Swamp,” Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is the home of the Florida Gators. On April 16, 1930 construction on the stadium began and was completed before October 27, 1930 when the Gators played their first home game.
Originally known as Florida Field, the stadium had a capacity of 21, 769. Before the start of the 1950 season, the first of many additions to the stadium was in the works. Fifteen years later additional seats were added to the east side and bleachers were constructed in the south end zone bringing the capacity to 62,800.
In 1971, additional renovations increased the capacity to 72,000 and in 1991, Florida Field was renamed after Ben Hill Griffin, a large donor to the University of Florida. The stadium is now officially known as Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field.
The latest renovations came in 2001 when $50 million was spent expanding the press box, installing chair back seats and building new luxury suites. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is the fifth-largest stadium in the SEC with a capacity of 88,548.
The Florida Gators have had years of success at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, including a 30-game winning streak between 1994 and 1999 and selling out every game since 1989.
Check back next week for the second installment!
Similar Posts:
- College Football’s Best Stadiums – Part 2
- College Football’s Best Stadiums – Part 4
- Penitentiary State Nittany Lions
- College Football Pre-Season Top 25
- ACC Announces Early Football Season Television Schedule
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PrepChamps on Fri, 25th Jul 2008 06:41
Great write-up. I still need to check out most of those – have especially heard good things about seeing a game at Clemson.
Friday’s F. C. King Links « Loser with Socks on Fri, 25th Jul 2008 08:46
[...] Top College Football Stadiums [...]
MoonDog on Fri, 25th Jul 2008 10:14
Prep – thanks. Of the 22 stadiums I’m highlighting I’ve only watched a game in four of them. Think I need to do some traveling!
ck0712 on Fri, 25th Jul 2008 14:15
MOON, no words, does my heart good to see LOVE FOR BEAVER STADIUM ;0- u ROCK!
lawvol on Fri, 25th Jul 2008 19:50
I’ve seen games in all but one of this week’s stadiums — Beaver Stadium. In my humble (and unrequested) opinion, the best of this set is Death Valley (a/k/a Clemson Memorial Stadium).
Saw a game there during the heyday of the Danny Ford era versus South Carolina and it was a fabulous environment for football. I also saw Pink Floyd there in 1994, and it was … well … just a fabulous environment.
Nice post. Look forward to the next round.
MoonDog on Sat, 26th Jul 2008 00:28
I’ve never seen any of the above. When I was in the Navy, they put our ship in dry dock at the Charleston Naval Yard, but it was in February.
Next week’s batch has all of the stadiums I’ve seen. There’s one in Knoxville that should be of particular interest around here.
Sportsdawg on Thu, 31st Jul 2008 20:35
Hey MD, how could you leave out beautiful Sanford Stadium on the campus of the University of Georgia? Oh well, good post anyway!
Lando on Thu, 9th Oct 2008 15:42
There we go
MoonDog on Thu, 9th Oct 2008 15:48
Took you a minute huh? Four-part series – doing all of them in one post would have been cruel and unusual.