I’VE VISITED 23 COLLEGE FOOTBALL STADIUMS — HERE’S WHY FOLSOM FIELD IS THE BEST (SO FAR): BUFFBLOG MAILBAG REVISITED

[Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from the BuffsBlog mailbag that previously posted, with some additional information added since the publishing of the mailbag. For more mailbag, including CU-related questions (!) check out the mailbag at: https://buffsblog.com/cu-football-and-lawrence-welk-its-a-buffsblog-mailbag/]

MAILBAG QUESTION: “WHAT IS THE BEST STADIUM IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL?” — David in San Francisco

As a lifelong college football pilgrim and proud Buffs / Michigan alum, I’ve been lucky enough to visit stadiums from coast to coast.

To answer which is the best, I had to dig into my travelogue of college football stadiums and <spoiler alert> I end up right where I started: back in Boulder, arguing with a bit of altitude-induced bias that Folsom Field is the best stadium in college football….that I’ve visisted, so far. And an important caveat — I haven’t seen many games in the SEC yet and that will be my next tour!

Old School Big 12

Lubbock isn’t the worst if you go in expecting it to be the worst.

• Nebraska Corndogs’ Memorial Stadium (Lincoln) –  The Corndogs claim they have the longest sellout streak in college football (dating back to 1962). It’s a lie. The truth is that over the past 5-10 years, local companies have bought up a LOT of unused tickets right before a game so that those poor Nebraskans can continue to run their gums — no teeth — about a continuous sellout steak. Going to a game in Lincoln is like swimming in a giant bowl of ketchup. A couple of stadium traditions: Nebraska fans release red balloons after the first touchdown (damn the environment) and the Corndogs exit the locker room and walk to the field while Sirius blares over the loudspeakers. They call it….wait for it….the Husker Walk. The Corndogs are still living in the 1990s. They all have hairstyles that were most recently popular in 1996, they still listen to Creed (on their iPods), and they really enjoy the in-stadium Macarena. For CU / Nebraska games, I’ve always laughed at the CU fans that travel to Lincoln, dress up as Abraham Lincoln and go to game as “Lincoln in Lincoln.” One of the coldest I’ve ever been was at the CU vs. Nebraska game in 1989…until Eric Bienemy started cooking in the 4th quarter. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-11-04-sp-5524-story.html. Bottom line: it’s the Corndogs. Automatic last place.
• Oklahoma’s Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium (Norman) – Norman provides a small taste of blueblood tradition without that horrific Corndog stench. From the moment the Sooner Schooner careens onto the field with the horses Boomer and Sooner (of course), you know you’re in for a relatively good football experience — and the 2nd best animal-related tradition in the old Big 12. On the downside, though, OU’s band plays Boomer Sooner so often that you’ll wish you brought earplugs. While I believe they’ll rue the day they joined the SEC because the program will be the 7th or 8th best in the SEC, seeing a game at Oklahoma is a good time. Two thumbs up.
• Texas’ Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium (Austin) – Towering over downtown Austin, this stadium is a city unto itself, complete with its own skyscraper-sized jumbotron (named “Godzillatron”). Bevo sucks — it just stands there. Austin’s modern, high-tech stadium looks impressive but it also feels a bit soulless at times (perhaps due to all those luxury boxes). For a big time football program, the in-game atmosphere should be much better. Overall, fairly mid. 2.5 stars (out of 5).
• Texas Tech’s Jones AT&T Stadium (Lubbock) – Lubbock is terrible, but if you travel to Lubbock expecting it to be terrible, you might actually have fun (teaching us all, once again, that the Scandinavian approach of having low expectations about life is the easiest path to happiness). Texas Tech fans throw tortillas like frisbees across the sky when the game kicks off – a dumb tradition that almost started a brawl at last year’s CU game. Tech’s masked rider on horseback got the loudest cheer of the night. Lubbock’s energy was unpolished, a bit chaotic, and fun – an underdog party atmosphere that is fitting for Texas Tech. Negative points for the fact that I tried to go to the Texas Tech game this past fall and eventually turned around while en route because the interstate closed close over and over due to driving snow. This one scores a 57 (out of 100) on the Rotten Tomatoes meter.
• Kansas State’s Bill Snyder Family Stadium (Manhattan, KS) – The Little Apple sucks. The“Wabash Cannonball” song and dance sucks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTEMatxLd0E. Bill Snyder sucks. The PA annoncer that screeches, “That’s Another Kansas State….first down!” sucks too. The stadium is fine but forgettable. Perfectly average and no more. Manhattan gets a 2.8 and the stadium gets a 5.0 on the IMDb score (out of 10).
• Kansas’ David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium (Lawrence) – The football game in Lawrence was forgettable – Kansas football hasn’t often been must-see. The stadium, one of the oldest in the country, sits in a charming campus valley. I dig the vibe. My favorite part of the game was the Kansas students wearing “My Coach Can Eat Your Coach” t-shirts in honor of Mark Mangino. While in Lawrence, however, I did sneak I into Phog Allen Fieldhouse, the cathedral of Kansas basketball. In a surreal twist, I literally bumped into Dick Vitale as he was filming a bumper for that night’s ESPN Big Monday basketball game between Kansas and Texas. I was a college student and very, very poor, and asked Dick if he had tickets he could give me. He responded in a way that only Dick Vitale could respond — he said “I wish I could, bay-bee!” while giving me a big smile. I hid in a bathroom for 3 hours until tipoff, exited said bathroom, and watched the game with my friend, Jed. Still, Lawrence is better than most towns in the Big 12. Kansas’ football stadium gets a Netflix thumbs up.
• Iowa State’s Jack Trice Stadium (Ames) – Ames, Iowa, is a lesson in perseverance. It was a dreary, drizzly day. Yet the fans filed in with ponchos and snow boots so I did the same. What else are you going to do in Ames? The stadium itself is unassuming, but the fans took the game very seriously. Not the worst. Jack Trice Stadium gets a 2.7 on GoodReads (out of 5).

“Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner, Boomer Sooner, Boom Sooner, Boomer Sooner….”

West Coast Wonders (Pac-12 Sojourn)

Arizona State’s Sun Devil Stadium is highly underrated.

• UCLA’s Rose Bowl (Pasadena, CA) – The Rose Bowl is a National Historic Landmark and every bit as gorgeous as advertised. My first CU-UCLA game there, I parked on a golf course and then walked through a food truck tailgate wonderland – I’m talking gourmet food trucks selling Korean BBQ, empanadas, tacos, and BBQ. Just before kickoff, the sun dipped behind the San Gabriel Mountains, and it is gorgeous. The stadium itself is bland on the inside, a giant bowl that was only about 60% full. I do like that the Rose Bowl brings food tucks into the outdoor concourse to give more food and beverage options. This is a great scene in a beautiful environment. 92 out of 100 on Metacritic.
• USC’s Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (Los Angeles, CA) –  Just across town (but a world apart in vibe) stands the Coliseum, home of the USC Trojans. This stadium has hosted Olympics and countless Trojans games – you can feel the history in the stadium and the Olympic torch is still cool 41 years later. The Trojan Marching Band is fun, even though they blared “Fight On!” too often. The Coliseum itself, if I’m honest, is a bit rough around the edges (it’s nearly 100 years old) but serves as a gritty couter-balance to USC’s dorky trustfund-farian fans in khakis and sunglasses. The Coliseum’s wear and tear shows how much glory the place has seen. This stadium gets a CinemaScore of B+, but that score is knocked down to a solid B because of the pleated khaki-wearing USC fans.
• Stanford Stadium (Stanford, CA) – The stadium, surrounded by palm and eucalyptus trees, is modern and pretty, rebuilt in 2006 to about 50,000 seats. The architecture and setting are lovely – you can see foothills and Mission-style campus buildings from the upper stands. The Stanford Band is fun, and the open concourse lets you watch the game while buying a beer. The stadium was maaaaybe 1/2 full, and there was no passion in the stands. I did appreciate the short bathroom lines, though. This one scores a 5.7 (out of 10) on GameRankings.
• Cal’s Memorial Stadium (Berkeley, CA) – Cal’s Memorial Stadium sits atop the Hayward Fault and Cal had to renovate the stadium extensively as a result thereof — plunging the atheltic department into such much debt that the school’s athletic department hasn’t recovered. The stadium’s setting is stunning: nestled in the Berkeley Hills, with one side open to a view of the tree-covered slope known as Tightwad Hill. Pregame, the walk through campus to the stadium is lovely — hit up The Bear’s Lair, a fun bar right on campus that serves up beer, pizza and wings. Once inside Memorial Stadium, however, the atmosphere is sterile. The CU/Cal game I went to was nearly half empty (and that was with 10,000+ CU fans) and there’s no noise due to the configuration of the stadium. Weird. The stadium gets a Pitchfork Music score of 5.6 (out of 10).
• Arizona State’s Sun Devil Stadium (Tempe, AZ) – Sun Devil Stadium, set against Tempe’s desert buttes, was rocking with a lively student section. They had a DJ in the student section spinning music between plays, which is a fantastic idea that should be used elsewhere. It’s a party. The setting is pretty, particularly at night. This is a good road trip – highly underrated for CU fans. Goodread score of 4 (out of 5).
• Arizona’s Arizona Stadium (Tucson, AZ) – Their stadium sits right on campus, with the city’s mountains visible in the distance. The stadium is the old Pac-12’s version of Kansas State’s Bill Snyder Stadium — perfectly fine but not memorable in any way. By night’s end, I had a sunburn. Totally, and completely, average. While in Tuscon, however, check out El Torero Mexican Restaurant. It’s legit. Rotten Tomatoes score of 50.
• Utah’s Rice-Eccles Stadium (Salt Lake City, UT) – From the stands you can see the Wasatch Mountains looming, snow-capped by the early arrival of winter just in time for the annual CU/Utah game. It’s a nice view. The Utah student section is called The MUSS, which is the worst name of any student section in America. “Get Loud, Muss!” “Muss, let’s turn it up!” “Don’t Muss With Utah!” The student section is cringy for me, a 48 year old man. Utah fans feel like they’re trying too hard. It feels artificial. The stadium scene gets one thumbs up, but The MUSS gets two thumbs down, for an aggregate of one thumb down.

The home of The MUSS. <head slap>

Big Ten Country and Beyond

Go see a game in Iowa City.

• Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium (Iowa City, IA) – Kinnick Stadium gave me one of coolest moments I’ve ever experienced at a sporting event. At the end of the first quarter of every Iowa home game, everyone – and I mean everyone – in the stadium turns to wave to the patients in the children’s hospital overlooking the stadium. Really powerful. I dare you not to tear up when doing it — I dare you. The Iowa crowd is great, and Kinnick Stadium is beautiful. This is seriously, one of the nicest stadiums I’ve been to. So underrated. Go to a game in Iowa City. 4.75 stars (out of 5).
• Michigan’s Michigan Stadium (The Big House) (Ann Arbor, MI) – The Big House is in the House! Yes, I did go to grad school at Michigan so I’m biased. But the Big House is fantastic. The scale of the stadium when you walk into the bowl is breathtaking. Listening to “Hail to the Victors” while watching Michigan’s team with the iconic maize and blue jerseys and winged helmets run onto the field and hit the “Go Blue” sign is IS college football. The Big House has no corporate signage inside the stadium, and doesn’t play canned music. It’s old school, and old school is magnificent. Also, my son goes to school there, and did I mention that I’m biased? 5 stars (out of 5).
• Michigan State’s Spartan Stadium (East Lansing, MI) – Spartan Stadium (cap ~75,000) is perfectly fine. You’ll see green-clad fans who yell “Go Green!” on one side only to be answered with “Go White!” from the other. (Michigan fans chant “Can’t Read / Can’t Write” at them while they do this.). The Big 10 equivalent of Bill Snyder Stadium and Arizona’s Stadium. Totally, and completely, average in every way. Metacritic score of 50 (out of 100).
• Notre Dame Stadium (South Bend, IN) –  Walking into the storied stadium, it’s hard not to turn to see “Touchdown Jesus,” the famous mural on the library overlooking the field. It was as iconic as I imagined. The pageantry is top-notch: the team’s gold helmets are great in person, and the fight song is fantastic. It isn’t the loudest stadium I’ve been in – ND fans are actually relatively reserved except for big moments – but it was one of the most reverent. Leaving campus under the shadow of the Golden Dome, I felt…almost Catholic. I ‘m not Catholic. Rating: 4 Hail Marys (out of 5).

One of the greatest scenes in college football.

Off the Beaten Path: The Wildcard Experiences

The pomp and pageantry at Air Force games — particularly when they’re playing another service academy — is top notch.

• Air Force’s Falcon Stadium (Colorado Springs, CO) – The backdrop — the Rocky Mountains set under a brilliant blue sky — is fantastic. Get there before kickoff to see the squadron of cadets march in precision onto the field and the killer flyovers. Falcon Stadium only seats around 50,000, and the stadium is rarely full, but the cadet section is fun to watch. Also, because the game is on US government land, there are no parking fees and the food inside the stadium is reasonably priced. The stadium is showing its age, but the Air Force experience is worth seeing because of the pomp and pageantry. Also, watching a team run an old school option offense live and in person is a treat. IMDb score of 7.0 (out of 10).
• Wyoming’s War Memorial Stadium (Laramie, WY) – If you get a good weather day in Laramie, Memorial Stadium is a good place to watch a game. If you get a typical weather day in Laramie, it’s one of the worst places to watch a game. The War is not huge (30k seats) but when I went for a Wyoming vs. CSU game the wind was howling so loudly it created a noise akin to crowd noise. Pre-game, a lone cowboy on a horse gallops across the field waving the Wyoming flag. Going to a game at the War is like going to a football game in 1985 — not a ton has changed, which can be good and bad. The fans are friendly, which is good on cold days….maybe they’ll share a hand warmer or two. CinemaScore of C-, assuming typical Laramie weather. Cinema score of B- if the weather is good.
• Colorado State’s Canvas Stadium (Fort Collins, CO) – CSU’s Canvas Stadium opened in 2017, right on campus, replacing Hughes Stadium (which has my great grandfather’s name on the exterior!) Most CSU fans hate CU more than they like CSU, so be careful when wearing CU gear at Canvas. Regardless, the stadium is very nice — I can’t imagine any nicer stadium outside of the Power 4. When fans show up, it traps noise well. [Fans are showing up less and less because Jay Norvell is a clown shoe and a total loser. One day I’ll write a story about an experience a family member of mine had with Jay Norvell that will demonstrate what an asshole he is.]. Good place to watch a game, and tickets aren’t very expensive. Minus 10 points for employing a total loser as head coach. Rotten tomatoe score of 61 (out of 100).
• New Mexico’s University Stadium (Albuquerque, NM) – This was perhaps the most random stadium I’ve been to, as I happened to be in New Mexico about 10 years ago and snagged a ticket to see the UNM Lobos play. The crowd was sparse but those who came were die-hards (or gluttons for punishment). What made my visit memorable were the local flairs: a mariachi band played the national anthem and concessions sold a green chile cheeseburger that was legitimately fantastic. The stadium sucks — probably the worst on this list — but the fans were passionate. How do you score that? CinemaScore of D+.
• UCF’s FBC Mortgage Stadium (The Bounce House) (Orlando, FL) – The “Bounce House”, as they like to call it, is an erector set stadium. There’s no solidity to the place – it looks like the back of a high school stadium. The stadium was built on the cheap, and as a result, there’s no soul to the place. When the students jump up and down, the whole structure shakes. They also display a banner that declares a national title in 2017, which lowers the stadium score by 10 points itself. Rotten Tomatoes score of 36 (out of 100).

Home Sweet Boulder: The Case for Folsom Field as the Best Stadium

Having seen all of these stadiums, I keep coming back to one stadium as the best I’ve been to– Folsom Field. Sure, I’m biased. But this is my website, and I can do what I want with it. Why Folsom?

First, the setting is unmatched. From the upper deck of Folsom, you get a panoramic view of the foothills and the Flatirons that is literally postcard-worthy. It’s not Touchdown Jesus, but it’s nature’s cathedral. When a fall sunset hits the Rockies and spills gold onto the field, there’s a collective pause to just absorb the beauty – much like the Rose Bowl’s magic, but uniquely Rocky Mountain in flavor. 

Second, Folsom Field is old-school. It’s so old school, in fact, it still has urinal troughs in the men’s restrooms in Balch fieldhouse, which need to be enshrined in the CU Hall of Fame. [The urinals, not Balch!]

Third, the traditions at Folsom Field are delightful and singular. At the top of the list is Ralphie’s Run. Yes, the current Ralphie doesn’t have any interest in actually running and the athletic department shold replace her with a buffalo that wants to be there, but it’s still the top tradition in college football.

Finally, on a personal note, Folsom Field is home.

Folsom Field is where I saw my first college football game as a wide-eyed kid. It’s where I joined the elementary age kids’ fan club, the “Ralphie Stampeders,” and got a free t-shirt and a hat with protruding buffalo horns. It’s where, during my teenage years when my grandfather was very, very sick, I remeber him smiling. It’s where, as a student, I cheered until I was hoarse. It’s where I waved to Sal Aunese, sick and hooked up to medical IVs, as he stood above us in the press box. It’s where I sneaked a small handle of Jack Daiels into the stadium inside my 4-year old son’s winter coat. It’s where I ran onto the field with my son after beating top-5 ranked Oklahoma. It’s where I learned to hate the Nebraska Corndogs with all my might. It’s where I had the privilege of watching Travis Hunter make jaw-dropping play after jaw-dropping play. It’s where I sat with my dad and brother for years and years, talking about everything other than CU football. It’s where I’ve tailgated with friends, thrown chokecherrries at family members while walking to the stadium, and laughed at cyclists angrily trying to zoom down Boulder Creek path right after a football game.

For me, Folsom Field is the best stadium in college football —- because of everything other than college football.

Drop a comment below and let us know what has been your best gameday experience? What is your favorite road trip to make? Which of my takes did I get wrong? Thanks for reading – and Go Buffs!