ESPN Video: B1G stadium rankings, No. 8 - TCF Bank Stadium

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About where I expected. I wondered if they might jump us in front of MSU, but wasn't betting on it.
 

At least it's not Bennett talking about it.
 

We all know a few wins would pop it up higher in the list. But it's hard to a rank place very high when the likes of NDSU, NMSU, and USD come in and make your team look foolish in it.
 

I'm fine with TCF's rank on the list, but it infuriates me that it is so far the only stadium that was not visited for the piece and probably will be only one not visited. Same thing with spring reports. It's only a six hour drive (7 if you go the speed limit) or a one hour flight from Chicago. Are Rittenberg/Bennett really that lazy, or is ESPN being tightwads with travel? It's basically the exact same distance from Minneapolis to Arlington Heights (Chicago) as it is from A.H. to Columbus. I wonder if they will be on site for OSU? This kind of disrespect makes me crazy. I'm not trying to compare programs with OSU, but if you're going to single out one school and use distance as an excuse (we may have been a struggling program the last couple years but INDIANA!! got an in house visit), it's hypocritical to then travel the exact same distance somewhere else. Rant over.
 


CurveballJesus said:
I'm fine with TCF's rank on the list, but it infuriates me that it is so far the only stadium that was not visited for the piece and probably will be only one not visited. Same thing with spring reports. It's only a six hour drive (7 if you go the speed limit) or a one hour flight from Chicago. Are Rittenberg/Bennett really that lazy, or is ESPN being tightwads with travel? It's basically the exact same distance from Minneapolis to Arlington Heights (Chicago) as it is from A.H. to Columbus. I wonder if they will be on site for OSU? This kind of disrespect makes me crazy. I'm not trying to compare programs with OSU, but if you're going to single out one school and use distance as an excuse (we may have been a struggling program the last couple years but INDIANA!! got an in house visit), it's hypocritical to then travel the exact same distance somewhere else. Rant over.
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You think driving a 6-7 hour drive to produce a 60 second video is a good business decision?

The photos included were far more impressive than the background of Northwestern's video.

P.S. Bennett lives in Kentucky so Indiana wouldn't be that far to travel.

P.P.S. TCF should rank ahead of Spartan Stadium..a pretty bland venue.
 

Maximus said:
You think driving a 6-7 hour drive to produce a 60 second video is a good business decision?

The photos included were far more impressive than the background of Northwestern's video.

P.S. Bennett lives in Kentucky so Indiana wouldn't be that far to travel.

P.P.S. TCF should rank ahead of Spartan Stadium..a pretty bland venue.
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The videos look like they were shot in the spring, so I don't think they were at the stadiums solely for the purposes of shooting these videos. They probably did them while there for spring ball coverage. It still pisses me off that the U is the only school to be left out.
 

Maximus said:
You think driving a 6-7 hour drive to produce a 60 second video is a good business decision?
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Assuming that they're going to do an on-site video for OSU (and probably PSU, which is even further)? Absolutely.

It's obvious that it's the Big 2, Little 10 in ESPN's eyes, but they don't have to be so blatant about it.
 

Maximus said:
P.P.S. TCF should rank ahead of Spartan Stadium..a pretty bland venue.
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I agree, but don't be surprised if the upgrades MSU is completing this summer are listed in the video. They're getting 3 new video boards, the largest of which is bigger than TCF's main board by almost 300 sq ft and two "smaller" ones that are both larger than the smaller board at TCF. In total they'll have 13,300 sq ft of video board (5,400 on the main one with each smaller board clocking in at little under 4000 sq ft). They are also putting in 450 ft of ribbon board. That's a lot of flash coming in the door.
 



I shouldn't read the comments, but I always get a kick of them. I love when people from Michigan and Pennsylvania make fun of how cold it is "up here". Take a look at average high temperatures during the football season. There's a difference of about five degrees between Minneapolis and State College or Ann Arbor.
 

Maximus said:
P.P.S. TCF should rank ahead of Spartan Stadium..a pretty bland venue.
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Are we talking stadium only, football weekend experience, or both?

TCF definitely the nicer stadium. It should be. ... it's brand spanking new.

Respectfully, in terms of weekend/game-day experience, there is nothing to compare. On a home weekend, on the U campus most of the time you wouldn't even know there's a game coming up. There's no extra bounce on campus. That certainly is not the case in East Lansing. TCF is nowhere near the game-day experience of Spartan Stadium.
 

SelectionSunday said:
TCF is nowhere near the game-day experience of Spartan Stadium.
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No question....although the atmosphere for the Gopher-Sparty Halloween game, specifically the 3rd-4th quarters, gave us a glimpse of what TCF could be.
 

Maximus said:
No question....although the atmosphere for the Gopher-Sparty Halloween game, specifically the 3rd-4th quarters, gave us a glimpse of what TCF could be.
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Good point. That was the most electric game I've witnessed at TCF, but I was not at the Air Force game.
 



SelectionSunday said:
Good point. That was the most electric game I've witnessed at TCF, but I was not at the Air Force game.
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Same here. Other than that game and about 30 seconds in the USC game and about 2 minutes in the Cal game I don't feel like I've seen TCF be what it can be. The Iowa games, while fun, were late enough in dismal seasons that the atmosphere wasn't as electric.
 

I felt true sporting crowd electricity for much of the Air Force game, a decent amount of the Cal game, and perhaps some of both Iowa games. It was there for an eye blink in the USC game.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Are we talking stadium only, football weekend experience, or both?

TCF definitely the nicer stadium. It should be. ... it's brand spanking new.

Respectfully, in terms of weekend/game-day experience, there is nothing to compare. On a home weekend, on the U campus most of the time you wouldn't even know there's a game coming up. There's no extra bounce on campus. That certainly is not the case in East Lansing. TCF is nowhere near the game-day experience of Spartan Stadium.
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This. I walk from West Bank to East Bank via the Washington Ave bridge every game day . Campus sounds like a Sunday morning. It's absolutely dead. I can't even tell there's a game that day until I get to McNamara.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Good point. That was the most electric game I've witnessed at TCF, but I was not at the Air Force game.
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Air Force was electric.. And compared to that Halloween game, it wasn't the same kind of electric. It was more just pure jazz/excitement from being the first people, ever, to experience a game in TheBank. But that Halloween game.. That was electric because our emotions were being jerked around with all the penalties, the back and fourth scoring.. all capped off with the immaculate reception v2.0.
 

Maximus said:
No question....although the atmosphere for the Gopher-Sparty Halloween game, specifically the 3rd-4th quarters, gave us a glimpse of what TCF could be.
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Watching this game at the bank with my Dad (alum) was literally the point where I knew I was home and, in my head, I settled on my college decision that night (Obviously still taking in everything else the U had to offer).
 

Formo said:
Air Force was electric.. And compared to that Halloween game, it wasn't the same kind of electric. It was more just pure jazz/excitement from being the first people, ever, to experience a game in TheBank. But that Halloween game.. That was electric because our emotions were being jerked around with all the penalties, the back and fourth scoring.. all capped off with the immaculate reception v2.0.
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Great post, couldn't have said it better. The Halloween game was also electric because it was by far the best game of Weber's career. He was lights out the whole night, if I remember right he threw for over 400 yards that game. Two quick TDs in the first quarter (passes to Bennett and Green) got the place rocking, and it was crazy at the end when Bennett got that last TD. That game and Air Force are my two favorites so far, followed by the Iowa victories.
 

There are three knocks against TCF. It's new, it is on the low end of capacity and fan support is lukewarm. From a fan perspective it's probably the best stadium. It's comfortable, easy to navigate, has excellent amenities and best of all you have a great view of the game from every seat in the house. As a structure it's second to none. Where we lack is Minneapolis is not a college town. There will never be the weekend long theatrics that take place elsewhere. However, I think over time things will get better as long as the team improves. People aren't going to spend their hard earned money to what a team go 3-8 on a regular basis. We are doing better than the metrodome days for sure. More people are coming to the games and they seem more fun now, though I admit I did leave the Wisconsin game at halftime. Occasionally I watch an old game from that era and I am just struck by all the empty blue seats. At least those empty seats are harder to spot now.
 

SelectionSunday said:
Good point. That was the most electric game I've witnessed at TCF, but I was not at the Air Force game.
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we were at that game in 2009. was a VERY fun day and night. lots of alcohol consumed and football watched. was horse for a few days after the game.
 

CurveballJesus said:
I'm fine with TCF's rank on the list, but it infuriates me that it is so far the only stadium that was not visited for the piece and probably will be only one not visited. Same thing with spring reports. It's only a six hour drive (7 if you go the speed limit) or a one hour flight from Chicago. Are Rittenberg/Bennett really that lazy, or is ESPN being tightwads with travel? It's basically the exact same distance from Minneapolis to Arlington Heights (Chicago) as it is from A.H. to Columbus. I wonder if they will be on site for OSU? This kind of disrespect makes me crazy. I'm not trying to compare programs with OSU, but if you're going to single out one school and use distance as an excuse (we may have been a struggling program the last couple years but INDIANA!! got an in house visit), it's hypocritical to then travel the exact same distance somewhere else. Rant over.
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What will make it even better is that fact they WILL show up for Kinnick where you cant even fly into for the stadium report.
 




Maximus said:
No question....although the atmosphere for the Gopher-Sparty Halloween game, specifically the 3rd-4th quarters, gave us a glimpse of what TCF could be.
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Longest game ever... was working up in the suites and we were just sitting around WAITING for the game to end so we could clean the suites... But is was what TCF could be if the team were good..
 

Silver Lining: the dome would have been #12 with little upside. The sky's the limit for TCF.
 


Was this ranking venue or actual game day experience? If its venue, we are ranked too low. I have been to all the stadiums in the conference and in my opinion, we have the best stadium purely based on newness. The facility is the most attractive. Most of the stadiums in the conference only have game day experience going for them. Empty, they are dumps. It is however game day that counts the most.
 

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