Which Big Ten football stadiums are the best, most underrated and overrated? (Minnesota Underrated)

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TCF Bank Stadium (I refuse to use the new name) is a beautiful stadium with lots of amenities, a beautiful facade, a beautiful interior, and plenty of access. It was designed for its surroundings and engineered to please the fans and the athletes.

The one valid criticism isn't a flaw in the stadium. Opposing fans like to say that The Bank is small. But it isn't small. It's an 80,000 seat stadium that hasn't had the last 30,000 seats installed, due to lackluster fan support.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
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Underrated:

Meek: In true Minnesota fashion, Huntington Bank Stadium doesn’t always get its due but is too humble to complain about it. Built in 2009, it has modern amenities without losing the classic feel. I’m a big fan of the Twin Cities in general, and Minnesota’s stadium captures both the urban setting and the coziness of the campus. Fans there seem to have a good sense of humor, especially when the Dramatic Gopher appears on the screen.

Overrated:

Sherman: You’ve gotta be rated to be overrated. So Camp Randall is already ahead of more than half of the stadiums in the Big Ten. But it’s kind of a one-trick pony. The pre-fourth quarter “Jump Around” is unique and exhilarating. Otherwise, what do you get at a Wisconsin game that isn’t readily available at other stadiums in the Big Ten? Tasty brats? The experience in Madison has untapped potential. To start, it would help if the huge Wisconsin base of students showed up for the opening kickoff. They arrive notoriously late. And this year, the students are missing the only competitive moments for the Badgers.
 


everybody knows my name said:
TCF Bank Stadium (I refuse to use the new name) is a beautiful stadium with lots of amenities, a beautiful facade, a beautiful interior, and plenty of access. It was designed for its surroundings and engineered to please the fans and the athletes.

The one valid criticism isn't a flaw in the stadium. Opposing fans like to say that The Bank is small. But it isn't small. It's an 80,000 seat stadium that hasn't had the last 30,000 seats installed, due to lackluster fan support.
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With other stadiums shrinking I think they chose the right size.
 




Attended: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Illinois, Purdue, Indiana, Northwestern
Missing: Michigan State, Nebraska, Rutgers, Maryland, Washington, Oregon, UCLA, USC

Underrated: Indiana & Illinois (good tailgating setup, friendly fans, unique stadiums)
Overrated: Michigan (this was pre-renovations though....so my opinion could be outdated)
 

everybody knows my name said:
TCF Bank Stadium (I refuse to use the new name) is a beautiful stadium with lots of amenities, a beautiful facade, a beautiful interior, and plenty of access. It was designed for its surroundings and engineered to please the fans and the athletes.
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Awesome!

Don't call it the new name, I don't.

It should be called The Brickhouse by every fan. I was designed to honor Memorial Stadium.

Go ahead and google The Brickhouse Stadium, and tell me what the first result is.

It's worth a Google.

Go ahead...I'll wait.
 
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Unregistered User said:
Awesome!

Don't call it the new name, I don't.

It should be called The Brickhouse by every fan. I was designed to honor Memorial Stadium.

Go ahead and google The Brickhouse Stadium, and tell me what the first result is.

It's worth a Google.

Go ahead...I'll wait.
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IALTO :unsure:
 

Unregistered User said:
Awesome!

Don't call it the new name, I don't.

It should be called The Brickhouse by every fan. I was designed to honor Memorial Stadium.

Go ahead and google The Brickhouse Stadium, and tell me what the first result is.

It's worth a Google.

Go ahead...I'll wait.
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:D I'm familiar with the name and the stadium.
 


DarrenTheGreek said:
Attended: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Illinois, Purdue, Indiana, Northwestern
Missing: Michigan State, Nebraska, Rutgers, Maryland, Washington, Oregon, UCLA, USC

Underrated: Indiana & Illinois (good tailgating setup, friendly fans, unique stadiums)
Overrated: Michigan (this was pre-renovations though....so my opinion could be outdated)
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I went to Champaign when the Vikings played the Bears there in the early 2000s. I don't remember a thing about the stadium. The Vikings lost though 😞
 



DarrenTheGreek said:
Attended: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Illinois, Purdue, Indiana, Northwestern
Missing: Michigan State, Nebraska, Rutgers, Maryland, Washington, Oregon, UCLA, USC

Underrated: Indiana & Illinois (good tailgating setup, friendly fans, unique stadiums)
Overrated: Michigan (this was pre-renovations though....so my opinion could be outdated)
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was there last year. once you get the past the spectacle of the size, there's really not much else to write home about. that said, with how old it is, pretty tough to make it have all of the modernity. has it's charm and such. just kind of depends on if you're in on the awe factor. because of the large footprint/flat design, doesn't feel as "loud" as I would've thought it would be. Thought the shoe and beaver stadium both were louder (though beaver stadium only so in the lower bowl; loses a lot of the sound in the uppers it felt like)
camp randall is a dump. Excited to see NWs new stadium though honestly i do kind of like their current setup by the water
Autzen I think is a very cool layout/location on the campus. Have not been there while a game was going on though to comment on atmosphere.
 

There seems to be a wildly differing set of criteria for anyone naming what are the best stadiums. The only thing these criteria seem to have in common is they are almost never named when someone sets out to rank best stadiums. Are we talking about the way they look? How well set up they are to make the gameday atmosphere comfortable? How good the teams that call the stadium
"home" are? How wild the fans are in the stadium? How pretty the view is from in the stadium to the surroundings? How loud it is? Etc. Etc.

For me, the gameday atmosphere shouldn't be considered unless a design reality within the stadium makes it better or worse. Like, are the stands too far away from the field, or do they loom over the playing surface making it more exciting for the fans?

Autzen stadium has ranked ahead of our "bank" in every ranking I have ever seen. Yet the bank holds nearly the same amount of people in a much more comfortable design and with a much more beautiful exterior. Pretty much the only reason given for this is it is so loud in Autzen. But, is it really more loud than the bank, or is it because Oregon has been a top program for the past 20 years and if that is the case why should that have anything to do with a stadium ranking?

It is all so subjective. But objectively I know there are very few D1 college football stadiums that have more leg room, more hip room, more seatbacks, better suites, indoor clubs, etc. etc. etc. compared to the bank and although it is a little subjective, the exterior of the bank is just drop dead gorgeous compared to most college stadium erector sets. I'm pretty confident if Oregon and MN swapped 20 years of on the field success... suddenly Huntington Bank Stadium would become a much higher ranked stadium, all without undergoing a single upgrade. ;)
 

Schnauzer said:
There seems to be a wildly differing set of criteria for anyone naming what are the best stadiums. The only thing these criteria seem to have in common is they are almost never named when someone sets out to rank best stadiums. Are we talking about the way they look? How well set up they are to make the gameday atmosphere comfortable? How good the teams that call the stadium
"home" are? How wild the fans are in the stadium? How pretty the view is from in the stadium to the surroundings? How loud it is? Etc. Etc.

For me, the gameday atmosphere shouldn't be considered unless a design reality within the stadium makes it better or worse. Like, are the stands too far away from the field, or do they loom over the playing surface making it more exciting for the fans?

Autzen stadium has ranked ahead of our "bank" in every ranking I have ever seen. Yet the bank holds nearly the same amount of people in a much more comfortable design and with a much more beautiful exterior. Pretty much the only reason given for this is it is so loud in Autzen. But, is it really more loud than the bank, or is it because Oregon has been a top program for the past 20 years and if that is the case why should that have anything to do with a stadium ranking?

It is all so subjective. But objectively I know there are very few D1 college football stadiums that have more leg room, more hip room, more seatbacks, better suites, indoor clubs, etc. etc. etc. compared to the bank and although it is a little subjective, the exterior of the bank is just drop dead gorgeous compared to most college stadium erector sets. I'm pretty confident if Oregon and MN swapped 20 years of on the field success... suddenly Huntington Bank Stadium would become a much higher ranked stadium, all without undergoing a single upgrade. ;)
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I don't mind it being subjective.

I've seen a ton of efforts to quantify stuff and "atmosphere" and such always ends up just as subjective, and other numbers are arbitrarily important or unimportant like ratio of fans to bathrooms ... but they're mostly on the club level kinda thing.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
I don't mind it being subjective.

I've seen a ton of efforts to quantify stuff and "atmosphere" and such always ends up just as subjective and other numbers are arbitrarily important or unimportant.
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No problem, then call it what it is: "Who has the best gameday atmosphere" or "who has the best traditions" - none of that stuff has anything to do with the design, or brick and mortar of the physical stadium however. And that is my beef.

I'm just saying to properly rank stadiums, you should take the fans and teams out of it. Otherwise you are ranking something beyond the stadiums as in the atmosphere.
 

upnorthkid said:
was there last year. once you get the past the spectacle of the size, there's really not much else to write home about. that said, with how old it is, pretty tough to make it have all of the modernity. has it's charm and such. just kind of depends on if you're in on the awe factor. because of the large footprint/flat design, doesn't feel as "loud" as I would've thought it would be. Thought the shoe and beaver stadium both were louder (though beaver stadium only so in the lower bowl; loses a lot of the sound in the uppers it felt like)
camp randall is a dump. Excited to see NWs new stadium though honestly i do kind of like their current setup by the water
Autzen I think is a very cool layout/location on the campus. Have not been there while a game was going on though to comment on atmosphere.
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Having seen the temporary lakeside home of NW football, I think they're crazy not to play there permanently. They have the money and they're accountable to no one, so they could innovate - make a three-sided stadium where the sideline is open to the lake, instead of an end zone. They aren't that popular, so they don't need a huge stadium. No matter how nice the new place is, they still won't average 50k fans.

I know the weather would be an issue, but the stadium would be legendary.
 

everybody knows my name said:
Having seen the temporary lakeside home of NW football, I think they're crazy not to play there permanently. They have the money and they're accountable to no one, so they could innovate - make a three-sided stadium where the sideline is open to the lake, instead of an end zone. They aren't that popular, so they don't need a huge stadium. No matter how nice the new place is, they still won't average 50k fans.

I know the weather would be an issue, but the stadium would be legendary.
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not only that, would likely be hugely advantageous for them given they will never have the athletes other schools do. Hell they played a #2 OSU team real tight on a shit condition day in 2022 when they went 1-11 and last year was one of OSUs more sluggish offensive days

they are smart to be downsizing the new ryan field, but the location of the new field has been sweet and was actually one of the reasons i didn't care to go this year to watch us play as the game is at wrigley
 


upnorthkid said:
was there last year. once you get the past the spectacle of the size, there's really not much else to write home about. that said, with how old it is, pretty tough to make it have all of the modernity. has it's charm and such. just kind of depends on if you're in on the awe factor. because of the large footprint/flat design, doesn't feel as "loud" as I would've thought it would be. Thought the shoe and beaver stadium both were louder (though beaver stadium only so in the lower bowl; loses a lot of the sound in the uppers it felt like)
camp randall is a dump. Excited to see NWs new stadium though honestly i do kind of like their current setup by the water
Autzen I think is a very cool layout/location on the campus. Have not been there while a game was going on though to comment on atmosphere.
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How does our stadium hold the noise? I only ask because I sit pretty high up on the visitor side around the 50 and to me it seems like the stadium never gets that loud. Yet there's been a few times where Fleck (or others) have commented and said "Man the crowd was really electric!" I just don't have a way to compare and verify for myself how loud our stadiums is in the lower/field level.
 


DarrenTheGreek said:
How does our stadium hold the noise? I only ask because I sit pretty high up on the visitor side around the 50 and to me it seems like the stadium never gets that loud. Yet there's been a few times where Fleck (or others) have commented and said "Man the crowd was really electric!" I just don't have a way to compare and verify for myself how loud our stadiums is in the lower/field level.
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i think reasonably well through the front few rows of the uppers (one of my favorite parts of non con games is kind of roaming the stadium and watching from varying vantage points). some of our capacity crowds it does get really loud when the fans are into it, but of course from a sheer volume standpoint you're going to lose some of that in the uppers. I'd say this is the advantage of the multi tiered stadium is the upper bowls will "hold" some of your volume a little better and make it feel like it's coming down on you more than the large scooped single bowl. That said, I don't think MN is really anywhere near the loudest places I've been in

tbh, I think Minnesota fans are generally some of the loudest when we want to get into it and be loud versus some other places are loud as is standard. Think that is part of the reasoning why it can feel quite electric and take opponents off when there are instances where the fans are up from start to finish (think the 2019 Penn state game or some of the recent Wisconsin games) as those games there was buzz even between every play rather than just getting up for a random 3rd down here and there
 

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