Howe: Ranking the Big Ten Football Stadiums

[haydensly]

I went to the KState game KF's first year in Arrowhead. The boys were in All Black. It was close to 100 on the field. People were passing out in the stands. They didn't miss much of a game either.,..

I was at that game as well. Very, very hot. I believe though that was 2000, Ferentz's second year.

A couple of things I remember from that day, the water fountains did not work! I don't know what the reason was but you have to wonder if they wanted to pump up the bottled water sales from the concessions.

Also remember that being Bob Sanders first game as a Hawkeye. Although he only played special teams, you could see something special in how he played. Kansas State was pretty good at the time and they had some hot shot kick/punt returner and Bob cut him down in his tracks a couple of times.

 

[Hawknigh]

Didn't know that Rutgers had such a SHI* Stadium!

Seriously, what were they thinking?

 

[hawkdrummer1]

I believe the coldest game at kick off ever in Kinnick was Iowa-Michigan 2013.

 

[okeefe4prez]

I believe the coldest game at kick off ever in Kinnick was Iowa-Michigan 2013.

Yeah, I was at that one but mercifully was up in the club level seats. I think Smith had a long TD catch early in the 3rd - it was smart to go for it then because once everyone's hands got cold after halftime, there was no way in hell anyone was gonna be able to pull off a similar play.

 

[Ree4]

Yeah, I was at that one but mercifully was up in the club level seats. I think Smith had a long TD catch early in the 3rd - it was smart to go for it then because once everyone's hands got cold after halftime, there was no way in hell anyone was gonna be able to pull off a similar play.

Yeah that was his coming out catch. One handed in traffic, juked a guy then burned or lukewarmed everyone to the EZ

 

[BVHawk95]

I believe the coldest game at kick off ever in Kinnick was Iowa-Michigan 2013.

That's the last game I've been to in Kinnick. My wrestling coach took me as a gift during my Senior year. He and his sons wanted to leave at half because it was cold af and we were playing like shit, but I was also in attendance for the 2011 Pitt game so I couldn't do that with a clear conscience.

 

[Northside Hawk]

Northwestern 2018 was the coldest I've ever been at a football game.

22 degrees at kickoff and a 15 mph wind.

Add losing to Fat Pitzgerald and his ridiculous pet monkey Alex Spanos and it made me question ever watching a game in person again.

Wasn't at 2008 Penn State game but was obviously a miserably cold and windy one.

Probably warmed the souls of Hawkeye fans up a bit when Iowa won it at the end.

 

[Fryowa]

Wasn't at 2008 Penn State game but was obviously a miserably cold and windy one.

Probably warmed the souls of Hawkeye fans up a bit when Iowa won it at the end.

In 2018 I had snow pants and my Striker ice fishing coat on, but standing in one spot for three and a half hours there’s nothing short of booze and those stick on warmers that’s gonna help and I had neither of those. To make it worse, the week before I had dunked my boots and the insoles were trashed, so I had to take them out and stood directly in the hard plastic soles of the boots. Never sat down once from the time I got to my seat.

I didn’t know anything bad was happening until I started walking to leave and my heels both felt like someone was jamming a razor knife in ‘em. I had to stop and sit down like an old man probably ten times on the way out it hurt so bad, and my buddy was starting to get worried if I’d make it back to the train.

Froze my nuts off, had that weird thing with my feet, Hawks lost to a shit team coached by my least favorite person in the big ten and an idiot hype man wearing a smedium polo, and a five and a half hour drive home right after. Oh and Pancheros by the mall had 20 people lined up outside the goddamn door so I couldn’t eat at my favorite post-game food place.

I was f’n done with football for a few days after that fiasco. The only cool thing the entire night was Hockenson’s hurdle.

 

[hawkdrummer1]

Yeah, I was at that one but mercifully was up in the club level seats. I think Smith had a long TD catch early in the 3rd - it was smart to go for it then because once everyone's hands got cold after halftime, there was no way in hell anyone was gonna be able to pull off a similar play.

Talk about big plays...here's the clincher by Anthony Hitchens

 

[Northside Hawk]

My neighbor is a badger fan who has never been to Kinnick, mostly because he works in sales for an automobile dealership and gets only occasional Saturdays off. He is dying to get to Kinnick because all he's heard about it, and mostly from Badger fans. The only problem is the switching of the Iowa Wisconsin game, if it's even played, to late November. He also has tickets to Bears vs Packers that same weekend, and Green Bay hotels require two night minimums when the Bears are in town.

My badger friends and in laws who live over here rave about Kinnick, every single one of them. It would be nice if they left Iowa City this time raving about the stadium but not their team for a change.

 

[HuckFinn]

I have checked off another item on my bucket list. I have now watched the Hawks play in all of the conference stadiums. One trip each to Maryland and Rutgers. Won’t bother to go back. Penn State? Fans were fine but access is a disaster and the stadium from the outside looks like an unfinished factory building. Won’t go back.

Big House. Went twice. Saw Iowa win there. Good fan service for visitors. Fans were fine. Not overly impressed with the facilities. They have installed hand rails throughout the entire stadium so seat access is comfortable.

Purdue, Illinois, old, unattractive, boring. Number of visits to each because they are an easy trip for me. Of the three in that area, Indiana is the nicest. Pretty area, nice town, neat traditional campus.

OSU: Very impressive Stadium. Fans are arrogant as hell. Saw the Iowa overtime game there. MSU. Been there a couple of times. Meh. Climbing to visitor seats is forever. You need a compass to find restrooms and concessions. Very steep aisles. Nebr just ok. Been there 3 times and Iowa won all three. Good shuttles into the game.

Two favs are MN and NW. MN seating is comfortable, good sight lines, pretty close to the action, concessions/restrooms are decent. Pretty modern, clean design. Take the shuttle from State Fair Park. NW I catch the Metra in Kenosha and arrive within a couple of blocks from the field. Train is loaded with Hawk fans. Post game sports bar is mixed NW/Iowa crowd, and has good pizza. Stadium atmosphere is just flat out weird. Easy place to see a game.

I live in WI, about two hours from Madison. Outside of stadium is ugly as a mud fence. No tailgating. No parking. (Now I go to a bar and take their shuttle). Some of the Fans are jerks. One idiot tried to intimidate my son, but then my son stood up at 6’2” and 245 (corrections officer and looks the part, so was pretty funny). Thanks to a buddy, I have 4 seats on the 45 about 40/rows up. The seats are so narrow and the rows so tight that it is flat out miserable. And I have to listen to harassment from the people around me the whole game. Madison is becoming a sewer. As a side note, the amount of racism at UW is disappointing.
Geez. I babbled on and on. Sorry...

 

[Fryowa]

That's the last game I've been to in Kinnick. My wrestling coach took me as a gift during my Senior year. He and his sons wanted to leave at half because it was cold af and we were playing like shit, but I was also in attendance for the 2011 Pitt game so I couldn't do that with a clear conscience.

Damn dude, you need to get to a game sometime soon whenever they have another one.

 

[BVHawk95]

Damn dude, you need to get to a game sometime soon whenever they have another one.

I was set to go to Miami (OH) and Penn State this season, then work got in the way. Nice thing about being a bachelor in small town Iowa though, is I don't have a ton of expenses, so I can make it happen, just gotta find the time. This fall for sure.

 

[Fryowa]

I was set to go to Miami (OH) and Penn State this season, then work got in the way. Nice thing about being a bachelor in small town Iowa though, is I don't have a ton of expenses, so I can make it happen, just gotta find the time. This fall for sure.

It’s actually cheaper for me with a kid because I don’t do any of the dumb shit I used to years ago LOL.

 

[BVHawk95]

It’s actually cheaper for me with a kid because I don’t do any of the dumb shit I used to years ago LOL.

Yeah I'm still dumb enough to do that haha.

 

[westender]

Nice write-up. I enjoyed it.

I've visited Wisconsin, Nebraska, the Metrodome back in the day, MSU, Penn State, Illinois, and Nebraska in the Big Ten. Nebraska, PSU, MSU, and Wisconsin are all impressive in one way or another whether it's size volume, etc., but no place inside or outside the Big Ten is as impressive to me as Kinnick, for one reason--the proximity of the stands to the field. It's huge to the Hawk players to have fans close enough to reach out and touch, and it's intimidating as hell for the opposing teams when fans can scream at them incessantly. I remember clearly the '15 Maryland game seeing players and even staff get into jawing matches with Iowa fans. That has to have an impact on the game.

One of the funniest things I witnessed was some drunken Hawk fans just lambasting the fur coat wearing big wigs that had come with the Badgers and were on the sidelines. They were hearing every single word. And where were they gonna go? Back to a bus? Had to have been their first time there or they would not have come.

 

[hawkeyebob62]

I've been to all B1G stadiums to see a game except Nebby, although I have walked into the stadium to look around. My two cents from my visits :

13a--Rutgers (once). Nobody knew anything about Iowa. Seemed weird to be playing 30 mins from NYC. Small and quiet crowd when I was there. Not easy to get to. NJ sucks in general. No parking. Little public transportation. They need to be back in an eastern conference. We paid way below face to sit on the 45 on the home side.

13b--MD (once). Easy to get to off the beltway. A FB program stuck on a BB campus. Little excitement when I was there. People attended as an outing. They really need to be back in some eastern conference.

11--Illinois (lost count....8?). Only because I will travel to watch the Hawks play there. The visitor side of the stadium was not renovated...bathrooms suck, there's a wind tunnel inside the inner circle. There are restricted vision seats. Fireworks were cool but annoying. Students do seem to have the choreography down. No real vendors around. You can smell the cow dung with even the slightest of south breeze. Awful stadium in an awful town.

10--Ross-Ade (three times). Ugh. Another nondescript stadium in a dumpy town. The bass drum and locomotive were OK, but annoying. Downtown isn't far away. My first time was the 85 tilt with Long and Everett...fun down to the wire. But the last two times were ho-hum, and the stadium needs repairs. The inner circle feels like you're in a dungeon...dark and dank.

9--MSU (once). I was at the 09 game. Loud, yes. Full, yes. But damn, it's a long ways from anywhere. Zero around it. And the stadium is rather sterile with little tailgating next to it. I got like zero vibes regarding the structure itself. Probably won't ever go back there again.

8--Indiana (four times). May be ranked too high here. Dead environment with constant "and that's a Hoosier FIRST DOWN."...zero people there to watch the warm ups. And they added 5000 seats when they were half full to begin with. Another FB program in a BB town. Brown county is beautiful and the stadium is easy to get to, and yes, park right up next to. You can leave at half time to get your drink on and return to your seat. Excellent campus.

7--Penn State (once). Not really impressed. Seriously. Been dis-jointly renovated so much it looks like a tinker-toy build. Decidedly difficult to get to, and parking is a mess. No real bars or food joints around within walking distance. They play that obnoxious cat scream constantly.

6--Ryan Field (lost count...10?). Actually a fave place of mine. People give it crappy reviews but it's been my Kinnick away from home. Easy to get to off the Metra. Lots of energy due to Iowa fans filling it up. Mustard's Last Stand is a must-eat location. Some decent bars within walking distance. Not a bad seat in the house.

5--Michigan (once). 1st class operation all the way. Golf carts running all day to assist people. We had our own section usher. Clean, and yep, big. Not all that loud as you know, but big. Can't argue against 110K people in one location. They can even cheer twice when both MSU and OSU lose. Not a lot of bars, etc near it that I recall. Fun but not exhilarating

4--Minnesota (twice) I'll give them props. Excellent stadium and they sell beer! Park at the fair grounds and it's a breeze getting there. They can move people with the best of them. Small but loud and very clean. The food venues around the stadium are pure minnesota-ian. I really have nothing bad to say about the venue, other than some fans.

1c--Madison. (four times). Party time! Stadium is within a block of downtown. Loads of fun, alcohol, energy, and noise. Inside rocks. Easy to get to if you ride the city buses. I've never seen Iowa lose there, so that's something.

1b--Ohio State (three times). Hard to argue against 108K extremely hard core fans. Take a raucous Kinnick and add one-THIRD more people. You get the idea. Hiney-Gate was the BEST party I've ever been to. Period. A bit difficult to get to and it's steep in the upper deck, but it was quite the shrine.

1a--Kinnick (dozens). The only drawbacks are it's a bit difficult to park close to, and, there's no real nightlife close to it. Everything else is first class. Go Hawks.

You missed a very important part about Illinois. Do you not agree that, upon entering Champaign, your first thought is, "I wonder what the suicide rate is at this school?"

 

[hawkeyebob62]

I've been to all B1G stadiums to see a game except Nebby, although I have walked into the stadium to look around. My two cents from my visits :

13a--Rutgers (once). Nobody knew anything about Iowa. Seemed weird to be playing 30 mins from NYC. Small and quiet crowd when I was there. Not easy to get to. NJ sucks in general. No parking. Little public transportation. They need to be back in an eastern conference. We paid way below face to sit on the 45 on the home side.

13b--MD (once). Easy to get to off the beltway. A FB program stuck on a BB campus. Little excitement when I was there. People attended as an outing. They really need to be back in some eastern conference.

11--Illinois (lost count....8?). Only because I will travel to watch the Hawks play there. The visitor side of the stadium was not renovated...bathrooms suck, there's a wind tunnel inside the inner circle. There are restricted vision seats. Fireworks were cool but annoying. Students do seem to have the choreography down. No real vendors around. You can smell the cow dung with even the slightest of south breeze. Awful stadium in an awful town.

10--Ross-Ade (three times). Ugh. Another nondescript stadium in a dumpy town. The bass drum and locomotive were OK, but annoying. Downtown isn't far away. My first time was the 85 tilt with Long and Everett...fun down to the wire. But the last two times were ho-hum, and the stadium needs repairs. The inner circle feels like you're in a dungeon...dark and dank.

9--MSU (once). I was at the 09 game. Loud, yes. Full, yes. But damn, it's a long ways from anywhere. Zero around it. And the stadium is rather sterile with little tailgating next to it. I got like zero vibes regarding the structure itself. Probably won't ever go back there again.

8--Indiana (four times). May be ranked too high here. Dead environment with constant "and that's a Hoosier FIRST DOWN."...zero people there to watch the warm ups. And they added 5000 seats when they were half full to begin with. Another FB program in a BB town. Brown county is beautiful and the stadium is easy to get to, and yes, park right up next to. You can leave at half time to get your drink on and return to your seat. Excellent campus.

7--Penn State (once). Not really impressed. Seriously. Been dis-jointly renovated so much it looks like a tinker-toy build. Decidedly difficult to get to, and parking is a mess. No real bars or food joints around within walking distance. They play that obnoxious cat scream constantly.

6--Ryan Field (lost count...10?). Actually a fave place of mine. People give it crappy reviews but it's been my Kinnick away from home. Easy to get to off the Metra. Lots of energy due to Iowa fans filling it up. Mustard's Last Stand is a must-eat location. Some decent bars within walking distance. Not a bad seat in the house.

5--Michigan (once). 1st class operation all the way. Golf carts running all day to assist people. We had our own section usher. Clean, and yep, big. Not all that loud as you know, but big. Can't argue against 110K people in one location. They can even cheer twice when both MSU and OSU lose. Not a lot of bars, etc near it that I recall. Fun but not exhilarating

4--Minnesota (twice) I'll give them props. Excellent stadium and they sell beer! Park at the fair grounds and it's a breeze getting there. They can move people with the best of them. Small but loud and very clean. The food venues around the stadium are pure minnesota-ian. I really have nothing bad to say about the venue, other than some fans.

1c--Madison. (four times). Party time! Stadium is within a block of downtown. Loads of fun, alcohol, energy, and noise. Inside rocks. Easy to get to if you ride the city buses. I've never seen Iowa lose there, so that's something.

1b--Ohio State (three times). Hard to argue against 108K extremely hard core fans. Take a raucous Kinnick and add one-THIRD more people. You get the idea. Hiney-Gate was the BEST party I've ever been to. Period. A bit difficult to get to and it's steep in the upper deck, but it was quite the shrine.

1a--Kinnick (dozens). The only drawbacks are it's a bit difficult to park close to, and, there's no real nightlife close to it. Everything else is first class. Go Hawks.

I grew up a NW fan, as parents were alums. They didn't have bars close by in the 1970s. We decided to make a long weekend out of last fall's game. AirBnB in Chicago (near North), game on Saturday in Evanston, the works. Hung out with AJEs family at their tailgate at Mustard's. His brothers were the smart ones, piling into the back of the SUV while us stupid adults kept drinking and wiping mustard off our faces and hands.

Dyche Stadium (it's "real" name, no matter what anyone else says) is just thoroughly minor league. But, they got rid of the track (like Illinois did), and their fans now care about the game, and you can still catch their band coming out of McGaw Hall. I guess I just never understood how minor league it was when I was a kid.

All that said, I loved it. The bars nearby are top-notch, the beer selections at each were excellent, and the access to public transportation is fantastic. Our longest stretch of walking was about half a mile at any given point on that day. A very worthwhile trip for an away game.