Golfer
Well-Known Member
I've been to alot of college stadiums and atmosphere. Lately I have a few SEC clients so every year we go to a different SEC game in a different SEC stadium. Tennessee is pretty impressive, but the tailgating is all over the place. Georgia is a blast, but the game day stadium atmosphere is pretty subdued for some reason, the stadium doesn't rock during the games. The thing I like about the SEC is the girls actually dress up for the games...it's crazy...dresses, heels sometimes, and they are going to a college football games. It's distracting and the women of the SEC are stunning and beat the crap out of the Big Ten...as far as beauty is concerned, it's more lopsided than our bowl match ups every year. It's not even close.
That being said, Kinnick's game day atmosphere and when the game is on the line and the crowd is into it, blows any of the SEC games I've seen away. The noise is at a different level.
I went to the Capital One Bowl where MSU played Alabama. I agree about the Alabama fans, including women, dressing up. It seemed to me that they were either hicks, or very classy southern ladies and gentlemen. When I say hicks, Alabama was absolutely killing MSU. So much so, that I thought they were going to end some MSU player's careers with injury. It was ugly. Some of the less classy Alabama fans were screaming, "hurt him", and things like that. For the most part, their fans were classy, and every team has some less than decent fans however.
It does seem the Iowa tailgates have evolved. There is no doubt also the tailgates are more special if we are having a magic season. 2009 was the last really wild tailgates in the Kinnick lot.
The first really big changes was after the ISU game our first Orange Bowl season (02 I believe). That night game, and the ensuing debacle really was the beginning of the end with respect to people throwing up in the stadium. That incident, and after 9/11, when fans couldn't go out at half time and drink, and then reenter the stadium.
Wisconsin, Michigan and OSU are great places also, and their fans remind me quite a bit of Iowa fans. Very respectful to the visiting team. Nebraska is different, as it is downtown, and not really one centralized
location.