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Ranking college football’s top five environments in week 2
By Jordan Cox
Published:
We saw the best and worst of college football this weekend. There were non-conference games that carried weight nationally and in the College Football Playoff picture. There were also gimme games, such as in the SEC, which made quick work of its opponents.
Looking back at Saturday’s slate of games, let’s take a trip around the country to the five best environments of week 2:
1. Oregon
Autzen Stadium is one of the nation’s best environments, and it proved why against Michigan State on Saturday. The crowd of 59,456 was the ninth-largest in Autzen Stadium history. Despite the afternoon kick (3:30 local time), the Ducks faithful showed up for the top-10 matchup. Person-for-person, however, Autzen is arguably the loudest stadium in college football.
2. Notre Dame
A sold-out crowd of 80,795 was in South Bend to see Notre Dame and Michigan for the final time. As of Friday afternoon, the average ticket price was $481.50, but that didn’t curb fans of this historic rivalry from packing out famed Notre Dame stadium. Not only does Notre Dame want to beat Michigan, but for the Irish and its fans, it couldn’t have gotten much better than shutting out the Wolverines for the first time in 365 games.
Related: Ranking the SEC’s top five environments in week 1
3. Texas A&M
The Aggies unveiled the new Kyle Field on Saturday night, and boy it is impressive. The crowd of 104,780 was the largest crowd in Texas history. Like, the state of Texas. The new south end zone gave the Home of the 12th Man a larger-than-life feel. Imagine what it’ll be like when an SEC foe rolls into College Station.
4. Ohio State
Ohio State and Virginia Tech played in front of the largest crowd in stadium history Saturday night. 107,517 descended upon Columbus to see a great game, but a loss for the home team. Ticket prices were as high as $110 on Saturday, but I’m going to take a wild guess here and say Lebron didn’t have to pay that.
Related: Ranking the SEC’s stadiums
5. LSU
There’s nothing like a night game at Tiger Stadium. Especially now with the newly-renovated south end zone and the capacity crowd of 102,321 that saw the Tigers beat down lowly Sam Houston State on Saturday night. It’s dangerous when you give the Tiger faithful all day to loosen up, and the electricity didn’t disappoint. It’ll only get better when SEC play opens up.
After living in Birmingham, Ala., Jordan left the ground zero of SEC Nation to head south to Florida to tell the unique stories of the renowned tradition of SEC football. In his free time, his mission is to find the best locales around.
