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SouthernPigskin.com Columnist, and gameday enthusiast, Mark Martin ranks his top ten loudest venues in college football.

By Mark Martin
SouthernPigskin.com Columnist

SouthernPigskin.com Columnist, and gameday enthusiast, Mark Martin ranks his top ten loudest venues in college football.

Like most college football fans, Mark Martin loves the atmosphere of being in a stadium for a game.  Recently, Martin made his dreams a reality and attended games at each SEC football venue and numerous other national sites.  He has stories and tales from just about every city in the south and experiences that any fan would envy.  A new addition to the SouthernPigskin.com staff, Martin will spend the next few weeks telling stories of where he has been and what he has done.  He will continue his quest this fall and will share his experiences in his columns.  We are pleased welcome Mark to the SouthernPigskin.com family.  You can read Mark’s first column Here.

Top Ten: Loudest Stadiums

Depending on the game you go to, almost any stadium can be loud, especially if there is a hyped or rivalry game.  If you go watch a game at Kentucky where they play their rival Louisville and you see Auburn host Western Kentucky like I did, you would think that Kentucky has the louder stadium.  From everything I have heard about a night game at Auburn, that probably could not be any further from the truth.  My point is that you need to see a somewhat big game to determine if a stadium is loud. 

I apologize in advance to Auburn fans because even though I attended a game at Jordan Hare Stadium, I only saw the Tigers play Western Kentucky.  I will make it to a big game at Auburn one year, preferably the Iron Bowl, and then I believe that Auburn will be in my top five loudest stadiums.

There are some stadiums that truly send goose bumps all over your body when a big play happens or the team runs out of the tunnel before the game.  For all of you fans who have been to a raucous stadium, you know what I am talking about.  When Tennessee scores a big touchdown, the big orange nation erupts.  If you have seen the “2001” introduction at South Carolina, you know Williams Brice is wild as any at that moment.  When I rank these stadiums in terms of volume, I try to determine which ones are loud throughout the game and which ones have their loudest moments.  At the loudest that each stadium can get, which stadium is indeed the loudest?

Remember that a lot of this is opinion and that these are my observations from an objective point of view.  I am not going to place BCS and national championship game venues on this list because most people want to know the loudest college stadiums.  Most fans feel that they have the loudest stadium, but the following is just what I have witnessed.  I will also agree with what most of you are probably already thinking and that I need to go back to all of these stadiums multiple times.  Though that is a good point, I think you can get a good idea after one visit to each campus with a few exceptions. 

As I get older and no longer have the money or time that I did in college to travel to so many away games, I need to see the best possible games that I can see.  An example of this would be LSU.  I saw Florida play at LSU last October when LSU was number one and Florida was number nine.  I do not need to go back there.  I also saw the Iron Bowl in Tuscaloosa.  I do not feel the need to go back there anytime soon because I have seen them play a rival.  An example of a place I may need to go back to one day is South Carolina as I saw them play Kentucky.  Even though both were top fifteen in the country at the time, I need to take a Clemson game in to get the full effect of how loud Williams Brice can actually be.  I saw either rivalry games or big-time national opponents at most of the sites on my list. 

Honorable Mention: Arkansas
I was expecting more out of Arkansas even though it did get loud at times.  When I went to Fayetteville back in 2006, ESPN College Gameday was there for the Tennessee game.  It was an average experience when it comes to crowd noise.  Arkansas had an opportunity to wrap up the SEC West and I guess I was expecting too much.  I think some of it has to do with the stadium being open on one end, so keeping noise inside the stadium is difficult compared to a Tennessee or Florida.  The fans are passionate, but the stadium was not as loud as I was expecting.

10. Kentucky – I think Kentucky and Arkansas could easily be flip flopped in this spot, but when at the Louisville or LSU game in Lexington, I felt that Commonwealth Stadium was just a bit louder.  Neither Arkansas nor Kentucky can compete with the next nine on the list in crowd noise.  Kentucky has loyal fans and loud ones as well, but the next nine are football schools that possess louder environments. 

9. Auburn – This is a loud stadium that I feel confident would be much higher if I watch them play Alabama or even LSU in the future.  The fans are very passionate, even at a noon kickoff against Western Kentucky.  The stadium is loud throughout the game and I can see what people are talking about when they say Auburn is the loudest or one of the loudest stadiums they have been in. 

8. South Carolina – When the team comes out to their famous 2001 introduction the stadium can come to a high volume that makes it one of the loudest stadiums in college football.  In that one moment especially, Williams Brice Stadium gets very loud.  I would like to go back one day and watch them play Clemson and see if this number eight ranking would get closer to five. 

7. Alabama – Throughout my experience I felt Alabama was just a bit louder than South Carolina.  I do not see room for Alabama to creep up this list because I saw them play Auburn, and I feel that you cannot see a bigger game than that at Alabama.  The stadium atmosphere is great, but there are a few stadiums that are louder. 

6. Georgia – When I went to Athens in 2005 to watch Georgia play Auburn, it was loud the entire night.  Georgia had the opportunity to clinch the SEC East with Florida losing to South Carolina earlier in the day and the stadium was loud.  At one moment in the game, it was one of the two or three loudest stadiums I have been in.  When Auburn faced 4th and 11 late in the game the Georgia faithful came to their feet and brought Sanford Stadium to a deafening volume.  Although Auburn converted for the long play and first down, that was one of the loudest moments I have ever been in.  The five beyond this though I feel are louder throughout the entire game.
 
5. Ohio StateM – This is the only Big 10 school out of the three that I have been to (Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State) that I feel can belong in this category.  The Horseshoe is a very loud place and the Buckeye fans are as passionate as they come.  Think what you want about their recent lack of success against Florida and LSU in BCS championship games, but their fans are great.  When you put 100,000 thousand of them together, it gets extremely loud.  The Ohio State fans are the only ones in the Big 10 that are in the same category of the SEC schools when it comes to passion. 

4. Florida – The Swamp lives up to the hype.  I saw them play Florida State in 2005 and it was everything I was expecting.  It is one of the most active crowds I have seen when watching college football games.  From Mr. Two Bits to every fan in the crowd doing the chomp, the gator fans are actively involved.  Chomping, gator baiting and “We are the Boys” before the 4th quarter all make for a great fan experience.  This stadium doesn’t have one moment like South Carolina or Clemson when they get deafening for like those two schools do for their pre-game introduction.  Florida is loud from start to finish and it is one of the loudest stadiums you will ever watch a game in. 

3. Clemson – Whether it was running down the hill or the fans rising for a key third down, Death Valley is one of the loudest stadiums in the country.  The structure of the stadium helps keep the noise in well.  The Clemson fans are very underrated when it comes to the most passionate fans and they show up well for a big night game.  If you follow what Kirk Herbstreit says, you would know that he was also surprised during his 2006 visit to Clemson when College Gameday was present for the Georgia Tech game.  He thinks Clemson is the second-best experience they have had during his years at ESPN behind Ohio State in terms of crowd reaction.  Clemson is a tremendously loud environment.
 
2. Tennessee – “Rocky Top” will be played 47 times throughout the game and you will know the words before you leave whether you like it or not.  I have been to Knoxville twice with the most recent being the LSU game in 2006.  Neyland Stadium is the best stadium I have seen built to keep noise inside the stadium.  When LSU was faced with key 3rd and 4th down attempts late in the 4th quarter I could not hear my friend Greg Newman to my left.  He was trying to tell me something and I felt deaf or hard of hearing for those twenty seconds.  When the Vols run out of the power “T” the fans get pretty loud, but it is loud throughout the game.  The Vol nation makes Neyland Stadium the second loudest I have been in. 

1. LSU – If you can attend a big game at LSU, preferably a night game, it will be the loudest stadium that you have ever been in.  I saw Florida play at LSU last season and I was fortunate enough to see a night game.  I have never been a part of an atmosphere like this one.  It is difficult to put into words other than Baton Rouge at night is nuts.  You smell the bourbon as soon as the stadium is at capacity and, when you bring 92,000 Cajuns together with many of them intoxicated by night fall, you have a recipe for a mad house.  When LSU runs out for their introduction and the PA announcer says “It’s Saturday night in Tiger Stadium” I will never forget how I felt when that stadium erupted.  There are a few stadiums that I have been in that are built better for noise, but there are no fans that are crazier and more intense during a game than the LSU fans.  They are ruthless when it comes to how they treat opposing fans as well.  LSU is the loudest stadium I have been in, and I think if you witness a big game against Florida, Auburn, Alabama, or Georgia at night you will likely share the same opinion. 

Feel free to share your opinions on the topic on the SouthernPigskin.com message boards.  You can also email me at [email protected] to give me your opinion.

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Share your thoughts on the SouthernPigskin.com Message Boards or email Mark at [email protected]