Sunday, September 16, 2012

My College Football Bucket List


I love watching college football on Saturday afternoons and I always have.  When I lived in North Carolina, I got see games at Duke, Wake Forest, UNC, NC State and Appalachian State.  For 2 seasons I was the official scoreboard operator for the might Guilford College Quakers.  But like any fan, there are certain games and certain stadiums I have always wanted to see in person.  Watching the Florida/Tennessee game last night reminded me of some of those places.  So today I share my ever-changing College Football Bucket List (in no particular order) with you.  Let me know when you get us tickets!  
  1. Neyland Stadium at the University of Tennessee- I am not a Volunteers fan, but I do love this venue.  It's on the river, and people can arrive by boat. There are over 100,000 people in the stadium, which is an ocean of orange.  Rocky Top is played ever few minutes.  We almost moved to Tennessee when I was in high school, and going to a game in Knoxville was the only part I was sorry to miss out on. 
  2. Texas/Oklahoma in Dallas-  I grew up loving the Oklahoma Sooners and their wide open wishbone offense. I was actually in Dallas for the NYWC in 1982 the weekend after the Red River Rivalry and hated the bad timing.  Played in a stadium split down the middle by fans of both teams, with the Texas State Fair going on just outside the Cotton Bowl for all those years, this was a game I always wanted to see. And to see the Sooner Schooner make an appearance would be just totally awesome!!!
  3. Death Valley at LSU- We almost moved to a church in Baton Rouge in 2001, and Bengal Tiger games would have been one of the real draws. But only at night. The atmosphere there seems just amazing at night.
  4. Auburn/Alabama in The Iron Bowl-  It always seemed like these 2 played amazing games on a neutral field every year, and I love watching. As long as Alabama lost...
  5. Florida/Georgia- I have been to a SEC game at The Swamp in Gainesville, and I have seen a SEC game Between the Hedges in Athens.  Both were awesome experiences.  But I have never been to Jacksonville to see these 2 play each other in The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.  And that needs to change!
  6. Notre Dame Stadium- Another place so full of tradition and stories, and I just want to see it all once.  Plus, I need to see Touchdown Jesus before I die!
  7. Ohio State/Michigan-  The Big Game.  I would need to see this once twice, once at each team's home.  Strange part is, I can't stand either team.  But I love the rivalry and history of this game.
  8. USC- I would love to see Southern Cal play UCLA or Oregon at the incredibly historic Los Angeles Coliseum. But I would go just for their fight song.  I do love that fight song. 
  9. Clemson-  Another version of Death Valley. To see the Clemson players enter the stadium, touch the rock and take the field would be quite the sight.  Plus I love orange. I just can't help myself.  This one gets bonus point if I can see them beat Miami or Maryland.
  10. THE USC- That would be the University of South Carolina.  On Saturdays the over 100,000 people in Williams-Brice Stadium makes it one of the largest cities in SC.  The place rocks.  And Steve Spurrier is the coach, so anything can happen.  I actually like Spurrier.  No accounting for taste, huh?
So there is my current list.  Let me know what I missed, or if you have been and found any of my choices to be overrated...

5 comments:

  1. Not just a stadium list, but mixing in specific games! I like your list and have been to a couple places on it.

    ND Stadium is making an effort to bring back some of what made it great. The addition they did in the 90s restricted views of Jesus. But the view is better from outside anyway, really cool spot. The grotto is an amazing Pre-game place too.


    Michigan stadium is just a bigger version of ND stadium, literally. Tenn is a great venue.

    I would add the Rose Bowl.

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    1. Thanks, Adam! And that is why I asked for input...how could I forget the Rose Bowl?

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    2. There's a few west coast venues that are just unique to college football... like Stanford Stadium. It's the Notre Dame of the west. You park in... I guess its a park setting. Lots and lots of big old pine trees. Tailgates go seemingly forever, the stadium is kind of half sunk into a hill with a gorgeous backdrop. It's really odd in that you climb all of these steps to enter from the top and then have to walk down into the bowl with all the concession up on that upper rim. Been there for 2 games, really cool place.

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    3. Stanford Stadium sound a lot like Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill. Just a beautiful setting for football. But the Cardinal seem to play at a much higher level than my Tar Heels these days...

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  2. As long as Alabama lost? Aww...come on now. Just kidding. I ride the fence. I pull for them both until that one game & then I need Bama to win simply because my family is such a huge Alabama family. :) They don't play on a neutral site now though. It's always a good game though.

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Thanks for reading,and thanks for your comment!