With Michigan headed to second-ranked Penn State on Saturday night, that means it’s time for a road trip to the best place in the Big Ten.
The Penn State Creamery. (Get the Death by Chocolate.)
Oh, and Beaver Stadium is pretty nice, too. Where does it stack up? In the spirit of debate season, here’s one man’s list of the best football venues in the conference:
1. Beaver Stadium, Penn State (Capacity: 106,572): This giant erector set isn’t much to look at from the outside, but we’ll put the whiteout nights there against any scene in sports. No place quakes like Beaver Stadium under the lights. The Ohio State-Penn State game in 2005 remains the loudest I’ve heard an arena or stadium.
2. Ohio Stadium, Ohio State (104,944): The neck-craning view from the ground in this scarlet canyon never gets old. No stadium feels more enormous than the 96-year-old, double-decked architectural wonder along the Olentangy River.
3. Michigan Stadium, Michigan (107,601): Another bucket-list classic, the Big House is as close to a home as the nation’s biggest coliseum can be. Not a bad seat in the place.
4. Camp Randall Stadium, Wisconsin (80,321): Don’t mind the swaying press box. It’s just the best in-game tradition in the Big Ten: 80,000 fans bouncing along to The House of Pain’s “Jump Around” after the third quarter.
5. Memorial Stadium, Nebraska (90,000): Home of an NCAA-record 359 consecutive sellouts and the best fans in college football. Just ask them!
Best — and worst — of the rest:
6. Kinnick Stadium, Iowa (70,585)
7. Spartan Stadium, Michigan State (75,005)
8. Ryan Field, Northwestern (49,256)
9. TCF Bank Stadium, Minnesota (52,525)
10. Memorial Stadium, Illinois (60,670)
11. Maryland Stadium, Maryland (51,802)
12. Memorial Stadium, Indiana (52,929)
13. Ross-Ade Stadium, Purdue (57,236)
14. High Point Solutions Stadium, Rutgers (52,454)
Contact David Briggs at dbriggs@theblade.com, 419-724-6084, or on Twitter @DBriggsBlade.
First Published October 18, 2017, 1:00 p.m.
