http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/columns/story?columnist=feldman_bruce&id=3044646 Hell yea we are number 1... :geauxtige
I try to be objective with this kind of stadium ranking talk. I just have never experienced anything like Tiger Stadium on a Saturday night, God help the other team if they are ranked in the top ten. I was at the Cal game in 2003 when Cal upset USC in triple overtime. The noise level there did not come close to Tiger Stadium during an SEC divisional game. I will say that Cal's student section is a lot like Duke's crazies at Cameron. They do a great job and will be all over USC when they visit Cal. Has there ever been a list of the top 5 or 10 loudest games in Tiger Stadium history? I attended LSU before there were any upper decks and the noise level then was deafening.
I don't think the upper decks made Tiger Stadium significantly louder. What makes Tiger stadium so loud is the acoustics of the fully enclosed lower bowl, which is huge compared to most stadiums and very close to the field. Stadiums with open endzones or tracks around the field just can't compare. Many schools added huge upper decks onto relatively modest lower grandstands.
i liked the fact that he used "death valley" when referring to us and never used it for clemson although they got ranked pretty high.
It was widely accepted for a long time that 1979 game against #1 USCw was the "Loudest" TS had gotten- funny thing is we ended up losing 12-17; however, most would now probably say the "Earthquake" game, I'd guess. Surely they'd both be in a "Top 5" but maybe we can break those ranks this weekend.
In my experience, The Swamp is a close second to Death Valley. They sure have some goofy cheers, though. Most overrated: Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, TN. Just so they can say they have over 102,000 fans, they squeeze 70 fan seats onto benches made for 50. You can't breathe. Your chest is so constricted you can't cheer. And it's like that all throughout the stadium. That's why it ain't loud. I shall NEVER GO BACK.
I concur with TC. Neyland Stadium is overrated. I work in the engineering field and actually worked on the latest renovation there (prior to moving back to Louisiana in April '06). Neyland is most impressive when empty. It isn't very loud for home games except for maybe Florida or Alabama. Other than those huge rivals, it's a pretty tame place. By the way, next time you watch a game from Neyland, look for the new club-level seating on the east side...right up under the sky boxes. That's part of my work!
