Introduction

You don't get to see America by visiting only New York, Chicago and LA.  If you want to really get a feel for this great land you have to see the out of the way places, what better way to do so than by seeing America's greatest sport played on what might be her greatest assets:  Our (mostly) land grant state institutions!

Please take my criticisms of the campus or game experience with good humor and any compliments with humility!

And if anyone wants any information on a given location or traveling in general let me know in the comments section.

How do we evaluate a given site?

What makes for a great experience at a college football game?  Or any sporting event or even any concert for that matter?  There isn't any formula to it. It's not scientific.   Like most things in life there are a variety of variables.  Some great experiences are driven by limitations.  For example, Happy Valley is a 100,000 plus seat stadium in the middle of nowhere with no hotels.  Sounds stupid right? But this limitation is what makes Penn State the most fun of any college football site because without hotels you have a 3 day festival every home game.  Some great experiences are created by the energy of the crowd, like Oregon or LSU.  Others have an overall uniqueness about them that can't be quantified  like Cal.  Then you have places that are full of douche bags like BC and that ruins everything else.  Other places are so stunningly boring that there is no way to save them (Northwestern and Illinois anyone?).

Even though each situation is unique there are a few basic points to evaluate a game as follows:

The Stadium:  It's important.  By itself it can't really break the experience but it can put it over the top.
The Atmosphere:  Some places take football more seriously than others and it shows.  There is a certain energy that only the important places have.  Tailgate is included here.
The Campus and surrounding town:  There is nothing better than a well laid out campus and nothing goofier than one that doesn't make any sense.
The People: Tough one to quantify, but you know it when you see it.  It's about more than being friendly.
The Game itself: It's a lot easier to enjoy the Iron Bowl when Cam Newton is leading Auburn back from 23-0