Greg Gabriel shares his favorite college game day experiences and stadiums.
I began my career in scouting in 1981, working part-time for the Buffalo Bills. In my first two years, I never made a school call or went to a college game. I began going to games in 1983, with the first being Colgate at Cornell. For the rest of that season, I attended games that I could get to in a few hours’ drive from my home in Buffalo, so Syracuse and Pitt were places where I would attend games.
In 1984, when I became a full-time evaluator, I was at a college football game every Saturday for the next 28 years. In some cases, I would do a double-header if there was a night game fairly close to where the day game was. In these years, I have been fortunate enough to attend games at just about every Power-4 school in the country, as well as several others. In fact, there are very few schools where I haven’t attended a game.
In fact, of the P-4 schools, the only schools where I haven’t been to at least one game are SMU and Texas Tech.
When attending a college football game, the first rule is to leave for the game early, and by that, I mean four to five hours before kickoff. Why? Well, if I didn’t have a parking pass in an assigned area, I always had to find a spot fairly close to the Stadium so that when I left, I could get to my car quickly and on to the next place.
Since I left very early, I would always take my backpack to the press box and find my seat. Since there were going to be hours before the players took the field for warmups, I would then take a walk around the Stadium area to see and enjoy the experience at that school/stadium.
Over the years, I have developed favorite places to visit, and my criteria usually consisted of whether I had a parking pass that helped me get in and out in a timely fashion, the food in the press box, and, of course, the Game Day experience at the school.
Over the years, I have found that few places compare to the experience at many of the SEC schools. In the Southeast, football games are a happening. That’s not to say the experience at, say, Big Ten schools isn’t good, as there is one on this list, but overall, most can’t compare (in my opinion) to SEC schools.
My favorite SEC schools to go to a game are, in no particular order: Alabama, Georgia, LSU, and Ole Miss. All have huge Stadiums that are packed each Saturday, and the partying at the tailgate parties begins five to six hours before kickoff.
People take tailgating seriously in the SEC, and many parties have elaborate settings, often with huge grills or smokers, a large number of tables, and as many adult beverages as one could consume.
The people are super friendly and when I was just walking around, people I had never previously met would invite me to join them for some food or a drink. Now, being that I was working, I never consumed an alcoholic beverage, but I would have water or a soda.
At Alabama, I never had a parking pass, but I found a spot just over a mile from the Stadium that I would park at each time I attended a game there. The walk from where I walked to the Stadium was always very enjoyable, as I watched the different fans have so much fun interacting with one another.
There is one thing about many SEC schools that is different from any other schools where I attended games. The students at these schools would all dress up, and by that, I mean the girls had dresses on, and the guys wore dress shirts, ties, and a sports jacket. It has to be a tradition of some sort, as many of the SEC schools (except Florida and Kentucky) are similar. At Florida, the dress is what you would expect at a school in Florida, and it was like going to the beach and not a football game.
One SEC school that was extra fun was Mississippi State, which played arch-rival Ole Miss on Thanksgiving weekend. I attended that game two years in a row, once at Ole Miss and once at Mississippi State. Being it was Thanksgiving weekend, there were a lot of turkeys being cooked at both places. Some would smoke a turkey, while others would deep fry one.
While at Mississippi State, I had my first taste of a deep-fried turkey, and it was so moist and tasty that I went out and bought a deep fryer for my own house. Having never cooked a deep-fried turkey, I was surprised to find out that it can be fully cooked in just 35 to 45 minutes, and it is one of the tastiest turkeys you will ever have!
The atmosphere is similar at Ole Miss, but Ole Miss has “The Grove,” which is one of the unique spots in college football.
The Grove is a multi-acre area not far from the Stadium where tents are set up (mostly red, white, or Blue), elaborate tailgate setups, and great food. There are thousands of alumni and students partying there and the Ole Miss. The height of the “party” is the Ole Miss football team will walk though the Grove on their way to the Stadium. It’s an experience that is difficult to duplicate at any other school.
While I feel that attending a game at SEC schools is just about second to none, there are some Midwest venues that I love going to also. Those would be Wisconsin and Notre Dame.
My stepson attended Wisconsin, so when I went to a game there my wife would always accompany me as we would go to parties with her son. Nolan (my stepson) was in a fraternity and these guys have all sorts of fun before a game begins. What is unique to Wisconsin is a number of bars surround the Stadium and many of the student body and fans would bar-hop as they prepare to go to the game. I remember one game (Michigan State) where we hit “The Stadium” bar at about 7:00 AM (11:00 AM Kickoff) and then two others before I went inside for the game. I left my family at about 9;30 so that I could watch the warmups. I was supposed to meet my wife and stepson at halftime in the student section. They never made it as they were having too much fun at one of the surrounding bars watching the game on TV.
One thing about tailgates at Wisconsin is that they’re like cholesterol city, with all the brats, sausage, and cheese being grilled, and it seems like each tailgate has the same menu.
The most iconic venue I ever attended is Notre Dame. I have been to games there at least 25 times over the years, and while the tailgates aren’t close to being as elaborate as some of the SEC schools, it’s still Notre Dame with the beautiful campus, touchdown Jesus, the iconic Stadium, and hundreds of parties. One thing I noticed about Notre Dame, though, is that outside of the student body, the fan base has got to be one of the oldest in the country. I would estimate that a high number of attendees are already collecting Social Security. I guess when a person is lucky enough to own a Notre Dame season ticket, they aren’t about to give it up.
The most boring places to attend a game were the now-defunct Pac-12 schools. I have attended games at each of the old Pac-12 schools, and not one experience came close to the SEC experience.
Two schools that were formerly in the Big-12 but now in the SEC and had fun game day experiences are Texas and Texas A&M. Both of those schools are very comparable to the best SEC schools when it comes to the gameday experience, with Texas A&M being the better of the two.
In the ACC, Clemson is the best venue I have been to. It’s easy to get in and out, the tailgating is terrific, and the food is even better.
I grew up in the Northeast, but I have found that going to games at many of the Northeast schools is as boring as going to the far West schools. There is just no Pizzaz!
Which college game day experiences are your favorites?