Your favorite college football gameday experience not at Michigan Stadium

The only other B1G venues I've been to are Sparty, the Horseshoe, Happy Valley, College Park and Piscataway. Of those the most memorable experiences were by far at Penn State and Ohio State. PSU because it's nice campus setting despite being an ugly stadium, and I was visiting and staying with friends and the hospitality could not have been better; OSU was just intense - most people cordial, but many don't hesitate to get in your face.

As for non-B1G venues, I've been to a couple of night games in Baton Rouge and those have both been incredible. LSU won both against undefeated teams (Auburn's only loss in 2013, and the 2014 10-7 slobberknocker against Ole Miss in the so-called Magnolia Bowl). I wore a maize M shirt to I blend into the color palate in Death Valley, but folks there had a lot of kind words for M in general. Baton Rouge also has a beautiful campus in a sort of Spanish Mission style that is very reminiscent of Stanford. Great bars to go to pre-game, and everyone is walking around with a drink in their hand.

I attended the 1998 Florida @ TENN game in Knoxville. It was the first year post Manning, both in top 10, Tenn had a major drought in beating FL. The pregame was electric, the game was amazing, going to OT, and I was able to charge the field and hang from the cross bar after the Tenn victory. Tenn went on to win the title that year. The game and atmosphere were incredible.

Go Navy! Beat Army!

1997 @MSU. if I had to pick a non-UofM game, it would have been one of the night games where Nebraska or Oregon smoked MSU @MSU.

I've been to a few non-Michigan, non-bowl games:

1. Tennessee at Bama (2015) - I was not terribly impressed with Tuscaloosa overall and especially the stadium. I felt like I was going to a generic NFL stadium. The game, though, was INTENSE. Tennessee was a few missed field goals and a final drive away from pulling the upset. 

2. Florida at Tennessee (2000) - I really, really enjoyed the Neyland Stadium atmosphere. My dad is a huge Tennessee fan, so growing up we would listen to John Ward and watch Tennessee football games (when it didn't conflict with me watching Michigan). This was a Top 10 matchup and I would put this at #1 if I hadn't left at halftime to watch the rest of Michigan/UCLA. Both Michigan and Tennessee lost that day. 

3. Bama at LSU (2016) - The tailgating was top notch and it felt like it would be a great atmosphere... and then the game was 0-0 going into the 4th. It did not feel very electric, but you could feel the pressure mounting as each drive came up empty.

4. MTSU vs Memphis (2009) - I mean, it's a smaller D1 school and I didn't expect much. I was able to easily bring in a bottle of Jack Daniels and I was in a "suite" (it felt more like a dugout with random chairs and tables), so there was that. This was a year in which MTSU won 10 games (only losing to Clemson, Miss St, and Troy).

I've probably been to a couple more Tennessee games, but I don't remember the specifics. I'm trying to make it to more B1G stadiums. I've only been to Michigan vs Illinois (2011), but trying to get to Bloomington, Happy Valley, and/or Madison this year.

Went to the Army-Navy game this past December. Seeing Army finally break through to win, and seeing the cadets storm the field was a sight to behold. All the tradition and pageantry that comes with that game was well worth the price of admission. Was on my Dad's and my bucket list to see this game. Also went to the Auburn-Georgia game back in 2014 when it was at Sanford Stadium. Got seats about 8-9 rows up from the Georgia sideline. Gurley just came back from his suspension, it was a night game, and it was a year after Auburn threw up a ridiculous Hail Mary to beat Georgia. I love the Big House but the atmosphere at Sanford that night was better than anything I've ever seen. Georgia routed Auburn that night, and the stadium was rocking the whole night. When Gurley returned a kickoff for a TD on his first play (even though it was called back) you could feel the stadium shaking.

Would be interesting.

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Drove up to Michigan vs. Minnesota in 2003, which was the game that got moved from Sat to Friday due to the Twins being in the playoffs. This was also the biggest 4th quarter win in UM history. 

On the way back from Minneapolis the next day, my friend and I saw the sign for Madison, and  knew the Badgers were hosting undefeated OSU that night, so we said, why not? We stopped in, figured we'd just tailgate and hang out, and maybe get lucky with some cheap tickets. About 5 mins before the game, we get $50 tickets, literally row 1 of the endzone. Score.

As the game went on, UW took the lead with a couple mins left, the ENTIRE section behind us begins pushing their way down to rush the field. With about 2 mins left, we're literally pressed against the fence with a couple thousand people anxiously behind us. We asked the security guard standing in front of us what to do.

He responds "You should probably run as fast as you can". 

We did. I ran into an OSU coach by mistake. Got to be on the field.  Saw a monster UM comeback and OSU upset in the same 24 hour span, in person. 

Most memorable was the 2003 Outback Bowl against Rex Grossman's Gators.  I was surrounded by Gator fans and they whined the whole game.  They are the fairest of fair weather fans.  Not obnoxious like Sparty or Buckeye fan, but just whiny with that "whoa is me" attitude.  I rank them right behind our big 3 most hated in my most hated teams list.

I also got to attend a night game at the Swamp when LSU came to town.  I think it was 2007 when Tebow was still playing.  It was a very "commercial/NFL"  type of atmosphere.  I thought it sucked compared to a Saturday in Ann Arbor.   

Bucket list of stadiums I would like to see a game at:

 - Clemson, Texas, Tennessee, Rose Bowl, Wisconsin.  

miserable. games are six hours. they do serve beer though.

Best Michigan away games I've attended are 2015 Penn State (great gameday atmosphere) and Citrus Bowl vs. Florida (sold out game, was a good crowd too). 

 

Haven't been to much else. The best game I otherwise attended left me a very sour taste in my mouth:

2011 Wisconsin at Michigan State, when the Spartans came back to win on a Hail Mary. Spartan Stadium is whatever, but that was a great game. 

 

My full Michigan list (started out pretty rough...but I would be on a nice winning streak if only we had survived in Columbus last year):

• 2013 MSU - L
• 2014 ND - L
• 2014 MSU - L
• 2014 OSU - L
• 2015 Maryland - W
• 2015 Penn State - W
• 2015 Citrus Bowl vs. Florida - W
• 2016 Rutgers - W
• 2016 OSU - L

Besides 3 MSU games against teams other than Michigan (the only notable opponent being vs. Wisconsin), the only other college football game I've attended where Michigan wasn't a participant was Cal at USC last year in the Coliseum, which was horribly lame and an absolute snoozer. Stadium was 2/3rds empty. 

This year, in terms of non Big House games, I'm going to go to:

• Texas A&M at UCLA in the Rose Bowl
• Michigan at Wisconsin
• And potentially a USC game (maybe Texas at USC if I can find something reasonable). 

2006 Penn State game at Happy Valley. It was a white out, 110,007 fans...about 200 in Maize and Blue. Beaver Stadium holds in all of the sound making it the loudest venue I have ever been in. Chad Henne, Adrianne Arrington and Mike Hart came through for offense and defense held on for a 17-10 Michigan win. Team ran over to the little wedge of Michigan fans to celebrate after the game and thanked us for coming. Echoes of "It's great to be a Michigan Wolverine" all the way down the spiral ramps. Great Way to spend a Saturday night in mid-October.

1) 97 Rose Bowl 2) 02 Penn State 3) Notre Dame 4) 16 Capital One Bowl

Went to grad school at Oklahoma, so I'm a bit biased and will go with the winningest program in college football history since WW2.

The game at Oregon was an epic experience and an epic game despite the loss. In contrast, the Oregon game in AA was the single most depressing Michigan game I've attended.

At the time of the game at Autzen, Oregon was just starting its rise, and the stadium was electric. The Autzen crowd was significantly order than the Big House despite being much smaller.

Beyond that, the Miami Orange Bowl (the stadium, not the bowl game) was an incredible place to see a big game once the Hurricanes got good in the 80s.

Had a great game day experience....War eagle 

i know it has a reputation as being ... inhospitable, but I have never ever experienced it.  Everyone I tailgate with and sit near are always good natured.  the 2006 game was epic.  i was on two hits of x which didn't suck.  the 2004 game while not close was also a great time.  it's a great stadium and the loudest place i have ever been but i have not been to seattle.

Harvard/Yale is surprisingly fun.  Camp Randall is great.  Rutgers is the worst, by the way, in case anyone was asking.

Have seen UM play Alabama in a Hall of Fame bowl ('88) and two Rose Bowls ('98 and some Pete Carroll drubbing that I am too lazy to verify the year) along with games at Iowa, Illinois, PSU, Minnesota (dome), MSU, Northwestern, Purdue, Indiana, and Nebraska. Nebraska fans were, by far, the most gracious and welcoming I've ever experienced. USC and Bama fans were both very douchy - and the rest were generally fine. But Lincoln was a great environment for enjoying college football. Highly recommended.

2006 Penn State was an absolute blast. That stadium was about ready to explode by gametime. Great (but long) trip, would do it again in a second.

Watched two beat downs that day in Chapel Hill. 'Nuff said ... Hoping for another in November 2017 in Big 10 ACC Challenge.

The 97 PSU game tops it for me - great atmosphere, great fans, great little college town.  Horrid erector set stadium, though...  This was pre-childrape, so no guilt, either!  The students/fans were awesome before, during, and after the game.  Friday night bars were rocking, and Michigan fans outsang PSU in the battle of fight songs (I mean, thats a given...).  The Gameday crowd was excellent.  And it didn't take long for them to realize UM came to play.  Third play from scrimmage, I believe...  The hit ended all hope for them - after that play, there was nothing left in the crowd.  After the game, everyone that talked to me said UM was clearly better and that Nebraska should have lost on that call.

Another good one I was at was Saginaw Valley SC (Jerry Kill) vs Grand Valley SC (Brian Kelly), the winner went to the playoffs.  Unfortunately, the Eggplant's team won, but a really good game nonetheless!

Here is how I'd rank my non-Big House game day experiences: 1. 2010 South Carolina hosted and upset #1 Alabama. SC just flat-out outplayed Bama the whole game. Fans didn't want to leave the stadium, some were in tears after their biggest win ever! 2. 2015 UM@PSU. My wife's cousins are PSU alums and got us tickets (we're going again this year), and we tailgated with them and their friends for a few hours before the game. All the PSU fans we encountered were friendly, didn't have a single thing yelled at me before or after the game. 3. 2009 NEB@VT. The game was actually a pretty low scoring, boring game, but Tyrod Taylor rallied and scored a TD with under a minute to go and the place went nuts! 4. 2009 Ole Miss@USC. Ole Miss was ranked in the top 10, and the Cocks upset them. 5. 2009 Oregon@Wash. Terrible game, as Oregon rolled UW, but it was a cool experience still. My best friend is a long time UW fan, and this was his first chance to see Husky Stadium. We partied hard Friday night in the city, then got up early and tailgated with complete strangers on game day. I recall that the stadium itself looked like crap, and the Oregon cheerleaders were unbelievable! 6. 2009 Wake@Clemson. I had heard great things about Death Valley, and so was looking forward to this one. Turned out to be underwhelming, through no fault of their own. It was a noon game, so the crowd didn't have much time to get tuned up for it. Plus it rained off and on throughout. And it was a blowout, as CJ Spiller and James Davis were too much for Wake to handle. 7. 2003 UM@NW. This was the Jason Avant catch game. It was cool to have half the crowd in maize and blue, and we won comfortably. I've been to a few other stadiums, but nothing noteworthy.