One of the best parts about college football is how every stadium is different. None are the same. More importantly, not all of them play the same way. Some just do not pop on television... When it comes to the Clemson Tigers, they are synonymous with Death Valley. This is the ACC's crown jewel. No matter how good the Tigers are playing in a given season, Death Valley is such a sight to behold.
However, USA TODAY Sports did not rank Memorial Stadium as a top-10 venue in the sport today.
- Tiger Stadium (LSU Tigers)
- Ohio Stadium (Ohio State Buckeyes)
- Beaver Stadium (Penn State Nittany Lions)
- Kyle Field (Texas A&M Aggies)
- Autzen Stadium (Oregon Ducks)
- Sanford Stadium (Georgia Bulldogs)
- Neyland Stadium (Tennessee Volunteers)
- Notre Dame Stadium (Notre Dame Fighting Irish)
- Bryant-Denny Stadium (Alabama Crimson Tide)
- Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (Florida Gators)
That should not sit right with any of you. While the order of stadiums can be moved around any which way, it almost feels blasphemous to not have Death Valley sitting inside the top 10. It came in at a disrespectful No. 11. Clearly, there are a few stadiums USA TODAY Sports ranked ahead of Death Valley that make no sense at all. Thus, we are going to attack a few of them today to get Clemson in.
Before we begin, one would be foolish to say any of these 10 stadiums ranked ahead of Death Valley are nondescript venues deserving to be in flyover country. That being said, Clemson should have a top-eight stadium in the sport, especially with Death Valley being the preeminent one from the ACC. That should matter, right? Too bad everyone and their brother seems to love the Big Ten and the SEC.
So which stadiums got too much love from USA TODAY over Death Valley? Let's find all that out now!
3. Beaver Stadium (Penn State Nittany Lions)
This may be a matter of personal preference, but when has Beaver Stadium been anything more than a glorified hype machine? It is a sizable college football stadium in the middle of nowhere, but how many unforgettable games do you care to remember being played in Happy Valley? More importantly, how many of them has Penn State actually won? While some love their Whiteout, it is so overstated.
To have Happy Valley over Death Valley is rich. While this is probably a top-15 stadium in the country, why on god's green earth did this come in at No. 3? There are three better stadiums in the Big Ten, three better in the SEC, and probably three better across the rest of the Power Four, including Memorial Stadium in Clemson. Just because a lot of people can fit in there does not make it great.
As is the case with anything Big Ten, Penn State needs to come to grips with coming in fourth place.
2. Neyland Stadium (Tennessee Volunteers)
We have arrived at the most overrated stadium in the SEC by a country mile in Neyland Stadium. It may be massive, and it may be loud, but nobody lets somebody come into their house and push them around quite like the Tennessee Volunteers do. It may look great from above in a blimp or on TV when Vol Nation decides to Checker Neyland. Unfortunately, the Vols lose those games to rivals all the time.
ALSO READ: Clemson has the louder Death Valley, while South Carolina refuses to go away silently
Add in the fact that Neyland Stadium's turf is the SEC equivalent of whatever the Chicago Bears play on at Soldier Field, and why are we shamelessly propping this stadium up? There are at least six SEC stadiums better than this. Frankly, four other Power Four schools that either use orange as a primary or secondary color have better home stadiums than Tennessee: Auburn, Clemson, Florida, and Texas.
Simply, Tennessee has not done enough winning the last 20 years to merit having a top-10 stadium.
1. Notre Dame Stadium (Notre Dame Fighting Irish)
Is Notre Dame actually good for the health of college football? The Fighting Irish may have a massive fan base, but the football program has done irreparable damage to the ACC. Its parasitic relationship with the league it plays pretty much all other sports in borders on being unethical. The independent kings of having their cake and eating it too took their ball and went home after missing the playoffs.
Notre Dame Stadium may have hashmark end zones and Touchdown Jesus staring at players before they hit pay dirt. But let's be totally honest with ourselves. It is not a big venue, it is not a loud venue, and it is not a pretty venue. The only reason it is on this list is because Notre Dame plays games there. Great games have been played in South Bend over the years, but Northern Illinois beat them at home!
At the very least, No. 11 Death Valley should be swapped in for Notre Dame sitting at No. 8 on this list.
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