Editor’s note: This article is part of our College Football Stadium Rankings series, highlighting the most interesting venues across the country.

What makes a college football stadium great?

It can be the architecture, sure, and some beautiful scenery doesn’t hurt. But in building a list of the top 25 FBS stadiums by surveying college football writers and editors at The Athletic, it’s clear that what makes venues most memorable are the atmospheres and vibes they facilitate, whether 100,000-plus people are in attendance in Death Valley, at the Big House or in a White Out or less than half as many are in the stands amid leafy settings in West Point, N.Y., and Boone, N.C.

Still, criteria vary from person to person, including whether the iconic setting of the Rose Bowl qualifies as one of the best stadiums in the country for UCLA home games, too.

The 28 staffers we surveyed have attended football games at 123 of 136 FBS stadiums — and at least laid eyes upon all but two (sorry, Delaware and New Mexico State, we’ll get there soon!). We asked them to rank their 10 favorite home college football stadiums, plus name an additional five honorable mentions. Points were awarded, and a final top 25 by The Athletic was created.

Here’s our list. (Let us know your favorites in our reader survey too.)

(Derick E. Hingle / Getty Images)

“Saturday night in Death Valley” is not just a phrase. At LSU, it’s an experience.

It’s the smell of gumbo wafting through a tailgating scene guaranteed to pack a few extra pounds on you before kickoff. It’s 100,000-plus fans packing into the concrete and steel cathedral, screaming loudly enough to crush an opposing team’s soul. It’s the full-throated crowd singing “Callin’ Baton Rouge” in unison as the fourth quarter begins. It’s the place where, as Les Miles once said, “Opponents’ dreams come to die.”

Although LSU has had to tighten security due to incidents outside the stadium this fall, there’s still nothing in college football quite like Tiger Stadium, which was the overwhelming choice, garnering half of the first-place votes. The home-field advantage is substantial: LSU has won 87.7 percent of its home games since 2000. Only 16 teams out of 131 have gone into Baton Rouge and emerged with a victory over LSU in the past 25 years.

The noise, the intensity, the passion? Unparalleled, especially at night. — Sam Khan Jr.

(Brett Carlsen/ Getty Images)

2. Beaver Stadium, Penn State

My first trip to Happy Valley was for a night game between No. 2 Miami and unranked Penn State at the newly expanded Beaver Stadium in 2001. I was blown away by the atmosphere, mostly by the tailgating scene of over 100,000 Nittany Lions faithful. The Canes ended up destroying Penn State that night, but I remember more about the vibe around Happy Valley that day than I do anything that actually happened in the game.

My most recent trip was to see Penn State host Ohio State in 2024 in the last season before a $700 million renovation began. It wasn’t for the famed White Out — technically, it was a “Helmet Stripe” game — but it was as loud and charged as any game I’ve been to in years despite kicking off at noon, and it felt bigger than the usual top-10 matchup. White Out or not, the fans are so invested, as much as or more than any in college football, in the stadium atmosphere. It’s more than just a cool thing. It’s impressive. — Bruce Feldman

(Michael Reaves / Getty Images)

3. Notre Dame Stadium, Notre Dame

It’s not the largest capacity, loudest atmosphere or most unique design, but nothing rivals the historical weight of Notre Dame Stadium. The place is hallowed ground for college football, the type of bucket-list venue that when your team plays in South Bend, you find a way to make the trip. The structure itself is timeless, with its brick walls and simple diagonal lines in the end zones. But it’s the broader setting and experience that make Notre Dame so special.

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart. The Golden Dome atop the Main Building. The Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes. The “Word of Life” mural — AKA Touchdown Jesus — on Hesburgh Library. Even if you have zero affinity for the Fighting Irish or are not a religious person, lighting a pregame candle at The Grotto and watching a game in the shadow of Touchdown Jesus is a spiritual experience. — Justin Williams

(Jamie Sabau / Getty Images)

4. Ohio Stadium, Ohio State

On a game day in Columbus, the Ohio Stadium experience begins for a visitor before the playing venue comes into view. Even the streets that lead to your destination are intimidating. It’s almost militaristic, the ushered movement of people through campus. The message is this: Do not mess with us. It’s backed up by the home team, the most reliable winner in major college football.

Inside, the Horseshoe resembles a super-sized NFL stadium. There is no attempt to hold on to the innocence of the fleeting days of amateurism. The renowned Best Damn Band in the Land? They’re not messing around, either. This is big business. If the visiting team can’t stand up to the intensity of the environment, it gets squashed. Tennessee fans, large in numbers and excited to travel in for an opening-round College Football Playoff game last December, attempted a takeover. It lasted about five minutes after the opening kickoff. — Mitch Sherman

(Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)

5. Michigan Stadium, Michigan

My first college football stadium experience beyond the West Coast footprint came at the Big House. I remember getting there egregiously early because I wanted to walk around the stadium. Even when it was empty, it was a sight to behold. When it eventually filled up for the 2008 season opener, it was loud and muggy as hell in late August and just felt like the type of stadium you’d see on TV and think, “Man, it would be awesome to be there in person.” Like, built for the blimp flying above the stadium shot type stuff.

The largest stadium in the Western Hemisphere lives up to the billing with its low-lying seating arrangement. While some stadiums are built to go up, up, up, Michigan Stadium was so cool to me because of its sheer vastness, which seats over 107,000. I was down on the field when the Wolverines ran out of the tunnel and under that “GO BLUE” banner and took a 360-degree scan of the stadium. I’ll always remember the yellow pom-poms. They rule. — Christopher Kamrani

(Eakin Howard / Getty Images)

6. Neyland Stadium, Tennessee

Neyland is my Roman Empire. I’ve never been to the Coliseum in Rome, or what’s left of it, but being inside Tennessee’s century-old stadium makes me feel like that’s what it would have been like. Massive, circular and enclosed, creating a visual that’s both intimidating and beautiful.

Then-Georgia guard Tate Ratledge said a couple of years ago that Neyland was the best stadium in the SEC because of its design. Three levels on top of each other in an uninterrupted circle. The SEC has many great atmospheres because, hello, it’s the SEC. But as far as a pure venue to be inside and see a game — whether it was big-time football or a chariot race — give me Neyland.  — Seth Emerson

(Steph Chambers/ Getty Images)

7. Husky Stadium, Washington

No setting captures its place better than Husky Stadium, including its overlook of Lake Washington, where fans “sailgate” with backdrops of Pacific Northwest pine trees to infinity. The cantilevered roofs keep the sound in, and the renovations to remove the track that circled the field put the fans on top of the game. There are bigger stadiums on this list and more historical venues. None set a better scene.

And when Washington football is winning, whether that’s under Kalen DeBoer or Don James, the sound carries for miles around Seattle. That doesn’t get to the air siren blasting after touchdowns, a tradition that dates back more than a century. Husky Stadium is an original. — Pete Sampson

(Alex Slitz / Getty Images)

The House that Johnny Football Built completed a major renovation and reimagining over a decade ago. It still sways for the “Aggie War Hymn,” just not as much to scare an unsuspecting visitor to Aggieland. Though it has modern conveniences — all the video screens, loge boxes and Block T Blonde Ale now — it encompasses all the nods to tradition a 2 percenter would never truly appreciate.

The Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band has never lost a halftime, the Yell Leaders lead the way, and students kiss their dates after a TD. The police social media account monitoring game-day inebriation gets a lot of attention, but more than anything, the stadium still represents what was intended all those years ago when E. King Gill, who has a memorial outside the stadium, came out of the stands to suit up: Home of the 12th Man. — Kate Hairopoulos

(Kirby Lee / Imagn Images)

Big Ten teams can complain about the mileage, but no one deserves pity for a trip that ends beneath the San Gabriel Mountains. If it really amounts to suffering, it has to be the most scenic misery imaginable — where light melts into gold and even a busted coverage appears cinematic. You might park on the edge of a golf course, drink sweating in your hand and grill smoke curling into dry air. By kickoff, mountains blush purple and light gilds every row.

A stadium that feels dug out of earth, the Rose Bowl is California at its purest — sun-faded, stubbornly beautiful and caught in the illusion of perpetuity. Anywhere else, sure … but there’s no justifying travel whining for a trip to Pasadena. Yes, for UCLA home games, not just the Rose Bowl Game itself. — Ira Gorawara

(Chris Pietsch / The Register-Guard / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

10. Autzen Stadium, Oregon

I walked around Autzen Stadium twice when I went to visit last October — sure, I couldn’t find the media entrance, but also because I was so enthralled by the scenery. The tailgating scene outside is special, and then you get inside and everything takes your breath away. From the students sprinting into the stadium the second the 90-minutes-until-kickoff mark hits to the sight of the entire bowl-shaped stadium filling up to the scenery of the trees and mountains behind it.

There are a lot of scenic stadiums, but a fall evening at Autzen Stadium is one of the most beautiful sights in college football. And that’s not to mention how loud it is during the game, punching well above its 54,000-seat weight. The open-air press box made it so I could barely hear my coworker next to me talk. — Cameron Teague Robinson

(Marc Weiszer / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

11. Bryant-Denny Stadium, Alabama

Alabama played its biggest home games at Birmingham’s Legion Field for much of the 20th century, but it has built Bryant-Denny Stadium into one of the best venues in the country. Now, I don’t know how Alabama ever loses a home game, given the electricity in this place. It starts as early as warmups, when “Sweet Home Alabama” comes over the P.A. system. Then, just before kickoff, the Tide run onto the field to “Thunderstruck” blasting and the LED lights blaring. The crowd stays loud all game.

And one of my absolute favorite college football traditions comes in the fourth quarter, when 100,000 fans sing along to every word of “Dixieland Delight.” — Stewart Mandel

(Kirby Lee / Imagn Images)

12. Sanford Stadium, Georgia

“Between the hedges” is where the Bulldogs play, as you may have heard a time or two. But actually seeing the hedges up close gives you a better appreciation for them — sprawling Chinese privet bushes, inspired by the rose bushes at the Rose Bowl and planted in time for the stadium’s opening in 1929.

It’s a beautiful pairing of sports and botany, like the ivy at Wrigley Field. Beyond that, this is a place that can get as raucous as any, planted in one of the top college towns in America. Warning: The full-grown adults barking like guard dogs can be a bit unsettling at first. — Joe Rexrode

(James Gilbert / Getty Images)

13. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Florida

“The Swamp” has been a perfect nickname since Steve Spurrier pitched it to The Gainesville Sun in 1992. The venue isn’t the fanciest. It’s big (capacity: almost 89,000) but not the biggest. It is, however, intimidating for visitors.

The weather is often muggy. The crowds are almost always deafening. The pregame warning, “Only Gators get out alive,” is fitting. It also has one of the game’s best new(ish) traditions: a crowd singalong between the third and fourth quarter of “I Won’t Back Down” by Gainesville native Tom Petty. — Matt Baker

(Reese Strickland/ Imagn Images)

14. Memorial Stadium, Nebraska

The Sea of Red is special. “Through these gates pass the greatest fans in college football,” reads every entrance to Memorial Stadium. Argue it, and Nebraska fans will point to a sellout streak that stretches back to 1962. Huskers fans have some of the highest football IQ I’ve ever seen, and it shows in the stadium.

Nebraska is quintessential college football, from the packed crowd every week to the Tunnel Walk tradition to releasing thousands of red balloons the first time Nebraska scores. It’s at once fresh and modern but dripping with tradition at every turn. — David Ubben

(Isaiah Vazquez / Getty Images)

15. Memorial Stadium, Clemson

In 1985, Brent Musburger described Clemson’s tradition of touching Howard’s Rock and running down the hill to enter Death Valley as “the most exciting 25 seconds in college football.” Those words still hold up 40 years later. Dabo Swinney reaches top speed as the cannon goes off and he flies down the hill toward midfield, where he greets his team as players make their way down.

That tradition never fails to hype up a crowd that is loud and passionate, but also among the most welcoming in college football. Everybody needs to experience a Clemson game in person once — even better if it’s at night. — Grace Raynor

(Jeff Hanisch / Imagn Images)

16. Camp Randall Stadium, Wisconsin

The site of a training ground for 70,000 Union soldiers during the Civil War, Camp Randall has served as Wisconsin’s iconic football venue for more than a century. Few places are as lively during night kickoffs, and none can match the energy for House of Pain’s “Jump Around” between the third and fourth quarters.

With fraternity houses across the street to the west and the Regent and State streets’ party scenes to the east, nothing says fall in the Upper Midwest like a Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium. — Scott Dochterman

(Danny Wild / Imagn Images)

T-17. Michie Stadium, Army

There may be no better place to see a college football game in mid-October when the leaves are changing and the air turns crisp. Perched high above the Hudson River atop the distinctive West Point campus, Michie Stadium sits nestled between trees and picturesque Lusk Reservoir, across which cannons fire following touchdowns.

Add in the traditions and pageantry associated with academy football — from skydivers to the corps of cadets — and an Army home game is a unique experience, one that may only get better when the current “preservation project” is completed. — Matt Brown

(Chris Gardner / Getty Images)

T-17. LaVell Edwards Stadium, BYU

One of college football’s most scenic stadiums can thank its position at the foot of the Wasatch Mountain range and its prime view of the 11,000-footer. On a clear winter night, the sunset reflects rosy, warm light on the snowcaps and across the 62,000 seats (the Big 12’s biggest by capacity).

Combine that with wholesome tailgates and fans cheering the Cougars on while eating 15-inch maple donut bars, and you’ve got a truly one-of-a-kind experience. — Jill Thaw

(John Reed / Imagn Images)

19. Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn

Jordan-Hare Stadium is big and loud, and the fans are among the most loyal in the nation — you’d have to be to put up with all of the drama at Auburn over the years — but the best part of a game on The Plains is watching War Eagle soar around the stadium just before kickoff.

It’s one of the many things that make this great sport so unique. —  Mitch Light

(Andrew Wevers / Getty Images)

20. Folsom Field, Colorado

Folsom Field has three things going for it. One is the view of the Flatirons, which frames the setting for high-altitude football in the Rocky Mountains. Second, it has one of college football’s best live mascot traditions, at least when Ralphie the Buffalo is sufficiently motivated and not indifferent to running.

Third, you know you’re watching a game at Folsom Field as soon as you see the black slope behind the end zone with COLORADO in block letters.  — Austin Meek

(Chris Gardner / Getty Images)

21. Rice-Eccles Stadium, Utah

I’m biased toward stadiums with mountain views. And the smaller venues, like Oregon’s Autzen, can often feel even more intense than the massive ones. That’s Rice-Eccles — especially at night. The school made a concerted effort to ramp up the raucousness in 2002 with the creation of the MUSS (Mighty Utah Student Section). It helped that it coincided with success on the field. — Ralph D. Russo

(Luke Hales / Getty Images)

22. LA Memorial Coliseum, USC

Whether it’s the great teams that have played there in the past, the Heisman Trophy winners who used to call it home, the torch lighting or the peristyle, the Coliseum just feels historic. The renovations that were unveiled in 2019 have generated some complaints, but the Coliseum can still produce a great atmosphere — USC’s recent prime-time game against Michigan proved that. — Antonio Morales

(Butch Dill / Getty Images)

T-23. Doak Campbell Stadium, Florida State

Time will tell whether the renovations completed this year harm the section-to-section connectivity that prevailed when Doak Campbell felt more like one big bowl covered in bleachers, but the stadium provides a fitting bricked-in theater for some of college football’s most recognizable traditions. The Seminoles’ decade-plus of inconsistency seems to have taken a toll on the Doak’s week-to-week ambience, but the showcase games always deliver. — Eric Single

(Jasper Colt / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

T-23. Kidd Brewer Stadium, Appalachian State

Fans come from up and down the mountain to watch App State play in this intimate and beautiful setting in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where a deep forest begins in one end zone, an incredible sight in the fall. App State has sold out of season tickets for four consecutive years, and they regularly sell out midweek games in Boone, too. — Chris Vannini

Reinhold Matay / Imagn Images

25. Lane Stadium, Virginia Tech

All anybody thinks about is Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” blaring through the speakers as the Hokies get set to take the field, but there’s much more to experience. There’s the scenic drive through the mountains to get into Blacksburg, the walk down the hill from the parking lots to the entrance and the haunting gobbling sound effect every time the home team does something good.  — Manny Navarro

Others receiving votes

Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa, South Carolina, Boise State, Cincinnati, TCU, Georgia Tech, UTEP, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, Hawaii, Oregon State, North Carolina, Michigan State, Minnesota, Coastal Carolina, Northwestern, Pitt.

The College Football Stadium Rankings series is part of a partnership with StubHub. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.