ACC Stadium Rankings

[Scooch]

Noticed the guy from Syracuse.com put the Dome at 12, ahead of only Pitt and Wake. Typical.

It may be that he was 6 in 1998 though. If you weren't around in the 90s you have precious little conception on what a great venue the Dome can be.

 

[Chip]

Not sure the basis of the rankings. But one place the Dome should score as well, if not better than any other is proximity to the field/sightlines. You are right on top of it. Only about 200 bad seats in the house, middle deck end zone, back few rows. Other than that, even the last row of the upper deck in the end zone is a great seat to view the game.

Now we just need to get 49k there and screaming again. Those games where you couldn't find an empty seat, nothing topped them.

I really like BC too. Just such a collegiate atmosphere. Give me that over Pitt or Miami anyday.

 

[Trueblue25]

NC State's a home game for us, so I'm satisfied with our ranking.

 

[Alsacs]

NC State's a home game for us, so I'm satisfied with our ranking.

Dude MAYBE for bake all but NC State is one of the few ACC schools that AVERAGES over 50k per home game. I think we can get a lot of fans for bball games at NC State.
Our ranking is pretty close we should be between 6 and 9 until we fill up the Dome.

 

[OttoMets]

Not sure the basis of the rankings. But one place the Dome should score as well, if not better than any other is proximity to the field/sightlines. You are right on top of it. Only about 200 bad seats in the house, middle deck end zone, back few rows. Other than that, even the last row of the upper deck in the end zone is a great seat to view the game.

Now we just need to get 49k there and screaming again. Those games where you couldn't find an empty seat, nothing topped them.

I really like BC too. Just such a collegiate atmosphere. Give me that over Pitt or Miami anyday.

Good point. The article claims that Carter-Finley's seats are closer to the field than anyplace else in the league. That has to be false.

 

[Trueblue25]

Dude MAYBE for bake all but NC State is one of the few ACC schools that AVERAGES over 50k per home game. I think we can get a lot of fans for bball games at NC State.
Our ranking is pretty close we should be between 6 and 9 until we fill up the Dome.

I understand that football is the sport where it's unlikely we'll ever outnumber an opposing fan base on the road. However there are teams where I will never except defeat to, on the road or home. NC St. is certainly one of those teams.

 

[3UNCdooksux]

The list is fairly accurate I feel with a few exceptions. Full disclosure, I have not been to Carrier Dome, BC, FSU, Louisville, or Miami <but going to Miami this year>. Been to the rest. Clemson is the best I have been to. VT was great but I had heard so much hype about it that I was a little let down. But still great. NCSU's Carter-Finley is literally adjacent to a cow pasture. With that being said they are consistently loud and raucous. The only thing cow college can boast is attendance. UVA's fans may be nice to other schools but they HATE UNC so my perspective is different there but the campus and stadium are gorgeous. The setting for PITT is lovely but being off campus and a shared venue hurts it. UNC fans are stereotypically called "wine and cheese" and that moniker holds our ranking back. Like all stereotypes there is an element of truth to the claim. But the stadium does get electric when needed. The 2012 Gio punt return against mooU was quite thrilling. Hope to get to the Dome eventually but with us being in different divisions unless they go to a pod system can't imagine when it will be. GO HEELS!!

 

[Millhouse]

I don't care too much either way about these rankings but i'll admit that i like seeing anything that confirms my bias against Pitt's empty stadium that isn't really theirs, no matter how fancy it might be

 

[milerock]

have been to most of the acc venues...not been to the newbies. VT or Miami...
We are fortunate to have really nice big cities and great college towns to travel to.
As far as stadiums, NCS is much improved since they did their reno a few years ago
and unlike the rest of tobacco road they really like football. Wake's stadium is now a little gem
and has by far the best parking for the public in the ACC. Not a bad seat in the 36K house.
UVA stadium is nice. BC's is old but clean. GT is really old. Really neat setting especially
for a night game but visitor seating requires a Sherpa. FSU is big. There really aren't any complete duds
Either the town or the stadium or in most cases both are nice places to visit.

 

[Lou_C]

have been to most of the acc venues...not been to the newbies. VT or Miami...
We are fortunate to have really nice big cities and great college towns to travel to.
As far as stadiums, NCS is much improved since they did their reno a few years ago
and unlike the rest of tobacco road they really like football. Wake's stadium is now a little gem
and has by far the best parking for the public in the ACC. Not a bad seat in the 36K house.
UVA stadium is nice. BC's is old but clean. GT is really old. Really neat setting especially
for a night game but visitor seating requires a Sherpa. FSU is big. There really aren't any complete duds
Either the town or the stadium or in most cases both are nice places to visit.

I agree with all of this, but if you want to talk Sherpas, try sitting in the visitor's section of your own stadium, LOL. I love Death Valley, but man, they put the visitors up high in the corners. It's the only stadium I've been in where from my seats I look over the side and DOWN at the lights. Clemson and FSU have roughly the same amount of seats, but with little seating in the end zones, Clemson's stadium gets amazingly high up there.

It's part of the character of the place, and I'm a big fan of it, so don't take it as a complaint or an insult. I've always taken my kids to games since they were very little, but Clemson is one that I made them wait until being 8-9 years old, because the walk down to the bathrooms from the visitor's seats in the upper deck is so arduous.

 

[milerock]

LOL ---Lou...the north upper especially is brutal. I learned when I gave my normal seats to some relatives and bought some for my family over there. First time and last time. Don't like my cousins that much...

 

[SUbear]

Not sure the basis of the rankings. But one place the Dome should score as well, if not better than any other is proximity to the field/sightlines. You are right on top of it. Only about 200 bad seats in the house, middle deck end zone, back few rows. Other than that, even the last row of the upper deck in the end zone is a great seat to view the game.

Now we just need to get 49k there and screaming again. Those games where you couldn't find an empty seat, nothing topped them.

I really like BC too. Just such a collegiate atmosphere. Give me that over Pitt or Miami anyday.

I have been to Pitt many times, and do not care for their stadium or the surrounding atmosphere. Seems sterile and unappealing in my judgement. Never been at a game in Miami.

 

[Tigertrain]

Lou_C. Have you ever sat in the lower deck at Clemson? Totally different experience from the Upper Deck. The upper deck feels like you are watching the game from the blimp and you can't really hear the crowd noise. The noise level can not be appreciated from the upper deck. Field level noise is a whole lot louder. Don't judge Death Valley from the upper deck.

 

[irishredhomebrew]

Clemson upper decks are insane. Visiting fans will crack jokes about their view being obstructed by birds circling below, or that they forgot to pack an oxygen tank so they could not make it to their seats. The height and incline of the upper decks cause noise to bounce back and forth between them. This is a 45 second clip from 2005 when TAMU came to Clemson. The clip is of the Aggies' radio announcers (the clip is from Tigernet archives):

http://www.tigernet.com/servlet/JiveServlet/download/9-253752-2889425-27501/05TAMU.wav

 

[gocraz4dasu]

I'd honestly have VT as number one in terms of stadium and atmosphere. And that pains me as as a Virginian because I have to deal with absurdly unrealistic VT fans on a daily basis. I have a friend involved with the football program so I've lessened my dislike towards that program, still hate Beamer with a passion though. I've been to numerous games there, as recently as last year, and it's a fun place to watch the game even though some of the non-alumni fans are brutal.

Clemson would definitely be number two despite that stupid rock they claim to be so important. I enjoyed my visit to Clemson as a whole but personally prefer USC and that's no knock on Clemson, I just really liked USC.

I've been UVA's stadium and it is pretty. I went to the Oregon game last year and assumed the fans would be a little more pumped for that game. The basketball games at UVA are more fun than the football games. The football games are fairly lackluster.

Went to the Wake Forest-SU game years back and the stadium was alright. No complaints and I found the fans to be well-spoken and cordial so it made for a good experience.

NC State's stadium was nicer than I expected. I've been NC State for a basketball and football game and found the fans to be petty whiners. Both times I've sat in front or behind someone who complained incessantly and wanted a penalty/foul to be called on almost every possession. I would still return to watch a future game though.

I saw the Maryland-WVU game a couple years back at Maryland. I found the stadium to be mediocre. My buddy liked it though.

I haven't been to a game at FSU, GT, Miami, UNC, Duke, Pitt, UNC, Louisville, or BC so I can't really comment on any of those stadiums.

 

[UNC Blue]

Really surprised to see NC State so high. Their fans were really quiet, the stadium is undistinguished and its location, near a fairgrounds, office park and Erie Blvd like sprawl, is unfortunate. Tailgating was average. Nothing special about it. It definitely belongs in the bottom tier.

Virginia has a nicer environment. It is located in the middle of their beautiful campus and the stadium was designed to fit in with the Georgian architecture surrounding it.

Again the fans were quiet and laid back, almost Stepford-like.

I would put both behind the Dome. Shocked UL is so high. Why? But I haven't visited there, so I won't protest loudly.

Agreed, no idea how they are that high.

 

[Lou_C]

Lou_C. Have you ever sat in the lower deck at Clemson? Totally different experience from the Upper Deck. The upper deck feels like you are watching the game from the blimp and you can't really hear the crowd noise. The noise level can not be appreciated from the upper deck. Field level noise is a whole lot louder. Don't judge Death Valley from the upper deck.

Nope, never. But make no mistake about it, I've got NO problem with Death Valley. Awesome place, and that elevation is just part of what I expect to go there, and one of the things that makes it memorable.

I've been to South Carolina also...everyone has their own opinion, but in a million years I wouldn't rate that over Death Valley.