SEC West stadium reviews: Praise, criticism and funny stories

We love our stadiums in the SEC, but visiting fans have plenty of opinions on the football cathedrals of the south. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the best (and worst) reviews of the SEC West stadiums from around the web.

Related: Check out the SEC East edition

Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium

Bearing the name of SEC immortal Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant and former school president George Denny, Alabama’s cathedral is one of the largest stadiums in college football.

Home to one college football’s most historic teams, the Alabama Crimson Tide, Bryant-Denny is a fantastic facility with an electric atmosphere and impressive views of the playing field from a variety of seating locales. On any given Saturday in the fall, Alabama fans help create an atmosphere that’s both fun and intimidating. Absolutely the best time I have ever spent inside a stadium within the United States! [Google]

Got threatened by the alabama fans for cheering for our team every time we scored. They threatened to hit us with food and drinks. Our team lost unfortunately and we got flipped off and cussed at a lot and we did nothing to provoke it besides wearing auburn clothes. I never plan on going back. Plus the stadium had a smell of booze and body odor. I can see why people hate bama fans [Google]

Spend some time walking around the quad and checking out the tailgating by the Gumps. It’s not Barton Rouge but still pretty good. Also, in front of the stadium are the coaches statues and National Championship markers. Note, the 1964 one is made up and is really Arkansas’.

So the inside of the stadium is first class. Decent logistics getting in and out, decent also with the concessions and restrooms. The atmosphere is great. Probably the loudest crowds I have ever experience.

The Bama fans are nice to visiting fans (perhaps Auburn is an exception) and very respectable. Maybe some minor ribbing but that is to be expected.

Highly recommend making this part of your football bucket list. [Yelp]

Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium

Located on the Plains and surrounded by what used to be rural farmland for many years, Jordan-Hare Stadium’s the prestigious centerpiece of a college town in the Auburn-Opelika area of eastern Alabama home to Auburn University.

It is the most beautiful stadium in all of college football. However, it needs to be extended to match the capacity of Bryant-Denny Stadium. [Google]

Most people seem to love this stadium. While I don’t hate it, I’m no huge fan of it. Narrow concourses, narrow rows, narrow seats, narrow aisles… This is how they get 85,450 or whatever it is into such a small footprint. Concessions are infinitely better at our high school stadium in terms of taste, selection, temperatures and cost. Video boards around the stadium advertise premium food offerings. When you get to the premium stand, you find out the items look nothing like the ad and they don’t even stock ingredients clearly visible in their ads. Seriously, who doesn’t serve jalapeños with stupid nachos and if the ad shows supreme nachos come with avocado slices and fresh cilantro, those toppings should be available.

Toilets often overflow with solid waste in restrooms in our section and are not cleaned during games. Without the required athletic fund donation, season tickets average out to about $90 a game. Ninety bucks… You at least deserve clean toilets. My ticket price alone would pay for an attendant to clean and maintain one bathroom.

No convenient parking. We hear there is a shuttle from remote parking but we have zero idea where the lot or shuttles are. Again, we’re season ticket holder. We’ve yet to see signage get a brochure, anything. I can only imagine the frustration for visiting fans. The campus is a virtual gridlock of tailgaters parked on lawns, sidewalks and fire lanes. Narrow streets are often impassable because of trailers and oversized vehicles that tightly squeeze in. Traffic control actually blocks handicap sidewalk ramps with traffic barricades they presumably use throughout the day. I have no idea what their emergency plan is as many streets would be impassible for large, emergency vehicles.

Positives:
Site lines of the field are fantastic regardless the section. The people are genuinely friendly. The campus atmosphere inside and outside the stadium is superb. [Yelp]

Truly, one of the must see venues in college athletics. From the tailgating, to Tiger Walk, to the flight of the eagle… this is a one of a kind experience.

I’ve been lucky enough to see many different college football stadiums, and this is definitely among the best. Even though it’s not the biggest at 87,000, it just might be the loudest. Whether you cheer for the tigers or not, you should find a time to see a ball game here. [Yelp]

Arkansas’s Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium

Razorback Stadium opened in 1938 and was renamed Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Staduim in 2001. The playing surface was named Frank Broyles Field in honor of the longtime Arkansas head coach and athletic director.

This is worth taking a few good minutes from your day, Razorback Stadium is the heart of all fans young, old. This place is absolutely awesome! Enjoy the cool air while learning alil about the Razorback Program and all that it offers, with one of the SEC largest fan base a college campus can offer! We are the Running Red Razorbacks, you will leave Northwest Arkansas with a warm fuzzy feeling. [Google]

If you are in the east or west stands then you will have bench seating. With everyone getting fatter, I would highly recommend bringing in a folding seat chair (one specifically made for bench seats) to mark your ass boundary for those people who like to ass creep into your space. You can also rent (single game or season) seat back chairs but I have found these to be very uncomfortable and prefer to bring my own.

The restrooms are a pain in the ass. Expect a line, even for the Men’s room. I think too many guys are shaking their junk a little longer than normal. Do your business and get the freak out. [Yelp]

LSU’s Tiger Stadium

There are few college football venues in the country more menacing than the SEC’s torchbearer in Baton Rouge, considered the conference’s most-feared road trip for any opposing team. Where ranked teams go to die, Tiger Stadium’s been regarded by nearly every major college football news organization for decades as the south’s most intimidating structure.

I’ve never been to a football game that left me tingling from the excitement of the people around me. As far as the people being rude, when you have 90,000+ people in one place, there will certainly be a rude one, but my experience with the people I encountered was overly friendly and respectful. I look forward to the next game. [Google]

The level of s**t you get as an opposing fan here is off the charts. I don’t know if it is because I am an Arkansas fan or if they do this for everyone.

So, if a visitor, expect the following
– You will be “tiger baited” hundreds of times. Just smile and move on.
– Expect some rude comments and hand gestures thrown your way, which will get worse the drunker they get.

My advice is stay thick skinned and let it roll off. If you actually start to engage them in conversation they tend to drop the BS and actually become very friendly. You may even score some great tailgate food and drinks. The last thing you want to do is give it back in an aggressive style which may lead to you getting your ass kicked. Remember, there are a hell of a lot more of these corndog smelling LSU fans than there are of you.

So the campus is beautiful and you should really try to walk around and check it out, assuming you can stomach the tiger baits. The stadium is nice and very loud. Excellent game environment, especially at night. The fans really give the Tigers a real advantage. [Yelp]

I wanted to give this place a fifth star, but the small chance that you’ll be murdered made me stick to four stars. LSU fans are some of the loudest you’ll find. The stadium is deafening at times and it is an amazing place to take in a college football game.

I have visited Tiger Stadium a couple of times. Once, I witnessed Mississippi State lose a controversial overtime game. It was a heart-breaker and when I exited, my friends and I were showered with beer from the stands above us. LSU has an incredibly diverse group of fans. Some come directly out of the swamps. The combination of the game excitement and drinking all day in preparation for that excitement can create quite a climate. [Yelp]

Mississippi State’s Davis Wade Stadium

The second-oldest venue in the Football Bowl Subdivision, Davis Wade Stadium’s ancient walls in north-central Mississippi have seen more than $96 million in renovations since 2002, pushing it to the forefront of updated, traditional horseshoe-style venues.

Ok, this stadium isn’t the best… it’s not the largest, it’s not the loudest, and they don’t play the best football here. How-Eva… it actually has a really nice gameday experience. I attended a night game between MS State and LSU (nope, not a fan of either), and was impressed at how far this place has come. I’ve attended a game or two here since the early 80’s. They’ve added on, renovated, they have the largest jumbotron outside of Cowboys Stadium that I’ve ever seen, and they enjoy their SEC football.

Though I honestly can’t stand the sight or sound of a cowbell, they’ve done a great job of embracing it and made it part of their program. They even have Christopher Walken on the jumbotron asking for a “little more cowbell” from time to time. [Yelp]

$100M in football construction projects and this place is not very nice.

The facilities are 1930s era, antiquated at best.

Most concessions consist of a folding table under a tent. The mens restrooms feature urinals that are a giant disgusting trough in the floor. The stalls lack locking doors, and on one recent visit the stall walls caved in on a patron.

Most of the stadium still features bleacher seating. The highest top rows are so steep that you feel as if you’ll fall over if you have any misstep.

All the negatives aside, the fans really make up for it. It’s an amazing football atmosphere, and they really write the book on how to tail gate.

I wouldn’t otherwise be so negative on the facilities if this wasn’t the SEC with multi-billion TV deals and decades long history of sell outs at State. [Yelp]

Ole Miss’s Vaught-Hemingway Stadium

Sans double-stacked upper decks, Vaught-Hemingway Stadium provides the iconic look of a classic college football palace on gamedays without major updates, sacrificing technological amenities for a traditional experience.

Best student section in the SEC. Period [Google]

I’ve been to plenty of college football stadiums in my life, but hadn’t gone to Oxford until recently. I was impressed with the place. It was a last-minute decision to take off and drive up there to catch a 8pm ESPN2 game. I didn’t get there early enough to really take in The Grove, but I did walk through it a bit. I must say I was a little underwhelmed with The Grove… probably because I’d heard SO much about it over the years. It’s much smaller than I imagined, and it seems like if it’s raining, you could walk all over the place without getting out from under the droves of canopies and tents covering the grounds. I guess it simply wasn’t what I expected.

Back to the stadium, it’s in a beautiful area, on a beautiful campus, next door to a really impressive baseball facility, and really nice inside. It doesn’t have the largest seating capacity, but they’ve done really well with the place, considering. The fans are great, of course they dress to impress, and the girls are gorgeous (but then, that’s pretty normal for the entire SEC). I’ll definitely attend here again. [Yelp]

Until I go to a game at Mississippi State or Vanderbilt, Ole Miss will be the least impressive SEC stadium i’ve been to, to date.

There is one part of the stadium where it’s only bleachers. The kind of bleahcers you see at high school stadiums. Next, imagine how awesome it is to be standing under the bleachers with drinks dripping down from above. Well, Ole Miss puts half of the visiting fans in the bleachers with the concession stands underneath the bleachers. Awesome combo. [Yelp]

Texas A&M’s Kyle Field

Home of the 12th Man, Kyle Field in College Station has been a staple of Aggie football since 1905, receiving its name from Edwin Jackson Kyle who served as the university’s dean of agriculture and athletic council president.

It’s hard not to give Kyle five stars after 20+ years of going to games there, but let’s face it, the bathrooms and food stands could use upgrading. Plus when it was built there weren’t enough aisles put in, so there are no vendors during games (maybe a good thing, not sure) and there are always people walking in front of or behind you for something.

But on the other hand, you can’t beat the atmosphere of Kyle Field during a game (even t-sips know this to be true). You won’t find more enthusiastic fans, a better band, or more polite fans (except possibly during tu and tech games). Seriously, if you wear gear from the other team, you will be well treated, and probably get free beer offers after the game, win or lose. And you will sway when we sing, and you’ll do it often. [Yelp]

The Phase 1 completed home game vs. Lamar turned out to be an interesting social experiment. What happens when you group together with 104,727 other people (not including the teams, staffs, security, medics, media and associated entourages) into the same building and right when the teams enter and after the fireworks, lightning starts to strike everywhere we look? Plans change.

Under a swiftly blackening / threatening sky churning with rapidly changing gusts of wind flying flags on one side of the stadium in the opposite direction of the other, even the bats and birds decided to get the hell out of there. If I had had wings I would have exited via sky as well.

Apparently about 20% of people are concerned enough about being struck by lightning to seek shelter. Through analysis of my slideshow of photos that’s about how much of the crowd choose to take cover initially. Just imagine an airport with about 12 hours of flight delays and that’s what it looked like. Just no carpet. People sitting, laying, sleeping.

So with 2 hours and 7 minutes of nothing to do, what did we all do? We ATE baby! Kyle Field has 54 new restaurants & eateries in it from the sky to the ground. We made the best of it despite the change of plans and it turned into a really fun huge food festival. [Yelp]