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What's the best and worst SEC road games to attend as a UK fan?

JoeSwag

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Jan 30, 2022
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What's the best road atmosphere as a UK fan attending a road game? Factoring in stadium, tailgating atmosphere, and just the local scene. I can't imagine UT is on this list anywhere as they have the worst fans.

I haven't got to attend many road games so I was curious what should be a must.
 
My favorite so far has been LSU. Was there in '14 I believe, it was the game where Dorian Baker decleated a dude and the SEC made Stoops suspend him, even though peel back blocks were legal then. Baton Rouge is a fun town and the tailgating can get pretty crazy there. Father and I even got some gumbo and jambalaya out of it as well.

My favorite underrated atmosphere is Miss. State. Fans are always great! Starkville, while an absolute pain to get to because it's in the middle of NOWHERE, has a great downtown area with a crap ton of bars and restaurants that can get crazy for evening games.
 
Don't like:
- TN: Seats are small & cramped.
- SC: Stadium 2-3 miles from campus.
- V: Boring
- MSU: No there there. Middle of nowhere. OM not much better.
- MO: Stadium seats set way back from field due to sunken road encircling field.
 
What's the best road atmosphere as a UK fan attending a road game? Factoring in stadium, tailgating atmosphere, and just the local scene. I can't imagine UT is on this list anywhere as they have the worst fans.

I haven't got to attend many road games so I was curious what should be a must.
I have been to AL, LSU, Ol’ Miss, Miss St, Vandy, UT, SC and UF.

The best - AL, LSU and Ol’ Miss were all very good experiences with fans that were generally hospitable and respectful and each with traditions that were fun to watch.

The worst, by far, is TN. Ugly stadium with rude and obnoxious fans. After my last visit to TN, I vowed never to go back. I love to support the Cats but not at the expense of having to actually be concerned about my personal safety.

Edit - I forgot GA. Been there twice (once when we won). I would include it among the best. Hospitable fans, good stadium and a great downtown for post-game.
 
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Best - Georgia*

Worst - Tennessee

* Subject to change, I'm making plans to go to the UK vs. Ole Miss game in Oxford this season

Tennessee's stadium is just a toilet bowl. I can't stand it and the affordable seats for non-Tennessee fans are like sitting on a skyscraper trying to watch the game.
 
My favorite so far has been LSU. Was there in '14 I believe, it was the game where Dorian Baker decleated a dude and the SEC made Stoops suspend him, even though peel back blocks were legal then. Baton Rouge is a fun town and the tailgating can get pretty crazy there. Father and I even got some gumbo and jambalaya out of it as well.

My favorite underrated atmosphere is Miss. State. Fans are always great! Starkville, while an absolute pain to get to because it's in the middle of NOWHERE, has a great downtown area with a crap ton of bars and restaurants that can get crazy for evening games.

Wasn’t this the same game where Boom got leveled on a helmet to helmet play on a kick off? I recall that game as the usual “whatever will not benefit UK football will inevitably come to pass” game.
 
Best - Georgia*

Worst - Tennessee

* Subject to change, I'm making plans to go to the UK vs. Ole Miss game in Oxford this season

Tennessee's stadium is just a toilet bowl. I can't stand it and the affordable seats for non-Tennessee fans are like sitting on a skyscraper trying to watch the game.
Tennessee is the worst. It has all the character of watching a football game in the middle of a road construction site. South Carolina is one of the better ones.
 
Wasn’t this the same game where Boom got leveled on a helmet to helmet play on a kick off? I recall that game as the usual “whatever will not benefit UK football will inevitably come to pass” game.
Crap, I don't even remember that hit. It might have been. Did Boom return kicks that year?
 
1. LSU - I've been down there many times with different teams. Always a good time. The fans tailgating will call you over, serve you food.....healthy jabs and ribbing, but are generally very receptive and hospitable. The campus is beautiful with all the archways and ivy. Baton Rouge is not stellar, but the city has everything you'd want for a trip. The stadium experience is loud and raucous....exactly what you want. What's not to like is that we often don't do well when we play them.

2a/2b. Bama/UGA - The fans are generally very nice.....and tailgaters will invite you in. What causes these places to drop behind LSU is the food. LSU will serve you a huge variety of Cajun, etc. Bama/UGA serves generic wings, BBQ, etc. Stadiums are quite as loud as LSU, but still a great atmosphere. Again, the teams that I've been with visiting these programs don't usually play well against these upper tier teams.

3a/3b. Ole Miss/Auburn - These are great atmospheres with great traditions. The Grove in Oxford is really special.....and the students dress up a lot which is really cool to see. Auburn flies the Eagle which is really cool......and the area is really nice. What is nice is outside of the teams I list above in the top 3, we often have had decent games against the teams ranked here and below.

4. Florida - Gainesville is nice....and you can easily throw in a quick trip to the beach when you see a game......and, of course, this is one of the few SEC places where you can get really good seafood.

5. USC - It's not that Columbia is a bad trip......it just doesn't stand out. It's a nice campus in a so-so city in a so-so area. And we usually play them pretty well. They have cool traditions like the Sandstorm and rooster call.

6. UT - Traditions can be really cool. The fanbase is rabid and can be a bit mean at times, but the majority are good welcoming people. The stadium is very loud because it's built tall and compact. But this also means that if you're in the nosebleed sections you are very high and looking down at the field......and it can give you a vertigo feeling which unsettles some. Here's the thing, if you know someone who can give you the Redneck Navy experience......maybe including a trip to Calhoun's or something.......the experience can be special and would rank quite a bit higher on the list. But if you're just going to wing it and not experience any of this, it drives it further down the list.

7. Ark/MSU - See USC above. The reason why these places are further down than USC is that they are much harder to get to. Can't fly easily....and the drives from UK are long and slow.

8. Vandy - Nashville is great....and we often are in a position to win.....but that's about it. I have been going to Vandy games my whole life. I've been in the stands, I've been on the sidelines, I've been to a ton of basketball games and other sporting events......Vandy just isn't great for sporting events. Sure, there are times when basketball yield good games, but even then you'll still see guys in suits at the games that won't cheer or get loud. Football doesn't often pack the stands. The stadium is ho-hum. I would say that this can be a good trip because it's close to Kentucky so you can pop down for a weekend and make Nashville more of your focus.
 
Been to UT, Vandy, UGA, Ark, LSU, UF, Bama. I think these trips depend a lot on if you know anyone in the town. I have UT friends and LSU friends so going to those places is great fun cause they take you in. UT’s stadium is a dump but Knoxville is a cool town if you can look past the orange.

Vandy is fun not because of the game but because it’s close and you can make the trip into whatever you want. While other trips are all about the game.

I will never go back to Florida. Their fans were the worst. Not just one or two but almost all of them. The stadium is cool but yeah never going back.

I’ve heard the worst trip is Missouri from friends and family. Stadium sucks, atmosphere sucks, and the town isn’t great either.
 
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Love Bama, their fans, tailgate and over all experience although traffic is atrocious.
Can't wait to go to TA&M. Noticed no one has mentioned Auburn, can't stand those obnoxious fans, too much like the dirty bird Fandom. Love Ole Miss
 
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Went to A&M, was a blast.

Actually, have been to Michigan, Ohio State, Texas and Notre Dame games as well, if you are just a college football fan, those kind of classic venues are well worth the trip. Irish seats are equally as narrow as Neyland, had to stand the whole damn game there as well, but it is a hell of a venue.

One daughter attended UM so I am prejudiced in favor of the Big House, but one drawback is that most of their games seem to kickoff at noon, so the pregame tailgating is not as good as I would prefer. But Ann Arbor on home football Saturday is as good as it gets, usually walked up State Street to the stadium, where there are a lot of bars and fraternities getting ready for action was pretty cool, I will say.
 
I've been to Vandy, UT, SC, UGA, UF, and Arky.

I liked all of them. I would say that Florida was the worst b/c it's hot as hell and I went when we had zero chance of winning the game. t

Georgia is the best college town in the bunch, though it's not easy to get in and out of if youre in a hurry to get back to ATL or back home after the game.

I love going to games at UT. Unmatched pageantry and tradition there, though it would really be nice o win there (I was not there two years ago).

I've been to SC and Vandy a lot. Both are good b/c we win a lot in those stadiums. Nashville is a great town and ticket are easy to obtain. South Carolina has a rowdy crowd, and the series is very competitive.

Arkansas was great. Dickson street is fun and the stadium is nice.

May go to Ole Miss this year, I hear good things.
 
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Went to A&M, was a blast.

Actually, have been to Michigan, Ohio State, Texas and Notre Dame games as well, if you are just a college football fan, those kind of classic venues are well worth the trip. Irish seats are equally as narrow as Neyland, had to stand the whole damn game there as well, but it is a hell of a venue.

One daughter attended UM so I am prejudiced in favor of the Big House, but one drawback is that most of their games seem to kickoff at noon, so the pregame tailgating is not as good as I would prefer. But Ann Arbor on home football Saturday is as good as it gets, usually walked up State Street to the stadium, where there are a lot of bars and fraternities getting ready for action was pretty cool, I will say.


Agree about Michigan.....and the other historic venues. If I were rich, I'd travel around to different sporting events.....watch rivalries, tournaments, etc. Watch Michigan/OSU, World Series, Final Four,SB, World Cup, Stanley Cup, etc, etc, etc.

I've been to The Big House a few times when I was really little.....but only to watch the Wolverines hammer a much lesser team. We always sat in the cheap seats which is interesting in that stadium. The "nosebleed" seats are not very high.......but they are really far from the field. The stadium is a very shallow bowl......whereas a place like UT is more vertical like a cup.
 
^
I saw the (in)famous 42-41 Ohio State win at Ann Arbor where UM went for two at the very end of the game instead of playing for OT. Place was LIT UP, I really really really wanted to see them make the 2 pointer just to see what the crowd would do.

There was an on field fight during the game, and I sat with my daughter in the student section, and tbh, based on the language and behavior of the fans, I got the very clear impression those two schools and teams don't much care for one another. 🤣 🤣
 
I was fine at Neyland. It was 2008 and they were terrible so I don't think anyone really had it in them to get nasty with me. It was cool seeing all of the pre game festivities they do and the band blew ours away during halftime. Plus it was pretty empty because again they sucked, so I wasn't jammed in there like a sardine.

I did find it funny that they announced the attendance as a sold out 105,000 and there were entire sections that were empty.
 
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This cracked me up. Legit LOL'd at work.
You know, I heard their current reno program is reducing the capacity by making the seat size larger. This has everything to do with the ever expanding waistline of East Tennessee. They finally realized Junior and LuLu gave up their season tix because they couldn't even pretend to fit in them any longer. It had nothing to do with their fade from glory.
 
I’ve been to UT, Vandy, Mizzou, SC, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Alabama, Arkansas and Georgia.

I’ve enjoyed my trips to SC and Georgia about as much as any.

Hell, I love the strip in Nashville, and sitting with fans who seldom make Lexington, folks from Paducah, Hop-town, E-Town and West Tennessee fill the place up.

Mizzou is the “driest” place I’ve been to . . . a quiet Midwestern reserve is evident, everywhere. They need to chill!
 
Mizzou is the “driest” place I’ve been to . . . a quiet Midwestern reserve is evident, everywhere. They need to chill!

I am going there in November, my first trip. Every time I see one of their games on TV, the stadium just never seems loud at all, isn't there a track around the field, so the crowd is farther away from the action? Maybe that explains it.
 
isn't there a track around the field,
I don’t remember a track.

The stadium is old, and maybe not as vertical as some, with an open end where the limestone “M” is, maybe allowing sound to escape.

The folks I met struck me as the kind you have to explain your joke to, maybe more than once. [“Yes, I realize that it is statisticly unlikely for a Priest, a Rabbi and a Baptist minister to walk into a bar simultaneously . . . and that is a part of the joke.]

Just an unsmiling, unemotional, staid group.

But we were kicking their asses in 2016, so that explains some of it.
 
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I’ve been to all except Auburn, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Missouri.
Favorite tailgate was LSU. We pulled in with our KY flags and when we got out of our car these guys started yelling at us and pointed at the top of there RV. We looked up and about five guys mooned us. I was like, what the hell did we get ourselves into. But they came over and invited us to have some jambalaya with them. We said let us get a beer out of our car and they said no, they had beer for us too.
Atmosphere at game (night game) was awesome. Been to Tennessee twice, worst fans both times. Texas AM was awesome, but the fans were almost too nice. Best field was Georgia, loved being able to walk around the hedges.
Go Big Blue!!!
 
I've been to Vandy, UT, SC, UGA, UF, and Arky.

I liked all of them. I would say that Florida was the worst b/c it's hot as hell and I went when we had zero chance of winning the game. t

Georgia is the best college town in the bunch, though it's not easy to get in and out of if youre in a hurry to get back to ATL or back home after the game.

I love going to games at UT. Unmatched pageantry and tradition there, though it would really be nice o win there (I was not there two years ago).

I've been to SC and Vandy a lot. Both are good b/c we win a lot in those stadiums. Nashville is a great town and ticket are easy to obtain. South Carolina has a rowdy crowd, and the series is very competitive.

Arkansas was great. Dickson street is fun and the stadium is nice.

May go to Ole Miss this year, I hear good things.
The thing I love about Neyland stadium is every year they roll the bleachers with Sav A Lot gray paint and tack the mens room stall doors with nails with new bungee cords 🍺
 
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I am going there in November, my first trip. Every time I see one of their games on TV, the stadium just never seems loud at all, isn't there a track around the field, so the crowd is farther away from the action?
Yes, there is a track - blacktop one lane road actually. I said that above. Puts the fans way back. And field/benches elevated above track so can't see on TV. Sorta like a moat. Weird vibe/setting.
 
UT sucks , fans suck , stadium most uncomfortable in world and city sucks . Is that enough ?

Madness I ever got as an adult, lucky I didn't go to prison, or worse. My 5 year old son and me were in nose bleed section, my son wearing his UGA cap. A UT fan grabbed my son's hat, threw it over the rai, my son started crying, that punt started making fun of him. Back then I was a pretty solid and strong guy, I hit him hard enough to knock him cold as a wedge, was going to send him after my son's cap but he was to limber to pick up and throw over the rail, like a limp noodle. Cops come, took me out, guy come to, my son still crying, they sent me out of Knoxville. You don't make a man's kid cry and laugh about it.
 
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