TallySaint

Ranking the ACC football stadiums
June 26, 2006

From the nation's best conference on the field (SEC), to this year's sleeper conference (Pac-10), to the burgeoning giant (ACC), we continue ranking the most intimidating stadiums in the BCS nation. The little hoops conference has turned into a mighty fine football league, standing up to big brother SEC in the south (look, it's a Southern league, not an Atlantic league) and winning some head-to-head battles. That said, the ACC can't touch the SEC when it comes to stadium inhospitality. Some nice places, yes. Less than half are intimidating. The list:




1. Florida State: Doak Campbell Stadium has come a long way from its erector set days of the early 1990s. Just another in a long line of reasons to love Bobby. The bowled structure keeps the noise in, and -- I never thought I'd say this -- its fans are just as obnoxious and overbearing and overwhelming as rival Florida's. And that's a compliment.

2. Clemson: The best part about Memorial Stadium? Other than the deafening and disturbing atmosphere, it's the only thing in that beautiful college town. One road in, one road out -- and the stadium is a beacon standing tall in the middle of it all. The top three stadiums in the ACC are as good as any top three in any other league.

3. Virginia Tech: The Hokies run on the field to Metallica's "Enter Sandman", and I swear, even the 70-year-olds are jumping up and down in unison with the students (think Cameron Crazies). It also helps that Tech has been pretty darn good the last 15 years.

4. Miami: There's no better place for a big game at night. There's just something special about the fans, the atmosphere, the idea that something big is going to happen, the reality that you may not make it home alive after the game. The problem: too many times, the OB is half full -- which is a shame considering the success of the program.

5. Georgia Tech: One of the more underrated places in the nation. This is what makes Bobby Dodd Stadium special: it's sunk in the middle of downtown Atlanta, and the noise is trapped with nowhere to go but around and around and around. The place is good for at least one upset a year.

6. North Carolina: When Mack Brown had it going in the mid 1990s, Kenan Stadium was hopping. Thanks to Mack, UNC has some of the best facilities in the nation. Thanks to Mack bolting for Texas, UNC hasn't been the same since.

7. Virginia: It's a beautiful place, isn't it? I said, it's a beautiful place, isn't it?

8. NC State: The transformation from where this place used to be (a dump), to where it is now (a mini palace) is amazing. The problem, like many ACC venues, is keeping it full.

9. Maryland: I like Byrd Stadium, I really do. But it's a wide-open facility (no real bowl structure) and the noise escapes.

10. Boston College: Picturesque Chesnut Hill is a fabulous place to visit, and Alumni Stadium fits perfectly. But it's far from intimidating.

11. Wake Forest: Thank God for Duke. Jim Grobe deserves better.

12. Duke: Like there was any doubt which stadium was last on this list.



http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn...c.php?t=103654


8)

My Guardian Angel wears a hard hat.

shackney

The Horseshoe is way better than any of these second rate schools stadiums