Frequently Asked Questions
When did you start traveling to all these games?
I began attending LSU games with my parents as early in life as I can remember and expanded my travels while in college at Florida in the late-2000s, taking in most of the SEC venues during my time as an undergrad. But it wasn’t until the 2018 season that I really branched out beyond the opponents of those two schools and into the broader college football landscape. In late-2017 my brother moved to Michigan, so beginning with the Colorado–Nebraska game in 2018, we decided to start checking out Big Ten games together. I caught the bug to explore even further and have kept going ever since, trying to visit as many of the premier college football destinations as possible.
What’s this blog all about?
When I began expanding my travels in 2018, I shared the interesting bits with my friends via social media, including a lot of the off-field stuff not directly related to the games themselves. For years, these friends nagged me about sharing my experiences to a wider audience. In 2023, I finally caved. I figured that my travels have taught me a lot about trip planning, plus allowed me to experience some of the best of what goes into the total road trip experience, so I might as well try to share my knowledge and experiences with those looking to do the same.
At every game I attend, I seem to meet at least one group that fits each of these categories:
- College buddies who have agreed to meet back up for one of their alma mater’s games each year (home or away)
- Family members or friends who are trying to fulfill a college football bucket list by attending at least one major game per season
This site is intended to be a resource for those types of people, providing reviews of local hotspots; ideas for nearby points of interest; descriptions of traditions you can’t miss; parking, stadium, & tailgating info; and tips for how to make the travel experience cheaper and more enjoyable.
How many college football stadiums have you visited?
I’ve attended over 300 games at 71 different home college football stadiums, not including neutral- and alternate-site games. I have also visited another 30 or so empty stadiums, making detours to scope them out while traveling nearby.
What’s the most number of games you’ve attended in a single season?
19 (in 2023). Unlike Ben Chase, Rodger Sherman, and the GOAT Michael Barker, who set out to attend as many games as possible in a single season, my travels are focused more on depth of the experience rather than reaching for the maximum number of games. I aim for one game each weekend, although I sometimes sprinkle in a Week Zero showdown, an additional Labor Day Weekend matchup, or a Thursday nighter when it pairs up easily with my weekend trip. Overall, 15-20 games annually is my wheelhouse, although that could expand up to 25 or so with postseason games.
My typical M.O. is to arrive in town by midday on Friday and leave in the late-afternoon or evening on Sunday. This gives me time to explore the town and campus (including campus dairy stores, a niche passion of mine), grab a few meals, drink some craft beer, check out the local bar scene, take in pregame traditions, tailgate, attend the game, and maybe even check out an interesting nearby landmark or excursion.
Is your goal to visit every stadium in FBS? FCS? All divisions?
I try to explore far & wide and would like to visit every FBS stadium eventually (plus a few dozen in the FCS), but I don’t really operate with a specific goal or number of locations in mind. I’m more focused on seeking out the best that college football has to offer, both on- and off-field.
So might I show up at a South Dakota School of Mines game one day to see their unique stadium, which is surrounded by tiered parking that allows fans to watch from their vehicles/tailgates and make noise with their horns? Sure.
Do I secretly wish that I could take a full month off from work, crash with my brother and sister-in-law in Michigan, and spend an entire November going to freezing Tuesday and Wednesday night MACtion games? Of course.
But I may also do a repeat trip to Wisconsin to highlight the joys of a trip to Madison and Camp Randall before I tick off every school in Conference USA. My primary aim is to strike a balance between detailing the road trip experience at bucket-list level sites while also exploring new venues I haven’t yet seen.
What’s the best place to watch a game?
Even trying to put my personal bias aside, I think the best overall gameday experience is LSU. There’s nothing quite like a big-time night game in Tiger Stadium. The food, the tailgating, the atmosphere, the crowd noise … it all adds up to an experience that’s unmatched in American sports.
With that said, there are a couple of others that belong in the elite tier and warrant a mention: Penn State and Tennessee.
The white-out at Penn State is an entity unto itself. I was sure that it was overhyped until I actually experienced it in 2019 vs. Michigan — the infamous “Mo Bamba Game” in which Michigan had to call a timeout on its first play from scrimmage to avoid a delay of game caused by crowd noise. It’s the real deal.
Tennessee, meanwhile, is one I praise begrudgingly. As a Florida alum, I haven’t always had the most pleasant experiences in Knoxville. But for a non-affiliated fan wanting to see what college football is all about, the combination of the Vol Navy sailgating along the banks of Tennessee River and 100k+ belting out Rocky Top in Neyland Stadium is an objectively awe-inspiring experience.
There are dozens of others that even the most casual fans would enjoy, plus a bunch of underrated gems that don’t get enough love. I’m here to show you all of them.
What’s the worst place to watch a game?
The worst gameday experience is still far better than the best workday experience, plus I’ve found that a lot of people incorrectly correlate “worst” with “small.” I prefer to judge each trip based on what it is, since it’s unfair to hold a SunBelt school to Ohio State standards. They’re clearly not the same.
By that metric, David Booth Stadium at Kansas was the most disappointing facility I’ve visited. You can’t be a Power 4 program with a high school-style open end zone and port-a-potties in the concourse. Fortunately, Kansas recognized this and is spending millions to overhaul its stadium, which is slated to reopen in Week Zero of 2025.
As for overall experience, the two that disappointed me most were UCLA and Michigan. The Rose Bowl is a scenic wonder, but the difficulty of parking, general lack of quality tailgating, and lackluster fan support belies the majesty of such an iconic stadium. Michigan Stadium was similarly lifeless compared to what I expected. Somehow a stadium filled with 110,000 spectators for a ranked matchup versus Penn State was quieter than some libraries I’ve visited, and certainly nowhere near as loud as its new conference mate Oregon, despite Autzen Stadium holding barely more than half of the Big House’s capacity.
What’s the best game you’ve ever attended?
Again, it’s hard to put aside my bias, but it’s 2007 Florida at LSU. A big part of why I’ve been to so many games in person is because I’m still chasing the high of that experience.
To pick a couple of more recent games, though, I’d probably go with a pair of games from Oklahoma’s 2021 season — one that went their way and one that didn’t.
The 2021 Red River Shootout featured Texas jumping out to a big lead early, freshman Caleb Williams coming in to replace Spencer Rattler, and Oklahoma accomplishing the biggest comeback in series history. I sat high in the Texas end zone and can still picture the sea of Surrender Cobras and hear the stunned silence of the Longhorn crowd.
At the end of November, however, Oklahoma experienced the opposite feeling as it marched into Stillwater for Bedlam and lost a crazy game to rival Oklahoma State. Cowboys fans stormed the field as “Should’ve Been A Cowboy” — ironically sung by Oklahoma super fan Toby Keith — blared over the stadium speakers, and early the following morning, word leaked out that head coach Lincoln Riley was bailing on OU to become the new head coach at Southern Cal.
What’s the worst game you’ve ever attended?
2011 FSU at Florida. Neither team gained more than 185 total yards. FSU, led by offensive mastermind Jimbo Fisher, didn’t even manage to break triple-digits.
Here’s the most incredible stat, though: every score in the entire game came directly off of turnovers — either returned immediately for a touchdown or setting up a first down within the red zone.
You know what that means? Rather than trying to score, both teams would’ve been better off taking a knee on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd down of every offensive possession; punting on 4th down; and sending the defense out there in the hopes that the opposing team would attempt to run actual offensive plays.
The whole game was a Kirk Ferentz wet dream, the spiritual successor to Frank Beamer celebrating a 0-0 game going to OT. People should have gone to prison for what transpired that night. I still want my money back.
How do you decide which games to attend and how far in advance do you plan your trips?
Spreadsheets. Lots and lots of spreadsheets.
My process starts as soon as conferences release schedules. I’m the guy who sits in front of my TV, tuned into the ACC Network on a Tuesday evening in late-January, computer on my lap with dozens of tabs open to FBSchedules.com and a color-coded spreadsheet awaiting entries for games that intrigue me, even if they won’t be played for another 9 months.
Eventually, though, it typically works out like this:
- Florida-LSU gets filled in first. It’s the one game I attend annually, without question, going on 22 years in a row now. It’s my favorite day of the year.
- The Homer Clause: if there’s a particular Florida or LSU game that I really want to see, I prioritize that matchup. For example, LSU opens at Clemson in 2025, so that game got penciled into my schedule very early on.
- I try to find a balance between (a) potential exciting games or rivalry matchups and (b) new places I haven’t yet visited, constantly adjusting based on who has home games on a given weekend and checking to see if there are any opportunities for weekend doubleheaders.
- I’ve learned that it’s futile to even attempt to predict which games will be tightly contested, but I always try to find matchups that have the potential for exciting pregame hype and early in-game atmospheres, regardless of how the actual game transpires.
I tend to plan earlier than most, in large part because hotels limit the number of rooms they allow to be booked with points and I want to snag those rooms as early as possible. With that said, I’ve been known to change plans at the last minute for a variety of reasons if I can make the travel accommodations work.
Since I started posting my travels via social media at the beginning of the 2023 season, I’ve tried to limit my homerish tendencies and avoid going to the same place twice in one season. However, the collapse of the Pac-12 that season the uncertainty surrounding Pac-12 rivalry games did convince me to attend the Apple Cup at Washington after I had already visited Husky Stadium at the beginning of the year. In a similar way, the new playoff format may cause me to double-up if there’s a game that really excites me.
Why spend so much time and energy on this?
I love it. Every bit of it. It’s not just the roar of the crowd or the fight songs or the 4th quarter traditions; it’s the tailgating and the college towns and the way a game weekend brings people, families, and generations together. There’s a palpable sense of excitement in the air for a big-time college football game that’s unique to all of sports, and I can’t get enough of it.
But most of all, I love the fans and the people I get to meet along the way. That’s what keeps me coming back.
I’ve always wanted to explore the country, in part to see the vast landscapes that exist in our huge nation, but also to interact with and begin to understand the different regional cultures and quirks that make up this melting pot. What better way to do that than by sharing a beer at a tailgate, joining with local fans to cheer for a common goal, and learning about traditions that seem to spring up organically during the collegiate experience?
If you have any other questions, hit up my Contact page or connect with me on social media.
CFB Travel Guy 