The Big Ten has some of the largest, most iconic stadiums not only in college football, but also in the country. From the famed Horseshoe at Ohio State, to Beaver Stadium in Happy Valley at Penn State, to Michigan’s “Big House,” the scenes inside stadiums in the Midwest don’t take a backseat to any other conference. Now, with the addition of four more stadiums with the expansion of Oregon, UCLA, USC, and Washington, there are other venues to add into the mix.
The conference actually boasts three of the top four largest stadiums in college football — all exceed 100,000 seating capacity, with Ohio Stadium being right there.
The “Ole Horseshoe” on the banks of the Olentangy in Columbus, as the late, famed broadcaster Keith Jackson would say, is a staple of college football. Many used it as a template for their own designs. It was completed in 1922 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the National Park Service on March 22, 1974.
But there are also those that aren’t massive and venerable and feel more like a large high school atmosphere. Some are more like a bandbox with opposing fans traveling to gobble up what little space there is. Also, what about those stadiums on the West Coast? How do those fit into the equation and atmosphere?
Here is a listing of all 18 Big Ten stadiums after expansion, and their seating capacities for you to impress your friends with should the topic ever arise (and if not, find a way to slide it into the conversation).
No. 18 - Ryan Field - Northwestern (Evanston, Illinois)
Seating Capacity
47,130 | Built in 1926
The Atmosphere
Going to a game at Northwestern can feel more like a high school experience than a Power Five game, and what few seats there are can sometimes be taken over by opposing fans.
No. 17 - Huntington Bank Stadium - Minnesota Golden Gophers (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Seating Capacity
50,805 | Built in 2009
The Atmosphere
It’s not a huge stadium but it’s the newest one in the league. The fans come out when the team is winning, and P.J. Fleck has the program on consistently solid footing now.
No. 16 - SHI Stadium - Rutgers Scarlet Knights (Piscataway, New Jersey)
Seating Capacity
52,454 | Built in 1994
The Atmosphere
Another smallish stadium that doesn’t really get the needle moving much. It’s not much of a home field advantage for Rutgers, but a lot of that has to do with the team still struggling on the field and the fact there’s just not that much interest in the American game of football in New Jersey.
No. 15 - Memorial Stadium - Indiana Hoosiers (Bloomington, Indiana)
Seating Capacity
52,626 | Built in 1960
The Atmosphere
They don’t really care much about football at Indiana unless the team starts to surprise. Even then, there is always a worry about opposing fan bases gobbling up the seats. It is not uncommon for say, Ohio State, to have more fans than Indiana at a game in Bloomington.
No. 13 (tie) - Autzen Stadium - Oregon Ducks (Eugene, Oregon)
Seating Capacity
54,000 | Built in 1967
The Atmosphere
It’s not a big stadium, but, boy, does it pack a punch. Games in Autzen Stadium are notorious for being very, very loud and providing Oregon with a serious home field advantage. It’s eye candy too with the colors and setting so find a way to make that trip when you can.
No. 13 (tie) - SECU Stadium - Maryland Terrapins (College Park, Maryland)
Seating Capacity
54,000 | Built in 1950
The Atmosphere
It can get rowdy inside SECU stadium, but it takes the home team doing well and being involved against a big boy. Any other scenario, and it can be a pretty sterile environment.
No. 12 - Ross-Ade Stadium - Purdue Boilermakers (West Lafayette, Indiana)
Seating Capacity
57,236 | Built in 1924
The Atmosphere
For the smaller size, it can get really loud and rowdy at Purdue. The home team crowd can really get behind a team known as the “spoilermakers.”
No. 11 - Memorial Stadium - Illinois Fighting Illini (Champaign, Illinois)
Seating Capacity
60,670 | Built in 1923
The Atmosphere
Memorial Stadium can be a tough place to play, but it often has more to do with the wind tunnel it is and the weather that causes the issue. It isn’t the most imposing from a noise and fan level standpoint and that’s unlikely to change much even with Bret Bielema breathing a bit of life into things.
No. 10 - Kinnick Stadium - Iowa Hawkeyes (Iowa City, Iowa)
Seating Capacity
69,250 | Built in 1929
The Atmosphere
Kinnick Stadium isn’t one of the mega stadiums in the conference, but the fans are right on top of you and can get very, very rowdy, especially at night in support of their Iowa Hawkeyes. Winning in Iowa City isn’t easy, and there’s a clear home field advantage in the big games.
No. 9 - Husky Stadium - Washington Huskies (Seattle, Washington)
Seating Capacity
70,083 | Built in 1920
The Atmosphere
Despite the open air feel to Husky Stadium, it can get really, really loud. The scene itself is amazing, too, with fans coming to the game of Lake Washington and all that goes with the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. Fans should look to visit this unique venue when their team travels to play Washington in Seattle.
No. 8 - Spartan Stadium - Michigan State Spartans (East Lansing, Michigan)
Seating Capacity
75,005 | Built in 1923
The Atmosphere
Now we’re getting into the bigger stadiums in the Big Ten and Spartan Stadium is a venue that can be quite silent during down years but one only need to look at the Mark Dantonio era at Michigan State to see what an environment it can be with rowdy and raucous fans.
No. 7 - L.A. Memorial Coliseum - USC Trojans (Los Angeles, California)
Seating Capacity
77,500 | Built in 1923
The Atmosphere
There have been some really good teams inside L.A. Memorial Coliseum and there’s a lot of history that’s taken place with the Olympics, World Cups and Super Bowls, but it’s not an overly intimidating place to play. It’s often not full and doesn’t get too terribly loud. The exception would be when Pete Carroll had things really cooking and maybe Lincoln Riley gets things back to that for USC.
No. 6 - Camp Randall Stadium - Wisconsin Badgers (Madison, Wisconsin)
Seating Capacity
80,321 | Built in 1895 (fully functioning in 1917)
The Atmosphere
Playing Wisconsin at home is on the short list of toughest places to play. You have to deal with what is normally a pretty physical team and in an environment that is very loud with sometimes some weather mixed in. Winning in Madison is a normally a big accomplishment filled with emotion and bumps and bruises — no to mention “Jump Around” mixed in for good measure.
No. 5 - Rose Bowl Stadium - UCLA Bruins (Pasadena, California)
Seating Capacity
89,702 | Built in 1922
The Atmosphere
If you’ve never been to Pasadena and sat in the Rose Bowl, put it on the bucket list and get it done. There may be no better setting in college football, especially when the sun begins to set and light up the San Gabriel Mountains it sits at the foot of. Playing inside the stadium itself isn’t all that difficult with crowd noise if it’s a contest against the homestanding UCLA Bruins. Fans don’t really flock there to support the team because it’s L.A. and because it’s actually quite far (28 miles) from the campus in Westwood.
No. 4 - Memorial Stadium - Nebraska Cornhuskers (Lincoln, Nebraska)
Seating Capacity
90,000 | Built in 1923
The Atmosphere
Nebraska fans are loyal and supportive of their team. Heck, they are supportive of the other team when it leaves the field. It hasn’t necessarily been a tough place to play over the most recent past with the struggles of the program, but the fans can be loud and really get behind the team when it is playing well. The place is steeped in tradition, and you will not be treated any better by an opposing fan base.
No. 3 - Ohio Stadium "The Horseshoe" - Ohio State Buckeyes (Columbus, Ohio)
Seating Capacity
102,780 | Built in 1922
The Atmosphere
Ohio Stadium is one of the most iconic stadiums in American Sports. With over 100,000 fans packed in there, it can get very, very loud. During big games, it’s one of the best atmospheres in college football. Add that to an environment where the stands seem to rise straight up from the ground high above and it can be imposing. However, there has been criticism before of fans sitting on their hands and being silent during nervous times.
No. 2 - Beaver Stadium - Penn State Nittany Lions (College Station, Pennsylvania)
Seating Capacity
106,572 | Built in 1960
The Atmosphere
Traveling to Happy Valley to play Penn State is one of the most intense environments a team will ever encounter, especially if it’s at night during a white out game. It packs in the second-most fans of any stadium and the acoustics along with a very amped up student section can make life very difficult for opposing teams.
No. 1 - Michigan Stadium "The Big House" - Michigan Wolverines (Ann Arbor, Michigan)
Seating Capacity
107,601 | Built in 1927
The Atmosphere
It’s the biggest stadium in America and can pack in more fans than anywhere else. With that many fans, of course it can get loud at times, but because of the bowl configuration, the acoustics aren’t as resonating as other stadiums. Still, it’s a stadium that has a great atmosphere and these days it’s a hard place to play because of the Michigan team that lives there rather than the issues the crowd causes.
NEXT … What about Lucas Oil Stadium?
Lucas Oil Stadium - Big Ten Championship game (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Seating Capacity
70,000 | Built in 2008
The Atmosphere
We aren’t ranking Lucas Oil Stadium since it’s not the home stadium of any of the Big Ten teams, but we can’t leave it out either. Ever since the Big Ten Championship game has been in place, the house that Peyton built has been where it has been staged. It’s like you’d expect any neutral site game to be, with a mix of both fans and significant noise from both fans, but not deafening like being in the hornet’s nest of a home campus stadium for one of the bigger programs. It’s an NFL stadium, so it has the corporate atmosphere and the bells and whistles you’d expect.
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