talking to an empty room, but maybe I can draw some people here. Come for the sig, stay for.... well the sig, it's probably the best imput I can provide.

*edit for reference; the capacities
WSU-35,117
OSU-45,674
Stanford-50,000
Oregon-54,000 (normally overflow to 59,000)
Arizona-57,803
ASU-71,706
Cal-71,799
UW-72,500
UCLA-91,936
USC-93,607


Anyway to start.

#10 Arizona Stadium- University of Arizona

My rivalry based disdain aside, this is usually the unanimous choice. Picture a 57,000 seat highschool stadium. No amenities, very cheap looking. The one distinguishing feature is that 2 dorms and some music classrooms are built into the stadium... though it just means those facilities look as bad as the stadium. They also managed to find the one place in Tucson with no moutain views to put it.



#9 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum- USC

Historic- yes, big- yes, good atmosphere- eh... still the stadium is a fossil. It lacks many of the basic amenities you'd expect a big-time college football stadium to have; it wasn't built for football so large sections of seats are unusable and about of 1/4 of those that are used have terrible sight lines.



#8 Rose Bowl- UCLA

Ok, let me clarify that this is ranking the Rose Bowl Stadium only as UCLA's stadium. Cathedral of football and symbol of tradition, beautiful views... on January 1st; the rest of the year it is a 1/4 to half-empty stadium depending on how UCLA is doing (and usually there is a large chunk of visiting schools LA area alums and people who want to just see "The Rose Bowl"). Also it is very difficult to get there from West Wood so students especially only show up for really big games.

#7 Martin Stadium- Washington State

this is a very nice little stadium, with very passionate fans. Pullman is the Pac 10's truest College town, but at 35,000 seats it is by far the smallest stadium and with Wazzous typical lack of success there is little to cheer about. It is a nice stadium, but it's size and comparative lack of views and landscapes put it at 7.



#6 Stanford Stadium- Stanford

As just a stadium, the renovated Stanford Stadium is the nicest in the Pac-10 if not the country, but it has been nicknamed "the library" for a reason it is painfully quiet. That plus the complete replacement of the old stadium with it's history and odd shape, steming from an ironic engineering miscalculation from one of the worlds finest school. Beautiful facility though, and maybe if they can start filling it the atmosphere will improve.



#5 Sun Devil Stadium- Arizona State University

Beautiful setting between the buttes and near Tempe Lake, normally a good atmosphere anchored by the 10-15k student section, and a unique design. Still the main structure needs a few upgrades (actually NEEDS, the original structure wasn't water proofed and we are spending $45million to repair it). Also our fans are very fair weather, but we usualy average 55,000+ even in bad years...

#4 California Memorial Stadium- Cal

Beautiful old school stadium set the equally breath taking Strawberry Canyon. The atmosphere is great, and they have some great traditions such as "Tightwad Hill" and the canon, fans, particuarly freshman who couldn't get student tickets, sit on the nearby hills to see the game for free... also they have a cannon up there that they fire off at the beginning of the game. That said, it is old and needs alot of renovation work due to fault-line based damaged.




#3 Reser Stadium- Oregon St

Not long ago the Beavers were the disgrace of the conference, and had a stadium to match. A little success, some typical Oregonian craziness, and alot of donations later and you have one of the loudest and most modern mid-sized stadiums in the country. Nice setting among the Oregon trees with the Cascades in the distance. Interesting the asymetrical design, but with one of the wildest fan bases in the conference.

#2 Husky Stadium- University of Washington

Honestly this stadium is a little modernizing (which is in planning) and a track removal away from being the best stadium in the country. It opens right up into Lake Washington with plenty of Mountain views. The European style grandstand roof over the main stands, and the large % of sidline seats make it deafeningly loud (measured at 130 decibles during an ESPN night game). If they move ahead with the planned $300 million () renovation this will be one of the worlds top sports venues... now if they can just stop sucking before the fans lose faith .




#1 Autzen Stadium- Oregon

This stadium is often hyped up, but with good reason- it's unique, it's very loud, and filled with a disturbingly ugly sea of Green and Yellow. Many opposing coaches have commented on the noise and shear ferocity of the fans. Even with a capacity of just 54,000 (though 59,000 get packed in reguarly), it has recorded a 130 decible level. The Stadium has a nice setting by the Willamette River, but unless you go there (I've not been) you wouldn't know it, because it is a dug in bowl. It has been modernized, but with care to maintain the disorenting effect of being in a garish snake pit.

*a yellow out- that's horrifying




discuss

Of course being a lifelong Duck fan (from Washington, no less), I have to give my nod to Autzen as my fave, the atmosphere is off the hook (unless you're on the other team...). My question for Cal's stadium though: how can you have that high of an academic reputation and have a stadium that doesn't drain period, let alone drain properly?

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