I was obsessed with stadiums and stadium builds/architecture when I was a kid. That obsession softened as I got older but never died and these videos scratch an itch that is decades old at this point. I've seen multiple games at Infocision in Akron and can confirm the stadium itself is impressive. The vibe/atmosphere is way better for high school games than college games though. As a stadium its awesome, but the crowd/atmosphere will never be better than the old Rubber Bowl. I did Kelly Shorts a few months ago and it was nicer than I expected, and the tailgating was pretty solid for a tuesday. Did Waldo last year and I agree that is a very solid step above Kelly Shorts.
In regards to the Huskie Stadium renovations, that was a proposal back around 2014 at the height of their Orange Bowl appearance to try to increase capacity and potentially make themselves a Big 12 school. It wasn’t long after when it was eventually scrapped.
This was really cool. Looking forward to the rest of the series. I do have to say that as a Florida State grad that is used to going to games at Doak Campbell, I visited Miami Ohio’s stadium and really thought to myself how awful it was. The fact that it ranks so high on the MAC list doesnt. exactly make want to visit the other MAC stadiums.
I'm from akron and have only been to one zips game when I was like 2 in 2013. Large stadium and then you remember nobody shows up to the game.... but hey they almost beat michigan one time. And most of akrons residents just cheer for ohio state
Just a reminder EMU could have had NFL top 3 qb Josh Allen, but they pulled his scholarship because he visited Wyoming, they could of had both Josh Allen and Maxx Crosby for two or three years.
@gfedgocrazy When Josh Allen sent out his junior college tapes, he got two offers one from Wyoming and the other Eastern Michigan, upon his visit to Wyoming, EMU pulled the offer, so we'll never know if he would've committed to EMU, just weird to think about
I love these vids man. YOU ARE A LEGEND. Tbh.. you are the authority on this.. because you see the bad parts..not just the nice parts the school wants you to see lol. Keep it up!
As a Ball State alum and massive fan, I can't believe you ranked the stadium as high as you did. It's so underwhelming by all accounts. But you did state that 7-11 are pretty much interchangeable, and I can't argue with that. So I appreciate the low level love you gave. hahaha
As a bg alum, at least it wasn’t last 😂 that sebo athletic center is actually really nice they just need to close that other endzone or fix some old features on the current structure
I’m a Ball State alum that went to every home game during undergrad and I can’t tell you anything about our stadium. 🤣 Surprised it wasn’t ranked last. I’ll take it.
Ball State guy here. I take a weekend trip to a state park just minutes away from Miami's campus and yeah, that stadium pops up out of nowhere and it's awesome.
As a UB Alum I sadly knew that UB Stadium would be last on this list whenever I would go to games I would avoid the first 7-10 rows at all cost because of how bad the view is. It honestly feels like Athletics are an afterthought for the University. Thanks for listening to my rant.
As a UB alum as well, I sadly agree. I wish they would tear it down and start all over. If not, lower the field, axe the track, dump the end zone bleachers, and connect to the Field House.
Toledo alumn here, i was at the Italian Bowl game and it was really cool! The players were so excited to be playing here that they're coming back next year. 😭 Toledo also does still do a lot of glass stuff, especially artisan glass and the museum has a hugeeee collection
9:26 I actually met one of the players while studying abroad in Florence last fall. He was wearing a bears shirt and I’m a packers fan so we started chatting. Admittedly, he didn’t seem super jazzed to have visited Toledo over one of our more notable cities, but he mentioned how nice and welcoming the people were. Cool opportunity for both parties to take part in, but next year you guys gotta give them a proper Italian flag haha!
Kent State alum here. About accurate for our stadium. Love being a golden flash but some days I wish I went to a school that had good college football 😂
As a EMU fan it’s so nice not seeing Rynearson at 11 or 12 anymore. I think 7 is fair. The surrounding structures do well and make the stadium feel enclosed, but the concourse, visitors side, and press box are really bad.
Dix stadium actually has had plans for major renovations since 2013 after our 11-3 campaign in 2012, however Kent State usually never had major success to drive the funding needed. And the North side stands actually have a great historical importance, as it's the original grandstand for memorial stadium built in 1950 and was moved to be part of Dix stadium and is almost 100 years old
9:07 On those towers at the end of the football stadium my fraternity fires a cannon every time we score a TD and has been since the 60’s! Pi Kapp is the only fraternity in the nation to fire a cannon at our home stadium!
It's not D1A, but I'd love to visit some of the stadiums in the Ivy league. It would be like taking a homage to the birth place of football. The term bowl literally came from the Yale Bowl.
Buffalos stadium was originally used for the world university games that is why there is a track around when the games were over they just made a football field out of it
A MAC alum using the term "Miami of Ohio". This is like an ESPN studio show in a bizarre, parallel universe where ESPN studio shows actually mentioned Group of Five schools ...
As a WMU student I do hope they at least shorten the Brand logo, maybe just keep it to just the Blue interlocking S’s. Other than that the only thing I really dislike about Waldo is just the end zone close to the baseball field is just scaffolding as opposed to having a facade. I also didn’t realize that Waldo is the only stadium to have built up seating on all four sides of the field, kinda wild
I’ve been to every Mac stadium except Niu, but some of these were over a decade ago. Buffalo definitely belongs in 12th & as a pacesetter for Mac athletic budgets, there’s no excuse for their football stadium to be that bad. I’m a Toledo Rocket fan & alum but I do not hate Doyt Perry Stadium in BG; they added some really nice facilities around the stadium to make it more visually pleasing & while I’ve never been there for any other game than the one with their archrival, it is a pretty solid game day atmosphere. I went to Yager Stadium in 2010 and back then I would’ve ranked it probably second worst ahead of just Buffalo, but like BG, they look like they’ve made some improvements to the facilities. I actually love the gray turf of EMU. Their fan support is weak, unfortunately. Ball State has a better game day atmosphere than I ever would’ve expected. Mainly the tailgate scene. Dix Stadium was the first Mac stadium, that I’m aware of, to sell alcohol. So they at least had that going for them. Waldo is unique, and quite nice, but I docked them a few points for their parking patrol not even allowing us to enter on foot into a paid tailgate lot. Who does that! Everyone else is placed pretty close to where I’d rank them. Not sure I’d have Akron #1, though I could imagine InfoCeption Stadium could be a great game day experience if they put a team in there. But The Zips have improved a bit this year. So we’ll see. Thanks for the video-love seeing lists like these!
Miami University alum here. Love Yager Stadium, but....the very, very poor attendances lessen the overall experience. That stadium hasn't truly been rockin' since the days of Big Ben. And they play at least 2 (often 3) weekday home night games per season (as in, Wednesday or Thursday), which takes away from the Saturday game experience I greatly prefer. Yeah, it's MACtion and all, but it kinda sucks.
2:20 I play football at Austin Peay State (Austin Peay), sam houston state, cal polytechnic state(cal poly), cal state Fresno (Fresno state doesn’t count but interesting), state university of Iowa (Iowa Hawkeyes), SUNY Binghamton/Buffalo/Stony Brook, SF Austin State, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ(VT)
If only people would actually go to Akron football games….it’s pretty pathetic how empty the stadium is on game days. The OMEA Zips Invitational is the biggest crowd I’ve seen there. And it’s just not even a sporting event
Waldo Stadium needs to be further down the list. It's old, it's rundown, it's pointed east/west so there's terrible sun angles, and it floods. It should be between UB and EMU to be honest.
Buffalo was not even built for football. Buffalo had a D3 team when it was built. It was built for the World University Games that we held in 1993. They didn’t even get rid of the track. There was another set of bleachers at the other end which were even worse. Overall it’s an embarrassment.
As a midwesterner ive been around NIU and Miamis stadiums multiple times. From experience i can say with my heart Miami is millons times better than NIU. You got the coaches cradle in the middle of nowhere and its a beauty of a stadium. Go Huskies and Go Redhawks!
I went to CMU during the Chip Kelly/ Butch Jones years, and I can saw that Kelly/ Shorts Stadium even though we had a legitamately great MAC team during those years, The stadium is pretty Meh. It's not bad, but it's not anything like a Major Conference. Buffalo's stadium isn't even as nice as my high school stadium in West Michigan.
Can we all agree that McGuirk Alumni Stadium is ready to take that #13 spot once they join next year?
Yes
They are bringing lobster rolls next year
Fire up! Had to say it since it’s like the third time we’ve beaten you since I’ve been a fan..😅. Cool vid
Nice job with the Miami Akron Central spelling Mac On the thumbnail
When they notice the little things >>>
This is what we came for, Gfed you're a legend. Tho, the Glass Bowl should rank a bit higher imo.
Same it’s top 2 imo. It’s a true on campus stadium right in the heart of the campus.
I was obsessed with stadiums and stadium builds/architecture when I was a kid. That obsession softened as I got older but never died and these videos scratch an itch that is decades old at this point. I've seen multiple games at Infocision in Akron and can confirm the stadium itself is impressive. The vibe/atmosphere is way better for high school games than college games though. As a stadium its awesome, but the crowd/atmosphere will never be better than the old Rubber Bowl. I did Kelly Shorts a few months ago and it was nicer than I expected, and the tailgating was pretty solid for a tuesday. Did Waldo last year and I agree that is a very solid step above Kelly Shorts.
As a thumbnail artist, I love your Miami Akron C Michigan placement. W creativity
As not a thumbnail artist this compliment means a lot😂
In regards to the Huskie Stadium renovations, that was a proposal back around 2014 at the height of their Orange Bowl appearance to try to increase capacity and potentially make themselves a Big 12 school. It wasn’t long after when it was eventually scrapped.
DeKalb is a dump run by corrupt politicians
Gfed is a CFB legend
Appreciate you🫡
I love this series. Really showing all your hard work and travels in one place. Can’t wait for the next one
This was really cool. Looking forward to the rest of the series. I do have to say that as a Florida State grad that is used to going to games at Doak Campbell, I visited Miami Ohio’s stadium and really thought to myself how awful it was. The fact that it ranks so high on the MAC list doesnt. exactly make want to visit the other MAC stadiums.
GFed ranking MAC stadiums is better than most content in the college football space. Thank you 🫡
The content I’m here for. MACtion. Buck the Froncos tho. FIRE UP CHIPS!
Yes sirrrrrrr!!!!!
FIRE UP BUCK THE FRONCOS🔥🔥🔥
Can’t hear you over 2024 MICHIGAN MAC CHAMPIONS
BRONCO COUNTRY! LEARN TO FLY CHIPS
@OliverStabile congrats on beating EMpoo. We will hoist the victory cannon loud & proud. FIRE UP!
@ only won cause you guys are lucky
Did anyone realize that the thumbnail spells MAC with the Miami M the Akron A and the Central Michigan C?
Love these. You should also do a tailgate ranking series later down the road
Akron does have a beautiful stadium! I’m surprised they don’t use it for concerts
LeBron used it for his 2014 Cavs homecoming!
@@mattlawell1992 that’s actually pretty cool. Without looking, I’d be that is probably the attendance record for the stadium
I'm from akron and have only been to one zips game when I was like 2 in 2013. Large stadium and then you remember nobody shows up to the game.... but hey they almost beat michigan one time. And most of akrons residents just cheer for ohio state
@@Corrupptedjackojacks would be a beautiful place for a winning Akron program. I hope they can get some success going.
Just a reminder EMU could have had NFL top 3 qb Josh Allen, but they pulled his scholarship because he visited Wyoming, they could of had both Josh Allen and Maxx Crosby for two or three years.
I don’t know everything about this but that feels like a reach at face value
@gfedgocrazy When Josh Allen sent out his junior college tapes, he got two offers one from Wyoming and the other Eastern Michigan, upon his visit to Wyoming, EMU pulled the offer, so we'll never know if he would've committed to EMU, just weird to think about
I love these vids man. YOU ARE A LEGEND. Tbh.. you are the authority on this.. because you see the bad parts..not just the nice parts the school wants you to see lol. Keep it up!
As a Ball State alum and massive fan, I can't believe you ranked the stadium as high as you did. It's so underwhelming by all accounts. But you did state that 7-11 are pretty much interchangeable, and I can't argue with that. So I appreciate the low level love you gave. hahaha
As a bg alum, at least it wasn’t last 😂 that sebo athletic center is actually really nice they just need to close that other endzone or fix some old features on the current structure
I’m a Ball State alum that went to every home game during undergrad and I can’t tell you anything about our stadium. 🤣 Surprised it wasn’t ranked last. I’ll take it.
Ball State guy here. I take a weekend trip to a state park just minutes away from Miami's campus and yeah, that stadium pops up out of nowhere and it's awesome.
The MAC spelling on the thumbnail is cool, nice job👍
Let’s go zips! Personally I think I would’ve put OU at 2, Toledo at 3, and Miami at 4
As a UB Alum I sadly knew that UB Stadium would be last on this list whenever I would go to games I would avoid the first 7-10 rows at all cost because of how bad the view is. It honestly feels like Athletics are an afterthought for the University. Thanks for listening to my rant.
As a UB alum as well, I sadly agree. I wish they would tear it down and start all over. If not, lower the field, axe the track, dump the end zone bleachers, and connect to the Field House.
Personally I’m partial to the stadium the champions of the MAC call home. Miss packing peden with the boys on a random Wednesday night
Can’t go wrong with some good old maction what else would I be doing on a Tuesday night?
I had the honor of watching a game with Tressel at Akron. Dudes a legend
Glass Bowl in Toledo is built into a hill - can confirm as I've ridden my bike up and down said hill many times.
I have been watching since the first Tennessee video and subscribed before 4k!
Going for the plaque in 2025🤞
Will we see more game day experiences in the future? I think it would be cool to see some
Yea
the "MAC' it the thumbnail with Miami of Ohio, Akron, and Central Michigan is awesome
It’ll be interesting to see if NIU will renovate when they move to the Mountain West next year.
Toledo alumn here, i was at the Italian Bowl game and it was really cool! The players were so excited to be playing here that they're coming back next year. 😭 Toledo also does still do a lot of glass stuff, especially artisan glass and the museum has a hugeeee collection
9:26 I actually met one of the players while studying abroad in Florence last fall. He was wearing a bears shirt and I’m a packers fan so we started chatting. Admittedly, he didn’t seem super jazzed to have visited Toledo over one of our more notable cities, but he mentioned how nice and welcoming the people were. Cool opportunity for both parties to take part in, but next year you guys gotta give them a proper Italian flag haha!
@ That's so cool except for the Bears shirt 😂 I don't live in Toledo anymore but I plan on going to the game again so we'll try to get a better flag
I was in the stroh center for my highschools basketball regional game DIV, we made it to state but lost in 2OT in buzzer 3 in semifinals
This is a very well done video
Kent State alum here. About accurate for our stadium. Love being a golden flash but some days I wish I went to a school that had good college football 😂
I'm glad you Akron at #1 I go to that stadium almost every year. They play some Ohio high school football state playoffs games their
As a EMU fan it’s so nice not seeing Rynearson at 11 or 12 anymore. I think 7 is fair.
The surrounding structures do well and make the stadium feel enclosed, but the concourse, visitors side, and press box are really bad.
Fun video! Good job.
Dix stadium actually has had plans for major renovations since 2013 after our 11-3 campaign in 2012, however Kent State usually never had major success to drive the funding needed. And the North side stands actually have a great historical importance, as it's the original grandstand for memorial stadium built in 1950 and was moved to be part of Dix stadium and is almost 100 years old
much love from uva!
Are you planning on doing D2 stadiums? I know people don’t watch D2 as much as D1 but D2 has just as good football, go Ferris Dawgs!
If I find a place compelling yeah. I know there’s a few. The only D2 football I’m familiar with is the GLIAC
@ as much as I hate to say it as a Bulldog, the best stadium in the GLIAC is Grand Valleys, probably because Grand Rapids is so damn rich
Not expecting the zips to be #1 but it being the newest stadium is a valid argument
9:07 On those towers at the end of the football stadium my fraternity fires a cannon every time we score a TD and has been since the 60’s! Pi Kapp is the only fraternity in the nation to fire a cannon at our home stadium!
It's not D1A, but I'd love to visit some of the stadiums in the Ivy league. It would be like taking a homage to the birth place of football. The term bowl literally came from the Yale Bowl.
As an Akron alumni, glad Akron wasn't last 🤘
Love my zips even if we suck
I had an accounting class in Yager Stadium when I went to Miamiin the 80s. I have no idea if they still do that.
NIU is a cold uninteresting place in the middle of no where, Ball State is basically a one side stadium
Buffalos stadium was originally used for the world university games that is why there is a track around when the games were over they just made a football field out of it
A MAC alum using the term "Miami of Ohio". This is like an ESPN studio show in a bizarre, parallel universe where ESPN studio shows actually mentioned Group of Five schools ...
Love the video
just curious if Umass will take last once they join the mac next season 😅
I love the minute men but omg is McGuirk bad
As a WMU student I do hope they at least shorten the Brand logo, maybe just keep it to just the Blue interlocking S’s. Other than that the only thing I really dislike about Waldo is just the end zone close to the baseball field is just scaffolding as opposed to having a facade. I also didn’t realize that Waldo is the only stadium to have built up seating on all four sides of the field, kinda wild
Excellent list
Would love to see a Big West rankings for basketball arenas.
Ohio U alum here that loves to see Peden in the top tier but hates that he ranked Yager higher.
I figured the Glass Bowl would be 1 and Peden 2. Forgot Akron finally replaced the Rubber Bowl last decade.
The Rubber Bowl was a pit. Build into a hill side. With a road on top of it.
Gfed island 😂 fire up chips!!
i'm hype for the mw
Good video and Swoop Swoop!
I’ve been to every Mac stadium except Niu, but some of these were over a decade ago.
Buffalo definitely belongs in 12th & as a pacesetter for Mac athletic budgets, there’s no excuse for their football stadium to be that bad.
I’m a Toledo Rocket fan & alum but I do not hate Doyt Perry Stadium in BG; they added some really nice facilities around the stadium to make it more visually pleasing & while I’ve never been there for any other game than the one with their archrival, it is a pretty solid game day atmosphere.
I went to Yager Stadium in 2010 and back then I would’ve ranked it probably second worst ahead of just Buffalo, but like BG, they look like they’ve made some improvements to the facilities.
I actually love the gray turf of EMU. Their fan support is weak, unfortunately.
Ball State has a better game day atmosphere than I ever would’ve expected. Mainly the tailgate scene.
Dix Stadium was the first Mac stadium, that I’m aware of, to sell alcohol. So they at least had that going for them.
Waldo is unique, and quite nice, but I docked them a few points for their parking patrol not even allowing us to enter on foot into a paid tailgate lot. Who does that!
Everyone else is placed pretty close to where I’d rank them. Not sure I’d have Akron #1, though I could imagine InfoCeption Stadium could be a great game day experience if they put a team in there. But The Zips have improved a bit this year. So we’ll see.
Thanks for the video-love seeing lists like these!
Never realized you went to western 🔥
Im a south Carolina fan, respect to western Michigan, i will be pulling for them in their bowl game
They already played their bowl game💀 happy to have ya on the bandwagon next season
Have you ever visited Akron’s old stadium, the Rubber Bowl? 😂
The jr. Cougar reference is diabolical
when are you ranking the Pac-12 and independent schools??
Miami University alum here. Love Yager Stadium, but....the very, very poor attendances lessen the overall experience. That stadium hasn't truly been rockin' since the days of Big Ben. And they play at least 2 (often 3) weekday home night games per season (as in, Wednesday or Thursday), which takes away from the Saturday game experience I greatly prefer. Yeah, it's MACtion and all, but it kinda sucks.
2:20 I play football at Austin Peay State (Austin Peay), sam houston state, cal polytechnic state(cal poly), cal state Fresno (Fresno state doesn’t count but interesting), state university of Iowa (Iowa Hawkeyes), SUNY Binghamton/Buffalo/Stony Brook, SF Austin State, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ(VT)
What is the stadium in the thumbnail? Love your videos i cant wait for all of the stadium videos. Love this kind of content. Keep it up!
I think it's dukes
It is Duke. Thought it’d be generic enough for not a lot of folk to pick up. I made the stadium in the CUSA ranking thumbnail a little tougher though👀
Confused but also honored Wallace wade is the thumbnail
Heck ya! F the Chips!
What years were you at Western?
Can u do aac next?
He is if you looked at the list of conferences at the beginning it has AAC after this
T-O-L!
E-D-O
You’re not recording sidelines… are you? 🤔🤔🤔
When I visited Bowling Green this summer, the entire concourse was covered in bird shit.
Well i know who's winning the AAC.
REIGN CANE BABY, HAIL TO TULSA U!!!!
Anyone watching under 24 hours?
👇
Nice try sneaking Duke’s Wallace wade in the thumbnail background.
Go Zips!
Why is Wallace Wade on the cover though? 😭😭
Wanted a generic looking stadium that wasn’t in the MAC. Hard to do when every stadium is someone’s homw
@ fair enough, it just shocked me as a Duke fan
So no footage a U being thurr
McNeese St. University needs some love
If only people would actually go to Akron football games….it’s pretty pathetic how empty the stadium is on game days. The OMEA Zips Invitational is the biggest crowd I’ve seen there. And it’s just not even a sporting event
Waldo Stadium needs to be further down the list. It's old, it's rundown, it's pointed east/west so there's terrible sun angles, and it floods. It should be between UB and EMU to be honest.
Buffalo was not even built for football. Buffalo had a D3 team when it was built. It was built for the World University Games that we held in 1993. They didn’t even get rid of the track. There was another set of bleachers at the other end which were even worse. Overall it’s an embarrassment.
Yeah but Kelly shorts stadium is walking distance from wayside central so it’s number 1
Why was the Italian Football League holding a Mexican flag?
Too bad this wasn't done 20 years ago in the days of the Akron Rubber Bowl.
Montana?
As a midwesterner ive been around NIU and Miamis stadiums multiple times. From experience i can say with my heart Miami is millons times better than NIU. You got the coaches cradle in the middle of nowhere and its a beauty of a stadium. Go Huskies and Go Redhawks!
Glass Bowl got robbed!
Sorry western Michigan lost❤
Go Bowling Green!
I went to CMU during the Chip Kelly/ Butch Jones years, and I can saw that Kelly/ Shorts Stadium even though we had a legitamately great MAC team during those years, The stadium is pretty Meh. It's not bad, but it's not anything like a Major Conference. Buffalo's stadium isn't even as nice as my high school stadium in West Michigan.
Athens is by far the best college town
Akron 😂🥴
BGSU!!!
Independently wealthy?
4:15
You’re late to the game. An entire book has been written on this. Get some originality
9:25: Toledo welcomes their Italian guests... with a Mexican flag? C'mon guys.
GO ZIPS
Go Ohio U!