The Oregon Ducks have one of the best home field advantages in all of college football. In addition to having Autzen Stadium, what makes Eugene, Oregon a top 10 college town in America along with Madison, Wisconsin and Baton Rouge, Louisiana?

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Why Eugene, Oregon Is Ranked Among Top 10 College Towns i...

The Oregon Ducks have one of the best home field advantages in all of college football. Autzen Stadium is loud and nearly impossible for road teams to come into

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/interactive/2025/best-college-football-towns/

I've been to several of these locations, though not always on a gameday. Being there when it isn't a game day may be a better test of "college town" rankings?

The biggest letdown for me was South Bend. It was established in 1835 and there are areas that look original - laugh. Some pretty rough areas especially after decline in local industries in the late 1990's.

Some say the best thing about South Bend is that it is 95 miles to Chicago and 145 miles to Indianapolis. Not sure about that. But, of those options in that Washington Post column I would put it last.

I love the walk from campus to Autzen.

Over the river, and through the woods...

"You'll hear it, long before you see it"

https://youtu.be/ks9ooB0DMoM?si=b_kGWW7rJQUTZMSm

Check out this awesome video!

I’ve been to a few cool places. Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge is unmatched. I can’t think of a more perfect college football experience.

I haven’t been to Eugene in 10 years, but it’s still the second best experience. Back then, you could get a tailgate spot at the Free Masons lodge for $40. It was a great scene but I imagine the price has gone up. Still a fun place to hang out. I thought the Mo made for a great pre-game experience as well.

Pullman had free parking within walking distance of Martin Stadium and a nice indoor tailgate area. I enjoyed the experience there, but getting out of town is nuts because of the infrastructure.

Columbia, SC is awesome, but parking is expensive and the wait to get out of William-Brice stadium are can be 2-3 hours. Once again, the infrastructure doesn’t make for an easy exit for 80K fans.

Appalachian State is a beautiful setting, but Boone, NC is a dud. The restaurant scene sucks worse than the tailgating. Kidd-Brewer is a great hot weather stadium because the home fans are in the shade. But, late in the season the temps can be in the low teens which makes for single digits in the shade of the home side.

NC State and UNC are about as fun as Portland State games. Enough said.

I had high hopes for Penn State, but FedEx is trying their best to screw me by losing my parking pass. StubHub also sent me tickets with a person sitting between my wife and me. Hopefully, that person is willing to swap with one of us. Let’s hope the game isn’t as cursed as my ticket buying experience has been.