Best SEC game-weekend experience: No. 2 lets you roll in on the river

[weallvol]

2- It is a game-day experience – a full weekend experience, really – that is the most underrated in all of college football. That is how good a football weekend is at Tennessee. You hear forever about “Boomer Sooner,” about the band roaring onto the field pre-game in South Bend, about Bevo in Austin, about dotting the “I” in Columbus.

But it’s hard to beat a weekend in Knoxville, Tenn. This is probably the biggest upset on the list – I have Tennessee at No. 2 of best SEC game-weekend experiences. The reasons are many.

It starts with the river. Tennessee’s is the only SEC venue on the water. The Tennessee River, long and narrow and running just below Neyland Stadium, is the home of the Volunteer Navy. Fans decorate their boats, taxi into town on the water and dock alongside the road, or at Calhoun’s, the riverside eatery that packs them in for game weekends.
On Friday night, you head to the strip – Cumberland Avenue – the best bar strip in the SEC. A football-game eve on Cumberland is loud and long and fantastic.

And then there’s game day. The “Vol Walk” may be the best of its kind, as players come down a hill outside the stadium and it seems as if the entire state lines the streets. Neyland is one of four stadiums in the SEC that holds more than 100,000 fans – and it was the first in the league that big. Tennessee started the trend.

Best SEC game-weekend experience: No. 2 lets you roll in on the river

 

[mdrew27]

No 2??? Pssshhh c'mon

 

[ajvol01]

He ranked Florida #1. Shocking

 

[ItsAllVols]

I have a co-worker that was a part of the officiating crew when OU came to town, he said that was the loudest crowd he has ever heard while working the game. They couldn't ever hear the other officials during the game, had to use hand signals.

 

[Nationdom]

He ranked Florida #1. Shocking

What a joke. It's Tennessee, LSU, OLe miss.

 

[HoptownVol]

He ranked Florida #1. Shocking

Gainesville is a joke. Hell there's more to do in Starkville and Auburn for crying out loud.

 

[weallvol]

He ranked Florida #1. Shocking

"Big surprise, right? Biased guy picks his alma mater." So you can throw that pick out the window and that leaves us with UT sitting at #1

 

[livefaith]

I have a co-worker that was a part of the officiating crew when OU came to town, he said that was the loudest crowd he has ever heard while working the game. They couldn't ever hear the other officials during the game, had to use hand signals.

Loudest Vols game I've ever been to. Unseated 99' UF in that respect for me. I have a feeling Sept 24 will be like that again. With different results.

 

[rynrem]

We would be #1 if the Lap and the Library were still around and had not given way to the commercial establishments on the strip

 

[Lawrence Wright]

My favorite SEC road trips are Knoxville, Baton Rouge and Oxford.

If you combined Neyland's location with Death Valley's atmosphere and The Grove's women, you'd have college football heaven.

 

[RollerVol]

My favorite SEC road trips are Knoxville, Baton Rouge and Oxford.

If you combined Neyland's location with Death Valley's atmosphere and The Grove's women, you'd have college football heaven.

not a bad combination there my friend...I can dig it...

GO VOLS!

 

[TN Outlaw]

IMO

UT-1
LSU-2
FLA-3
UM-4
GA-5

As far as the entire experience to me personally this is how i rate the top 5 SEC. I havent been to S Car, aTm, Mizz, Little Rock(have been to Fville)

 

[Lawrence Wright]

Gainesville is a joke. Hell there's more to do in Starkville and Auburn for crying out loud.

Your use of hyperbole is noted.

And where exactly did Frank Frangie rank UGA?

 

[weallvol]

Your use of hyperbole is noted.

And where exactly did Frank Frangie rank UGA?

5th
Best SEC game-weekend experience: No. 5 features music, a great stadium, good fans

 

[LittleCat]

UK is good for the ambiance of Lexington. It really is a nice town, and one of these years when the campus settles down, the downtown cleans up, and the football (maybe???) is more stable...it really should come into it's own. Keeneland, good bourbon/beer, a small town feel in a decent sized city, plus a more beautiful campus hopefully should all make UK a fun place to visit.