I went to the game on Saturday, UF's stadium is crappy.

[Tbonewannabe]

That is one of the worst stadiums I have been to in a while. Anyone complaining about Starkville just wants to complain. Their jumbotron is about the size of our old one that was replaced at Dudy Noble.

Their seat sections went from Section 325 then the next label was 322. Really odd. Also the seat numbers were worn off most of the seats. We sat in section 324, seats 3 and 4, the only seats on the row labeled were 6 and 8. I can count, no biggie. Weird thing was Section 325 and 324 don't have any type of divider. The row we were on ended with maybe seat 10 section 324. The other end of the row was probably seat 20 in Section 325. So seat 1 in section 324 was directly beside maybe seat 32 in section 325.

Their atmosphere was also mediocre. We were in front of their jumbotron and they definitely pump in the crowd noise. Anyone complaining about cowbells need to quit throwing rocks from glass houses. They also played music with our center over the ball. They would play it until the snap and then switch to crowd noise. Very obvious when you sit in front of the speakers like that.

As far as crowd interaction, they have the 2 bits chant which is kind of cool. Go Gators which is basically like Hail State for us. Then they do an Orange Blue just like our Maroon White chant.

My wife did look up who had the fight song first between them and Bama, apparently UF had the song 20 or so years first. So Bama stole it from UF.

Honestly, I guess UF puts 90k in the stadium so they see no reason to upgrade. It definitely seemed like a 2nd class experience especially when you have UGA and Bama putting money into it. The atmosphere was honestly worse than the Dak years and I think our game day atmosphere has improved since then.

Also, their band halftime was also lame. I think our band song selection needs to improve but they are apparently on par with UF.

[Coursesuper]

I've been to Gainesville a couple of times for football and always have thought it was kind of a dump. Tailgating is standing in some dudes front yard drinking beer, the atmosphere is bland, and I was there for a top ten UF vs Miami game on one trip. Never been impressed at all.

[Tbonewannabe]

The only time it was good is on 3rd down which everywhere gets loud for and when we got a penalty they had some chant for it. The only stadiums I haven't been to are Mizzou, A&M, Texas, and Oklahoma. UF is only better than Vandy.

[msstate7]

Judging atmosphere when a lame duck coach is facing a sec team on a 14-game losing streak probably isn't the best time.

[Tbonewannabe]

Judging atmosphere when a lame duck coach is facing a sec team on a 14-game losing streak probably isn't the best time.

I wasn't necessarily just talking about atmosphere. The stadium itself is the quality of Davis Wade before the new endzone. Jumbotron from like the early 2000s. The one jumbotron is about half the size of our scoreboard at Dudy Noble. Very few section numbers in the stadium and almost no numbers on the seats. It probably needs $1 Mil in maintenance. I have been to Auburn and UGA recently. UF compares to those like Jackson St compares to MSU or Ole Miss.

As far as crowd getting into it, UF fans weren't too lackadaisical. They were yelling for the most part. I was just saying their gameday atmosphere overall is just ok. They play won't back down at the start of the 4th quarter. They had an intro video before walk out. Their flames and smoke was not as big as State.

I just figured a big time program would be first class all the way. Our current gameday is a huge improvement from last year. UF's is not on par with the rest of the SEC.

[archdog]

Bama pipes in crowd noise too.

[BrunswickDawg]

Judging atmosphere when a lame duck coach is facing a sec team on a 14-game losing streak probably isn't the best time.

I was at the 2010 game, and it was a dump then. The atmosphere, like a lot of things in Florida, is as fake as the t***S on a stripper. They have 90,000 people come to games because they have 55,000 students and 350,000 people in their metro and like Starkville, its in the middle of nowhere so there is jack else to do. And Gainesville is as big of a dump town as there is in the SEC. It's basically one big strip mall.

[Coursesuper]

I was at the 2010 game, and it was a dump then. The atmosphere, like a lot of things in Florida, is as fake as the t***S on a stripper. They have 90,000 people come to games because they have 55,000 students and 350,000 people in their metro and like Starkville, its in the middle of nowhere so there is jack else to do. And Gainesville is as big of a dump town as there is in the SEC. It's basically one big strip mall.

Agree, that's a very good description.

[AlSwearengen]

Ya’ll aren’t doing a very good job of selling Layne on the job.

[msstate7]

Never been there, so can't say you guys are wrong. I do find it odd that every stadium ranking I can find has the swamp top 5.

[Tbonewannabe]

Never been there, so can't say you guys are wrong. I do find it odd that every stadium ranking I can find has the swamp top 5.

I have a feeling that the ranking is based on UF kicking ass in a night game. Again, they were pretty into the game for at one point chanting Fire Billy. I could see playing I Won't Back Down with all those fans singing being a cool thing but not really any better than Don't Stop Believing. Same feel but all the instances where we play some song like Sweet Dreams and the cowbells are rocking, they don't have that crowd interaction.

Honestly the coolest thing was the food trucks on the street in front of the stadium. And again, it barely looks like they have done maintenance on the stadium in the 20 years since I had been there in 2001.

I in no way think Davis Wade is top tier. I do think this year's gameday experience is now SEC quality but UF isn't.

Also, is it because they don't have to put money into it? They get 90k in the stadium. Why spend money when you don't have to I guess. Other big time programs are putting money in. Kind of like the complaints about not having LED lights until this year. Not sure if UF had them but if they did they didn't use them. They certainly haven't spent that kind of money on anything else.

[R2Dawg]

I wasn't impressed with Gainsville years ago when I went. It has been + years but I was not impressed with LSU or Tenn either. I know LSU has had an upgrade, maybe Tenn has too.

I don't know why everyone dumps on MSU and Starkville. Most SEC places I've been are worse or no better.