College football’s best stadiums: #2 Florida

Posted September 2nd, 2008 by Matt
Filed under: Football

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (aka The Swamp)

2. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at Florida Field

First off I would like to say that I am definitely not a Gators fan. In fact, they are probably in my Top 5 least favorite college football teams. But the one thing they have going for them in my book is The Swamp. Bottomline is that opposing teams really just don’t have much of shot to win there. Steve Spurrier was 68-5 in 11 years and Urban Meyer is already 22-1.

And it was actually Spurrier who gave Florida Field its nickname, The Swamp. Following the 1991 season, Spurrier was quoted as saying “The swamp is where Gators live. We feel comfortable there, but we hope our opponents feel tentative. A swamp is hot and sticky and can be dangerous.” And so the name stuck.

An interesting fact: In EA Sports’ college football video game franchise, NCAA Football, The Swamp has been ranked as the #1 toughest place to play in every version in which home field advantage has been included.

Check back soon for our #1 favorite college football stadium.