Reviewing the worst college football venues is a difficult task. College football is a religious experience in the United States, dominating the fall activity calendar for many communities. Some schools have stadiums with seating capacities nearly equal to the population of the town in which they are located.
The University of Arkansas Razorbacks frequently fill its 76,000-person Donald W. Reynolds Stadium, despite being located in Fayetteville, a town of around 95,000 people. Football's enormous attraction is not lost on anyone, especially in smaller areas. Nonetheless, some of the venues available aren't really inviting. Today, we'll look at the five worst college football stadiums from our perspective.
Image Via: Arkansas Razorbacks
#5. CEFCU Stadium – San Jose State University – Given its location in the heart of Silicon Valley, one would expect San Jose State University to have more funds to invest in its aging stadium and athletic program. Apparently not, as the 30,000-seat facility has not had any major modifications since the 1980s. That happened 40 years ago. At a time when the Internet did not exist.
Image Via: The Mercury News
The stadium was last renovated in 1998 to comply with FIFA rules for other football games. To put it in context, ER was the highest-rated TV show at the time, and The X-Files was in its final season. It's been a while.
Image Via: The Athletic
#4. Lincoln Financial Field – Temple University – Lincoln Field, home of the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles, is not a bad stadium. On the contrary, it's the fact that whoever imagined Temple University could fill the 70,000-seat arena on the day the agreement was signed was insane. Few things diminish the mood of a game like an empty stadium.
#3. Yale Bowl – Yale University – Yale takes great pride in its Ivy League heritage and tradition. They have decided to continue the Ivy League tradition of not caring about their football program. At all. The program does hold 27 claimed national titles. However, the last of those 27 titles came all the way back in 1927.
Yale has a stadium that debuted in 1914, was designed by an architect from the school's architecture class of 1871, and hasn't undergone any major modifications since 1930. Yale should not take pride in being one of our top five worst college football venues.
Image Via: Yale Athletics
#2. Harvard Stadium – Harvard University – Harvard University is another Ivy League school that appears to be stuck in the roaring twenties. Harvard's entire football program appears to be stuck in 1919 when they last won a national championship. Harvard Stadium first opened its doors in 1903, and it would look more at home in a Martin Scorsese period piece than in today's NCAA.
The program has seven claimed national titles to its name from 1890-1919. The Crimson also have a respectable 829-383-50 overall record. However, most of its accomplishments date back to the 1900s and the program hasn’t been able to stay relevant since.
Image Via: Harvard College - Harvard University
#1. War Memorial Stadium – University of Arkansas – The Hogs have a nicer stadium in Fayetteville, but they continue to play in Little Rock in what is likely the worst college football stadium. Not only has the stadium seen little modifications since it was erected in postwar 1948, but it is also located in one of the poorest states' capitals.