Greg McElroy has some explaining to do when he returns to Tuscaloosa.
The former Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback, who led the Tide to an undefeated national championship in 2009, recently declared the Georgia Bulldogs as the college football program in a “league of its own.”
Now he doesn’t even have Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium in his top 10 of most hostile college football environments.
“Alabama I feel like is an amazing home field,” McElroy caveats. “The problem is they have not been challenged very often. However, the last couple years the game has gotten better. Now I was not there for the Texas game last year. I look forward to getting back to Tuscaloosa this year. I haven't done a game in a couple years and [look forward to] seeing just how intense it is with some of the adjustments and alterations that they've made to the home-field environment.”
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Other notable omissions that McElroy addresses: Ohio State Buckeyes’ “The Horseshoe” Ohio Stadium, Michigan Wolverines’ “The Big House” Michigan Stadium, and he also gives honorable mentions to the Utah Utes’ Rice-Eccles Stadium, Florida State Seminoles’ “Doak” S. Campbell Stadium, and Oregon State Beavers’ Reser Stadium, which he calls “super underrated.”
So who does McElroy have in his ranked top 10, especially those schools from the SEC?
10. Mississippi State Bulldogs’ Davis Wade Stadium
“You look at just how intense that thing gets,” states McElroy. “Man, people don't know it. Like you really don't know it. Everybody knows about the cowbells and how loud it is. Y'all, that place is crazy hostile: crazy, crazy hostile. It's so loud. They always tell them to ring responsibly, and I think people try their best but they're not very effective with their efforts. That place is as loud and as difficult as there is.”
9. Clemson Tigers’ “Death Valley” Memorial Stadium
8. Wisconsin Badgers’ Camp Randall Stadium
7. Virginia Tech Hokies’ Lane Stadium
6. Oregon Ducks’ Autzen Stadium
5. Texas A&M Aggies’ Kyle Field
“I think Kyle Field is so underrated. Like when you think about great, great hostile venues and part of it has to do with the fact that the entire audience and the entire crowd are all engaging in the yells. They all have choreographed dances where they're [singing] 'Saw Varsity's Horns Off'... And when it's a big game, Texas A&M is really really hard to beat.”
4. Penn State’s Happy Valley
3. Tennessee Volunteers’ Neyland Stadium
“Now this place admittedly, five years ago not great… It was underwhelming… It felt like they got negative quick. There's a lot of boo birds that were occasionally there, but since Josh Heupel’s gotten there, they've turned things around and they're trending in the right direction. It feels like Neyland is back.”
2. Auburn Tigers’ Jordan-Hare Stadium
“I still feel, granted from my perspective as a former member of the Alabama Crimson Tide, Auburn is the toughest place to play. I always felt like that place is a house of horrors for many teams."
1. LSU Tigers’ “Death Valley” Tiger Stadium
“I still think that LSU, alongside Auburn, are two of the most difficult places to play. Now I think they can flip-flop depending on the year and depending on how good the teams are. And this year, I'm buying stock on LSU. I think they're going to be improved. I think their defense is going to improve. Granted, they do have some depth issues along the defensive line, but man you look at their schedule too. The SEC just put out their kick times. Not a lot of early kick times for the LSU Tigers, which means their fans are going to be engaged. Their fans are going to be energetic. Their fans are going to be well lubricated to go into the stadium and to make life extremely difficult for the opposing team.”
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It’s a fun list and a great bar topic to rile up your friends, especially if their school was omitted. And if it's a Bama fan, proceed at your own risk.
You can watch the full segment below.