The 2021 college football season is in full swing, and fans are back at stadiums after a challenging 2020 season. Limited or no fans were allowed to attend games last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that is not the case this year as stadiums across the country have been packed with supporters. We know that schools such as Clemson, Ohio State, Michigan, Alabama and Georgia have great college atmospheres. However, when PopCulture.com caught up with ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit, he revealed some of the great places to watch a game that nobody talks about.
“Iowa City where Kinnick Stadium is, I think anybody who’s ever been there for big game would walk away from that stadium like, ‘Oh my gosh,’” Herbstreit told PopCulture. “In the Big Ten they think of Ohio Stadium, they think of The Big House, they think of Wisconsin, they think of Penn State, but not everyone always thinks about Kinnick Stadium. And if you ask any Big Ten people they would tell you pretty quickly, if they’ve been there, “Wow, you go to Kinnick Stadium, that’s one of the louder stadiums in the country.”
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Herbstreit went on to name a couple more places that are underrated. “Oregon, Autzen Stadium, phenomenal atmosphere, really loud. It’s not the biggest stadium in the country, but there’s a great energy to that fan base and great excitement to what they do,” Herbstreit continued. “I think the Cincinnati Bearcats have at Nippert Stadium, they’ve got an incredible student section that creates a ton of passion and noise. And right now their team is up hovering in the top three in the country, which is incredible for a Group of Five team to be up there. But I think they have a wild atmosphere there.”
For fans who want to go to these stadiums, they have an easy way to do it. Kirk has partnered with Goodyear and Waze to help fans navigate to all the Division 1 stadiums this season. In the Waze app, fans can go to settings and get the famous Goodyear blimp as their icon. Additionally, fans can use Herbstreit’s voice in Waze to help them get to the stadium.
“I’ve been with Goodyear for a number of years,” Herbstreit stated. “Just love that they have the equal passion that I have for the sport. They’ve been around and gone all the way back with the Good Year Blimp back in the 1955 Rose Bowl. And every year they come up with a new way to integrate their brand into the sport.”
But does Herbstreit like hearing his voice on Waze? “It’s so weird,” he revealed. “My wife listened to it, and we’ve done some self-scout analysis of, you know what, I want to go back in the studio and redo a few of them because I just feel like I’m too much. Like, Turn right,’ and I’d rather be more chill and conversational. “So we’ve had fun with it. My wife and I use Waze all the time. And she’s moved her voice over to me, I’ve not yet been able to do that. I can’t imagine hearing myself tell me where to go.”
