Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium barely cracks top 25 list

The ESPN staff of college football writers and analysts were tasked with ranking the best venues in college football . In Austin, Texas, it is an experience to take in a game at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Plenty of legends including Tommy Nobis, Earl Campbell, Ricky Williams, Vince Young, and Colt McCoy have run out of the tunnel and put on a show for the fans, but where does it rank among their peers?

If you ask any of the Burnt Orange faithful, DKR should be No. 1 on the list but the staff at ESPN saw it differently. Earning a total of 38 points, the home of the Longhorns landed at No. 25 on the list. They were just two points behind the Oklahoma Sooners.

The Cotton Bowl Stadium on the Texas State Fairgrounds just missed the cut but would have ranked No. 27 with 35 points.

What ESPN says…

When Bevo XV, 1,700 pounds of longhorn, ambles his way down the ramp to the field, you are already awash in Texana. The game-day setting in Austin has improved by leaps and bounds in recent years as Texas has embraced the city around it: Outside DKR, there are pregame festivities on Bevo Boulevard. and free Longhorn City Limits concerts with name-brand headliners.

Inside, LED lights bathe more than 100,000 fans in burnt orange while fans watch the Longhorns on Campbell-Williams Field, named for Earl and Ricky, Texas’ two Heisman Trophy winners. Add in a “Texas Fight!” chant and a performance by the 400-member Longhorn Band — the “Showband of the Southwest” — playing Big Bertha II, the biggest bass drum in the world, and you’ve got yourself a Texas-sized party.

SEC Stadiums Ranked

• Tiger Stadium ( LSU Tigers ): No. 1
• Bryant-Denny Stadium ( Alabama Crimson Tide ): No. 9
• Neyland Stadium ( Tennessee Volunteers ): No. 10
• Kyle Field ( Texas A&M Aggies ): No. 13
• Jordan-Hare Stadium ( Auburn Tigers ): No. 17
• Sanford Stadium ( Georgia Bulldogs ): No. 18
• Ben Hill Griffin Stadium ( Florida Gators ): No. 20
• Vaught-Hemingway Stadium (Ole Miss Rebels): No. 21
• Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium ( Oklahoma Sooners ): No. 24
• Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium: No. 25