For those of you who have been to a lot of venues, how does theirs compare? Watching from the tv it seems impressive, with their fan support and tradition.
@it-will-do - They are very much like IU basketball. The combination of being steep with tradition yet at the same time, starving for success...it can breed a very tough environment to play in when their team is just starting to sense possible success. Think of how loud Assembly Hall was in the 2000's vs Duke when Killingsworth had the breakaway dunk or with the Wat shot vs UK. Heck, even without success at the B1G Championship game, every first down was celebrated like a TD and I don't think OSU was ready for that level of fandom. Even their fans were like wth?!?
That was a great win. I would put it up there with at Iowa or at Penn State from last year. Road games against bowl level teams are always going to be tough unless the ball bounces your way.
@it-will-do Attended the game and it is an impressive venue. We were in nosebleed seats and still can see game very well. Nebraska fans were generally very cordial and welcoming but it is a little unnerving when you are among around 500 (I’m guessing) IU fans and 85,000 Nebraska fans. They definitely also have a bunch of traditions. Weird to hear all the GO BIG RED cheers. Have to also say also that their parking was very easy in/out - shocking for such a large stadium
I've never been but it looks like a great venue with lots of character.
Their renovation project looks very cool.
Its very good. Up there with the tops in college football. Joel Klatt referred to Lincoln/Memorial as the "Death Star", when he was in school. All the chatter from the BarStool guys was annoying. I know Katic has to answer to Portnoy, but I wish he would have went "A Few Good Men" on them and called Portnoy and the others out for making statements like they are, without ever wearing a real jersey, and certainly never playing in Lincoln. Its both true that they haven't beaten a ranked team there, in forever. AND that its an incredibly difficult environment to play in. They've had many close games with ranked teams during that time, and for most of those games, Nebraska's actual football team was pretty bad. Their fan base is WAY more loyal and passionate than "we" are with our BBall program.
Thanks for the replies. It definitely appears to be an awesome experience.
@iunorth Agree, though I don’t see much difference with how they support FB and we support MBB. I’d give them the edge but it’s ballpark similar imo.
I hope they figure out football honestly. That would be fun for the sport to have them in the mix.
@tammany I guess football and bball scale is always different. And I know many of their consecutive "sell outs" were because large blocks of tickets were purchased by large donors and companies...they've had many games with some empty seats. But I still don't think, especially recently, that IU bball has stayed nearly as avid or loyal, overall, as Big Red football fans have. Probably splitting hairs though. I would say they're pretty decent comps though. Both have deep rooted traditions, with multiple decades of the highest levels of success. Both schools had a famous coach, that played very distinctive styles, that dominated their eras. And even if Nebraska football and/or IU basketball does get back to the highest levels of success again, for the fans that remember the good old days, it still won't be the same. Nebraska won't be running the option to do it, and IU won't be running the motion offense to do it. And the coaches won't be Osborne or Knight. But both programs would get back to overwhelming support again, if either program started going to CFPs, or Final Fours, again.