The Five Most Iconic Venues Where Oklahoma has yet to Play

Oklahoma makes its first-ever visit to The Swamp on Saturday, taking on No. 24 Florida in the first meeting between the teams since the Sooners joined the SEC.

Just this season, OU has made or will make their first appearance in three iconic venues — The Big House at Michigan, Georgia’s Sanford Stadium, and now Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Fla.

Counting this weekend’s trip, the Sooners now have just 16 power-conference schools they have never played in that team’s home stadium. The awkward wording there comes courtesy of the Fiesta Bowl matchup between the Sooners and Arizona State that came in Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz., on New Year’s Day 1983.

So what are the five top venues Oklahoma has yet to play?

Beaver Stadium, Penn State

It’s sort of surprising that the Sooners and Nittany Lions have never met on either team’s campus.

Oklahoma and Penn State have met just twice.

The first such meeting came Dec. 31, 1972 in the Sugar Bowl, with the Sooners winning 14-0. That game, played at Tulane Stadium, was the last Sugar Bowl until 1995 that didn’t feature a team from the SEC.

It also proved to be Chuck Fairbanks’ last game at the helm of the Sooners as less than a month later, Fairbanks was named the New England Patriots’ head coach and Barry Switzer was elevated from offensive coordinator to take over Oklahoma.

The teams met again in one of the signature games of the Switzer era, a 25-10 Sooners win in the Orange Bowl to wrap up the 1985 season which ended with the program’s sixth national championship.

Beaver Stadium opened in 1960 and its current capacity of 106,304 is second only behind Michigan Stadium among college football stadiums but the stadium’s attendance record of 114,419 was set this season in a loss to USC.

Clemson, Howard's Rock — Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney points up after rubbing Howard’s Rock before running down the hill as fans capture him and the team before playing Miami at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, October 3, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Death Valley, Clemson

This one is one the books for the next decade at least as the Sooners are scheduled to visit the Tigers in 2035.

The programs have met five times before, three times in bowl games and twice in Norman.

The biggest of those meetings came in the 2015 College Football Playoff semifinals where Clemson, with a defense coordinated by Brent Venables, beat the Sooners 37-17 after OU led 17-16 at halftime.

Memorial Stadium opened in 1942 and was given the moniker “Death Valley” a few years later by an opposing coach and Clemson coach Frank Howard began referring to the stadium as such in the 1950s.

In 1967, the tradition of Clemson players rubbing “Howard’s Rock” began. Players rub the rock , which is from Death Valley, Calif., as they make their way down the hill on the stadium’s east side before games.

Kinnick Stadium, Iowa

The Sooners have only played Bob Stoops’ alma mater twice — in the 2011 Insight Bowl and in 1979 in Norman.

While there’s plenty of history at Kinnick Stadium, which opened in 1929, the best part about a visit to the stadium is a relatively new addition.

In 2017, the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital was built overlooking the east stands of the stadium.

The building features a lounge area that allows patients and their families to watch Hawkeyes games.

In the first season of the facility, fans in the stadium began waving to the patients and their families after the first quarter. The movement caught on and now players from both sides and others involved in the game join in on the “Kinnick Wave.”

The stadium is also known for pink visitor’s locker rooms, a feature added by legendary Iowa coach Hayden Fry.

Spartan Stadium, Michigan State

Oklahoma and Michigan State have never met on the gridiron.

The only other power conference programs the Sooners have never played are Georgia Tech, Purdue and Rutgers.

Spartan Stadium opened in 1923 and currently has a capacity of just less than 75,000.

The stadium was home to one of the “Game of the Century” — a 10-10 tie with Notre Dame in 1966.

Lane Stadium, Virginia Tech

The only meeting between the programs came in 1991 in Norman.

The stadium opened in 1965 and the capacity of 65,632 isn’t exactly massive by college football standards, but during the Frank Beamer era, it became one of the sport’s most intimidating environments.

While plenty of stadiums have musical traditions — from LSU’s “Calling Baton Rouge” to Wisconsin’s “Jump Around” to West Virginia’s “Country Roads” — none hit quite like VIrginia Tech’s “Enter Sandman.”

Since 2000, the Hokies have entered the field to the Metallica hit.

The song is the perfect start to a big game in Blacksburg.

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