Road to CFB
Road to CFB: Visiting Every Division-I College Football Stadium
My name is Brett Gibbons and I'm on the road visiting all 131 Division-IA college football stadiums. I call the journey Road to CFB, and this season I'm incredibly excited to share my travels with you all here on KillerFrogs.
This season, you can follow along with Road to CFB's 2022 campaign right here. Check back for weekly game day write ups, stadium reviews, and more first-hand experiences from the nation's top colleges.
Thank You For An Awesome 2022!
Always a bittersweet time, my 2022 Road to CFB campaign has come to a close. Thank you to all who have followed along this season and helped make this year the best yet!
You can catch my coverage of championship weekend and Bowl Season here at KillerFrogs for the remainder of the college football season.
Be sure to check out an going podcast series with College Football Tour – College Football Featured! We'll be discussing in-depth all of the aspects of college football that make it truly the best sport in the world.
If you missed any of my writeups from 10 brand new stadiums, they're posted below. From East Carolina to Wisconsin and West Virginia to Iowa, there were some special moments along the way.
Otherwise, I will see each of you back here in the spring for my Spring Game report and scheduling releases.
2022 Games Seen
- Sept. 1: #17 Pittsburgh 38, West Virginia 31 (Acrisure Stadium, Pittsburgh, PA)
- Sept. 2: Old Dominion 20, Virginia Tech 17 (S. B. Ballard Stadium, Norfolk, VA)
- Sept. 3: #13 NC State 21, East Carolina 20 (Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, NC)
- Sept. 10: Washington State 17, #19 Wisconsin 14 (Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, WI)
- Sept. 17: Bowling Green 34, Marshall 31 (Doyt Perry Stadium, Bowling Green, OH)
- Sept. 24: Cincinnati 45, Indiana 24 (Nippert Stadium, Cincinnati, OH)
- Oct. 12: Louisiana 23, Marshall 13 (Joan C. Edwards Stadium, Huntington, WV)
- Oct. 13: West Virginia 43, Baylor 40 (Milan Puskar Stadium, Morgantown, WV)
- Oct. 22: #16 Penn State 45, Minnesota 17 (Beaver Stadium, State College, PA)
- Nov. 9: Northern Illinois 24, Western Michigan 21 (Waldo Stadium, Kalamazoo, MI)
- Nov. 12: Iowa 24, Wisconsin 10 (Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, IA)
Road to CFB Article index
- College Football's Coolest Tradition - The Iowa Wave
- Midweek MACtion at Western Michigan
- The Penn State Whiteout
- Country Roads, Take Me Home
- Huntington put the "thunder" in Thundering Herd
- History, tradition, and passion roll together in a Cincinnati game day
- Wisconsin Football Is America's Best Game Day
- East Carolina Game Day: Heartbreak Against NC State
- Old Dominion Upsets Virginia Tech Again!
- Backyard Brawl Game Day: West Virginia at Pitt
- College football travelers visit TCU
- Big 12 football stadiums ranked
- Four underrated college towns
- Loudest moments in Road to CFB yet
- Ohio State spring football game day
What is Road to CFB?
Five years ago, I set off on a journey to experience a game day at every Division-IA (FBS) stadium in the country. As of the 2022 season, there's 131 schools at the FBS level with two more entering the ranks in the coming season.
So far, I've checked off 40 games and visited 108 stadiums.
From big cities like Seattle, Austin, and Miami to small college towns like Starkville, Laramie, and Bowling Green; my goal is to share what America looks like from the road. Each stop has its own unique tradition and culture.
On this journey, the product on the field is secondary. I focus on the fan experience–the sights, sounds, and smells from a Saturday in the stands. I hope you'll be able to use Road to CFB as a guide and an inspiration to get out and see this country mile by mile.
Where can you find me this season?
This season, I'm focusing on the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. While the 2022 schedule is constantly a work in progress, here is my current iteration:
- Sept. 1: West Virginia at Pitt* (Acrisure Stadium, Pittsburgh, PA)
- Sept. 2: Virginia Tech at Old Dominion* (S. B. Ballard Stadium, Norfolk, VA)
- Sept. 3: NC State at East Carolina * (Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, NC)
- Sept. 10: Washington State at Wisconsin* (Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, WI)
- Sept. 17: Marshall at Bowling Green (Doyt Perry Stadium, Bowling Green, OH)
- Sept. 24: Indiana at Cincinnati* (Nippert Stadium, Cincinnati, OH)
- Oct. 1: OFF
- Oct. 8: OFF
- Oct. 12: Louisiana at Marshall* (Joan C. Edwards Stadium, Huntington, WV)
- Oct. 13: Baylor at West Virginia* (Milan Puskar Stadium, Morgantown, WV)
- Oct. 22: Minnesota at Penn State* (Beaver Stadium, State College, PA)
- Oct. 29: OFF
- Nov. 9: Northern Illinois at Western Michigan* (Waldo Stadium, Kalamazoo, MI)
- Nov. 12: Wisconsin at Iowa* (Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, IA)
- Nov. 19: OFF
- Nov. 26: OFF
Game completed
*New stadium
Follow the Road to CFB journey on social media
2021 Schedule and Stories
- Tennessee
- Virginia Tech
- Florida State
- Oklahoma
- Southwest Classic
- Arkansas
- TCU
- Commander's Classic
- SMU
- TCU Legend's Club
- Big 12 Championship
- Frisco Bowl
- FCS Championship
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the best stadium you’ve been to?
This is the million dollar question and usually the first one asked (that or how many I’ve been to). The honest answer is, I can’t pin down just one. I also can’t rank my “top 3” or “top 5.” I see stadiums in tiers. My top tier in terms of all around game experience would consist of:
- Ohio State
- LSU
- Texas A&M
- Wisconsin
- Penn State
However, this could change if you asked me just about the stadium & structure. That tier would consist of:
- LSU
- Ohio State
- Texas A&M
- Tennessee
- Clemson
- Texas
The same applies to just atmosphere, just tailgating, etc. A lot goes into game experiences.
Road to CFB
Q: What’s your favorite part about game days?
The beautiful thing about college football is that everything is subjective. Things I love about certain places might be the chagrin of another fan. A great example of this is at Mississippi State and their cowbells– ask any Ole Miss (or SEC) fan, and they’ll tell you it drives them up a wall. I, for one, love the cowbells.
I love when a stadium gets really noisy. If I have a headache leaving, chances are, it was a great stadium experience. Fans are also an integral part of the experience. Kindness and openness to conversation goes a long way. I’m not a big fan of hecklers and people who scream at coaches or referees– or anyone on the field, really– from the stands. I also love freedom and accessibility so stringent schedules, complicated stadiums, or strict section ushers might ding a place a couple of points.
Mostly, I love experiencing a new place and being infected with the boundless excitement that a fan shares with their team. Outside of very rare cases, I become a fan of that school for the day.
Road to CFB
Q: What’s the worst place you’ve been to?
Almost every single game day experience I’ve had has been completely positive; it’s hard to have a bad time when you’re watching the game you love with tens of thousands of your closest friends. Certain aspects have been subpar (Eastern Michigan isn’t the crème de la crème of the college football stadium world), but almost nothing has straight up ruined a game day for me.
Outside of games, I was extremely disappointed while visiting ULM. The city was run down and dirty and, frankly, didn’t feel very safe. The home stands are a big square that covers very little of the sideline and the away stands are bleachers with gaps; there was a bent and rusty temporary fence surrounding the stadium that was very much intended to be permanent. High schools outdo ULM.
Q: Of all the great matchups in Week X, you chose Team A vs Team B?
One factor that doesn’t weigh heavily in my game selection is this week’s slate of marquee matchups. Usually, those games are incredibly expensive for not great seats and anything outside of a walk-off winner or an OT thriller is a disappointment. If I spend $250 to see Georgia play Alabama and the Crimson Tide walk away with a 41-14 victory (or, hell, even a close 13-10 game), that wouldn’t be a satisfactory experience for the price paid.
I look for value. Sure, if I can score reasonable tickets for a big game, I will. For example, I scored lower-bowl seats to #7 Oklahoma at Texas Tech for under $50 each and it was an incredible experience. But I can have just as awesome an experience at a closer matchup between two evenly-matched Sun Belt schools. It’s all about balancing price with outcome– which is the value I look for.
Road to CFB
Want to join the discussion? Click here to become a member of the Killer Frogs message board community today!
Follow KillerFrogs on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest TCU news! Follow KillerFrogs on Facebook and Instagram as well. Download the KillerFrogs app on Google Play or in the Apple App Store.
