USA Today announced Boone Pickens Stadium as the best college football stadium in the country on Friday. The nation’s newspaper used reviews of CFB stadiums across the country by users on TripAdvisor, Yelp and Google to compile the rankings. Boone Pickens Stadium averaged a 4.8-stars review across the three platforms, which landed it in first […]
USA Today announced Boone Pickens Stadium as the best college football stadium in the country on Friday.
The nation’s newspaper used reviews of CFB stadiums across the country by users on TripAdvisor, Yelp and Google to compile the rankings. Boone Pickens Stadium averaged a 4.8-stars review across the three platforms, which landed it in first place. The Big 12 Conference is well-represented, as BPS edged out Kansas State’s Bill Snyder Family Stadium, as well as Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium. A total of 136 Footballl Subdivision stadiums were in the ranking.
“The Boone” or BPS as it is known to fans has the distinction of being one of a small handful of stadiums in the country with an East-West orientation. Home of the Cowboys for over 100 years, the former Lewis Field turned into a top-tier facility over the last two decades thanks primarily to a series of donations from OSU alum Boone Pickens. Those donations started with $70 million in 2003 ($20 million earmarked for stadium renovation and expansion). In the wake of Pickens’ gift, major renovations to the south side of the stadium that included suites and club seating were completed in 2004. That scene was essentially mirrored on the north side in 2006. After Pickens gave an additional $165 million in 2006 – the largest donation in the history of college athletics – approximately 20,000 new seats were added to the west side of the stadium and it was completely bowled in for the 2008 season.
In the wake of Pickens’ gift, major renovations to the south side of the stadium that included suites and club seating were completed in 2004. That scene was essentially mirrored on the north side in 2006. After Pickens gave an additional $165 million in 2006 – the largest donation in the history of college athletics – approximately 20,000 new seats were added to the west side of the stadium and it was completely bowled in for the 2008 season.
Lewis Field featured one of the tightest sidelines in college football and the expansions over the years have punctuated that, due primarily to the bowling-in of the west endzone. Opposing team’s players and coaches have talked for years about having fans being so close to their sidelines. We are guessing BPS would not rank so high if those opponents were asked for their reviews.
Boone Pickens Stadium will host seven home games for the Pokes in the 2025 season.
Category: General Sports
