Been to all Pac-12 stadiums, all Big 12 stadiums except Texas Tech, about half the SEC houses, and a few scattered others like Houston U, Rice, SMU, Cotton Bowl, Utah.
I don't pay any attention to the inside of a stadium. I'm interested in the natural setting, how intense the crowd is, and the game day atmosphere. Most are just stadiums, but a few stand out for one reason or another:
USC games at the Coliseum--bad location in the middle of S Central, but one of the great atmospheres in college football. And an added plus is more stunningly beautiful women than any place on the planet. If you are lucky enough to get invited into one of the plush alumni tents or parties it is even more amazing. USC is one of the richest, most powerful universities in existence and you can see it on gameday.
Kansas University--rarely has a good team, rarely has an intense crowd, not much intensity on gameday, but the stadium has a beautiful location and the way it is built into a canyon is unique. I can't think of another stadium in the country that looks the way it does from the outside.
Rice University--tiny campus in a rich neighborhood of Houston, but a gigantic stadium--once hosted a Super Bowl--right in the middle of campus that seems to be bigger than the rest of the campus put together. It's not, but I think it still holds the record as the stadium with the biggest seating capacity ratio to number of students enrolled.
Cal--like Kansas, rarely a good team and rarely an intense crowd, but a beautiful location with a mountain on one side where students climb up and watch the game for free and a view of the the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges and the beautiful SF Bay from parts of the stadium.
Stanford--Stanford rebuilt their stadium a few years back and the new one does not have the classic Greek look or the party atmosphere of the old one, but the weather is almost always perfect and the tailgating is the best in the world. I attended grad school there and have a ton of Stanford friends and you are not talking about frying a few brats and downing some shooters. Catered buffets from the finest restaurants, fine wine, first class all the way. Not up to USC standards, but plenty of beautiful women.
Oklahoma--got my undergrad degree from OU. When you consider all the great, high scoring, teams OU has had over the decades it seems like they would have great crowds, but it's just the opposite. For one thing, the stadium was built one part at a time over many years and no two parts seem to match. The main design concern seems to have been make sure no one has a steep climb. The result is the stands rake back at such a slight angle most of the seats seem far away from the field. That may be why you don't hear the huge roar from crowds you hear at other places. The other reason is old geezers own all the good seats and the most common yell you hear in the stadium is "down in front" when any young fans stand up to cheer. You can go to the OU boards and you will always see a thread or two where young fans are fed up with the old geezers who have all the good seats telling everyone else to sit down. A portion of the crowd is intense, but doesn't compare with SEC-type fanatics.
San Diego State--the most memorable thing is something I've never seen at any other stadium. As I walked up to the gate for a night game there were about 100 or so bodies, male and female, laid out in the shade next to a stadium wall. It was students who had passed out from drinking before the game ever started. Don't know if that happens every game or was just a one-time thing, but it was a sight to see.
