Just As Brian Kelly Needs Death Valley The Most, Tiger Stadium Named No. 1 In College Football

GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

Boy, does LSU football coach Brian Kelly ever need a ranking to ring true.

Facing elimination from the College Football Playoff for the fourth time in his four seasons as LSU’s coach and his second straight in the 12-team format, Kelly’s No. 20 and falling Tigers (5-2, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) host No. 3 and rising Texas A&M (7-0, 4-0 SEC) at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Tiger Stadium on ABC.

And The Athletic just ranked Tiger Stadium No. 1 in all the land of college football stadiums. Plus, this was no quickie, regional bias vote, either.

From @TheAthletic: What makes a college football stadium great? We polled our staff to come up with our Top 25 — with a clear No. 1. https://t.co/OBJM4GaEoL pic.twitter.com/7ueDjUlqJt

— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 22, 2025

“This list comes via a complex voting system, in which 28 Athletic staffers – who have attended games in 123 of 136 FBS stadiums – ranked their top 10 venues, plus five honorable mentions,” wrote Athletic senior writer Chris Branch, a graduate of LSU and former Daily Reveille writer who detailed there was no homer-ism here. “Those were translated into a points system that spit out the top 25.”

The piece above was written by The Athletic staff with various staff members writing about each stadium as a team.

Tiger Stadium received 274 points with No. 2 Beaver Stadium at Penn State coming in a distant second at 167. Tiger Stadium received 14 No. 1 votes with the Rose Bowl (UCLA) getting five and 27 top 10 votes ahead of Beaver Stadium and Neyland Stadium at Tennessee getting 23.

Notre Dame Stadium was third, followed by Ohio Stadium and Michigan Stadium in the top five. Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium was No. 6, followed by Washington’s Husky Stadium, Texas A&M’s Kyle Field, UCLA’s Rose Bowl and Oregon’s Autzen Stadium.

From the SEC, Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium was No. 11, Georgia’s Sanford Stadium at No. 12, Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at No. 13, Auburn’s Jordan-Hare at No. 19.

Here is what The Athletic’s Sam Khan wrote about Tiger Stadium:

“‘Saturday night in Death Valley’ is not just a phrase. At LSU, it’s an experience. It’s the smell of gumbo wafting through a tailgating scene guaranteed to pack a few extra pounds on you before kickoff. It’s 100,000-plus fans packing into the concrete and steel cathedral, screaming loudly enough to crush an opposing team’s soul. It’s the full-throated crowd singing ‘Callin’ Baton Rouge’ in unison as the fourth quarter begins. It’s the place where, as Les Miles once said, ‘Opponents’ dreams come to die.’

“Although LSU has had to tighten security due to incidents outside the stadium this fall, there’s still nothing in college football quite like Tiger Stadium, which was the overwhelming choice, garnering half of the first-place votes. The home-field advantage is substantial: LSU has won 87.7 percent of its home games since 2000. Only 16 teams out of 131 have gone into Baton Rouge and emerged with a victory over LSU in the past 25 years. The noise, the intensity, the passion? Unparalleled, especially at night.”

Brian Kelly gives sugar to the hands that feed him:https://t.co/GfmTuh0otG

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) October 20, 2025

Meanwhile, Kelly opened his press conference on Monday after a particularly poor effort in a 31-24 loss at Vanderbilt Saturday with praise of the LSU fans.

“We have a great opportunity this weekend in Tiger Stadium to play the No. 3 team in the country,” he said. “That’s exciting. And we believe, if we get better on both sides of the ball, we’re prepared to win the game. We believe we can win the game. And we need our fans.”

Kelly has proven to take advantage of Tiger Stadium. He is 23-2 at home since becoming LSU’s coach in 2022 with a 12-2 mark in the SEC. He is also 3-1 against top 10 teams in Tiger Stadium.

“Look, this is about the history and tradition of LSU football,” Kelly said. “You get these match-ups at home. They’re exciting. We’re looking forward to focusing on playing our best when our best is needed against a great opponent in A&M in Tiger Stadium.”

Here is Kelly’s year-by-year record in Tiger Stadium:

2022 – 6-1, 3-1 SEC, 2-1 Top 10 (L 40-13 to No. 8 Tennessee, W 45-20 over No. 7 Ole Miss, W 32-31 in OT over No. 6 Alabama).

2023 – 7-0, 4-0 SEC, 0-0 Top 10.

2024 – 6-1, 3-1 SEC, 1-0 Top 10 (W 29-26 in OT over No. 9 Ole Miss). NOTE: LSU also lost to No. 11 Alabama at home, 42-13.

2025 – 4-0, 2-0 SEC.

TOTAL: 23-2, 12-2 SEC, 3-1 Top 10.