Michigan’s football program enters the 2024 season on a 22-game home win streak, with more than 100,000 fans in attendance watching the Wolverines exit the field at the Big House victorious.
Boasting a capacity of 107,601, Michigan Stadium is the largest in North America and home to the winningest program in college football history.
There’s no question that the Big House produces one of the best game-day atmospheres in the country, but where does it rank among other storied programs?
On Thursday, ESPN published a list of the top 25 college football stadiums, with Michigan checking in at No. 3 behind LSU’s Tiger Stadium and The Rose Bowl, home of UCLA.
The ranking was based on a poll of 14 of ESPN’s college football writers. They ranked their top 20 stadiums in order, with a first-place vote counting as 20 points and 20th-place vote counting as one point.
With 182 points, Michigan edged out fourth-place Notre Dame (175 points) and fifth-place Penn State (172).
“Size matters with stadiums and Michigan remains the largest by capacity at 107,601, edging fellow Big Ten venues Beaver Stadium (Penn State) and Ohio Stadium (Ohio State),” ESPN noted in its rankings. “In 2013, Michigan drew 115,109 for its game against Notre Dame, the largest crowd ever to attend a football game on campus. The listed capacity has ended in “01″ since 1956 with the “extra seat” belonging to former Michigan coach and athletic director Fritz Crisler.
“The stadium went through a $227 million renovation in 2010 that brought club suites and private suites, and significantly increased the noise level around the large bowl. Games at “The Big House” — a phrase coined by former commentator Keith Jackson — begin dramatically with the Wolverines touching a “Go Blue” banner as they enter the field.”
Michigan also modernized the Big House this past season, installing new massive scoreboards on both ends of the stadium and a state-of-the-art LED lighting system.
In the top 10, there are four established Big Ten programs – Michigan, Penn State’s Beaver Stadium, Ohio State’s Ohio Stadium (No. 7) and Wisconsin’s Camp Randall Stadium (No. 8) – and two incoming Big Ten schools: UCLA and Washington’s Husky Stadium (No. 6).
The defending national champion Wolverines will look to continue their dominate stretch at home into the 2024 season under new head coach Sherrone Moore. They have eight home games this year, including marquee matchups against Texas (Sept. 7), USC (Sept. 21), Michigan State (Oct. 26) and Oregon (Nov. 2).
The full rankings can be found here.
