Without A Doubt.  Without a doubt, this will be our most sought after page.  While each school will have their "Bests," this page will show you the Best of the Best (damn, another cliche!).

Look, there's no objective criteria here.  Basically each school gets 24 hours of our time.  There's no excuses like "The weather was bad" or "Our opponent sucked."  Regardless of the external factors, we'll form an opinion on your school.  Our scientific method will simply be sitting around with some beers and talking it out.  Drew's east coast personality will definitely try to sway the votes, but in the end we'll come to a consenus on what is the best in each of the categories.  So take a gander below and see what your school is competing for!

If you have any suggestions, for a "Best," please use the Contact Us form and if valid, we'll add it to the site.

Ok, the name is a little cheesy, but the writer of this site is exhausted.  Until Red Bull or Monster offer up a couple cases of energy drinks, my creativity will get expoentially worse.  Anyways, we're from Milwaukee and our claim to fame is cold weather, Jeffrey Damer, Robin Yount, Beer, & Bratwurst.  The weather and Dahmer are bad for publicity and Robin Yount's lemonade sucks, so let's combine Beer and Bratwurst.

Ok, so the Golden Beerwurst...what does it mean.  This invisible trophy goes to the school that provides us the best all-around experience.  The night life has to be great, the food has to be phenomenal, the people have to be the best, and the experience must be unforgettable.  Receiving this non-existent trophy is probably more important to a BIG TEN title or winning the lottery, because with this, you can sleep at night knowing your school is making the world a better place.

Ok, so this announcement will come to the dismay to much of the Big 10 and the readers from Penn State, Michigan, and a few others will probably close their browsers now.  But hey, Ohio Stadium is phenomenal.  It's loud...very very loud.  It has a beautiful design and rich tradition.  It has a huge, clear scoreboard. 

The front office came through for me and allowed me to see the biggest game of the year up-close and personal.

They inadvertentlly made the tour better by losing to Purdue.  Sounds crazy, but seeing a "David vs Goliath" upset really made our time at Purdue better.

They made our time at Michigan better because many of the Michigan fans had anti-Buckeye displays, t-shirts, and chants.

They made our time at Penn State better because every time the scoreboard showed the upcoming schedule and listed "that team from Columbus" the crowd went nuts with boos.  Hearing the PSU speak of the great atmosphere when OSU visits & their hatred for the Buckeyes really made for some good trash talk. 

So as with the Yankees of the MLB, the Patriots of the NFL, the Buckeyes really make things more interesting for the Big 10.  I had one of the most unforgettable evenings of my life in Columbus, OH and as a result, Ohio State receives the Golden Beerwurst, the highest honor of the Big 10 Tour.

In case you haven't read the Ohio State installment, you can see it HERE!

Penn State was good, Iowa was good, Michigan was good, but Indiana was the best.  Bloomington had a great combo of gras parking as well as paved parking.  Restrooms were plentiful, parking was inexpensive, there was plenty of space, and shade from the trees when you needed it. The fans here were more social and more just plain exciting than anywhere else.  Some of them had so much fun, that they skipped the game altogether.  I don't think that people did not go into the game because the calibur of the matchup inside, I think it was because the tailgating was that good!

The Indiana tailgate experience is shown HERE.

In all fairness, we didn't get to thoroughly see every campus in the Big 10, but I made an attempt to at least see a bit of each.

My favorite was the campus in Ann Arbor.  The campus was absolutely massive and had a variety of interesting sights spread throughout.  There was a combination of older building and newer contemporary ones.  Keep in mind that I saw the campus on a cold, rainy day in late October, this place must be really worthwhile in the spring/summer months.

See some photos from campus as well as other Ann Arbor sights HERE.

This was another tough one.  I really enjoyed Goldie the Gopher, Brutus the Buckeye, and Herky the Hawk.  On the day that I saw him, Sparty the Spartan was the best.  He was constantly involved with the crowd, beat up the opposing mascot, and even lost his head when he dove forward in the 3rd quarter.  For all of the games I witnessed, he was definitely the most active, the most visible, and the most hilarious of all mascot.

Some more photos of Sparty's shenannigans are posted HERE.

I think there are only 3 competitiors here.  The second runner up is Northwestern in Evanston, IL.  Seated on Lake Michigan, the campus has a lot of natural beauty.  It seems to be one place that northern Chicago residents can enjoy Lake Michigan without the hustle and bustle of the city.

Our first runner up is Madison, WI.  As you drive into the home of the Badgers, there are truely some spectacular views on both sides of you as it is sandwiched by Lake Mendota and Lake Menona. 

The title here goes to Penn State and the surronding mountains.  As you tailgate and look around, you either see Beaver Stadium or miles of fields and rolling hills.  Just as spectacular is the drive to State College, PA from any direction.  If you haven't read through it already, the Penn State recap is HERE.

There were many pleasant surprises throughout the tour as well as many negative ones.  The biggest however was Indiana's Memorial Stadium.  The stadium had a beautiful scoreboard, pressbox, and suite-area.  There was also a plethora of other special touches such as "the Rock," Knot Field, the in/out privileges, and more.

Honestly, I think no one expected Indiana to such a great stop of the tour, but a beautiful stadium and great play by the home team really made it a memorable visit.  A recap of the Indiana game is right HERE.

The single most important award to the participants of the BIG TEN tour.  This award is to recognize a single individual (or organization) that helped us through this the most.  Their unselfish act has allowed us to be more selfish & enjoy this thing a little bit more.  We can't thank you enough for making a difference for us.

This award is still to be determined.  I still think that there is someone out there who will greatly assist me above all else!

This is one of the bests that is a no-brainer.  The music really sets this into off as they use both AC/DC's "Black in Black" and Metallica's "Enter Sandman" before the players come out together, holding hands and showing the team unity.  If that wasn't enough, they play the Nile Kinnick Heisman Trophy acceptance speech.  Pairing that with a very unified Hawkeye crowd, and you have one of those "goosebumps" moments as you watch the Iowa football team take the field.  See some more photos of Kinnick stadium and a video of the player entrances HERE.

Here's an easy one.  Who is the best fan that we run into on gameday?  They've got to have school spirit, they need charisma, they need to be nice to us, & this person needs to be able to bench-press at least 5 lbs.

I came up with a variety of candidates for this award, and the winner may surprise some.  The first quality I enjoyed of our Best Fan is that he was active on the message boards for his team, and as a result heard of our story.  Secondly, he invited us to join him so that he could show us what a great time it was at his respective school.

He pays to rent a spot to tailgate at all year long.  He rallies his friends from around the country to come back to the Midwest to watch his team live every year.

Annually, he prints new t-shirts to show where he's following the Badgers to this year.  When traveling to opponents' cities, he glaringly wears the colors of his home team in the form of some rediculous red & white, stick out like a sore thumb pants.  All the while, he's still not too stubborn to have a beer with fans of the opposing team.  See Tom lose in a game of bean bags during our tailgate in Wisconsin HERE.

Congratulations to Tom Martin!

So all of your life, you've sat up in the nosebleeds.  After years of bad seats, you want to see Big 10 Football action up close.  Ryan Field in Evanston, IL is your answer.   The area behind both endzones are often sparsely scattered with fans and you can get rather close to the action. 

I still think Northwestern is a phenomenal experience, but for some reason the stadium is not always full.  The rest of us Big 10 fans benefit from this.  I purchased a ticket from the box office and sat in the first row. 

And in case you didn't notice, Northwestern are not the LA Clippers or the Pittsburgh Pirates.  They just finished tied for 4th in the Big Ten and have been invited to the Outback Bowl to take on Auburn.  See good football...up close and personal!  See some more photos of the up-close action from my below-average camera HERE.

This is one to put on your resume.  The best shirt of the tour. T-shirts, sweatshirts, thermals, long-sleeve are all eligible.  Just the guys playing on the 'skins team will unfortunately be ineligible. There not really any criteria here so we can't say if it has to be funny, heavily decorated, or just creative.  This is certainly the award the all ages & genders can compete in.  All finaists will be shown somewhere in this blog.

I really couldn't decide on this one.  So many great ones that you'll find listed throughout this blog.  As it was really symbolic of the whole tour, I'm going with the Star Wars shirt.  I first heard of Tate Forcier at Michigan State when I watched him dismantle Notre Dame on television.  Then prior to the Iowa game, I found out that he was from San Diego and might struggle in cold weather.  He was pulled in the fourth quarter.  Then in Michigan, I found this shirt and really believed that "the force would be with him" in this big game.  He choked and Penn State clobbered the Wolverines.  Better luck next year!  Check out some other great Michigan Wolverine shirts HERE.

Sure, many of the schools have the sing-along, a specific chant, a signature band move, etc.  After traveling the Big 10, there's one thing that everyone, male/female, young/old, will remember.  It occurs between the 3rd and 4th quarter at Camp Randall Stadium. 

Suddenly, the intro to the song "Jump Around" begins and then when the "real" beginning of the song hits, the entire stadium goes bananas.  Keep your eye on the student section as you'll see thousands bouncing up and down.  I've ever heard that the upper concourse shakes when this occurs.  I don't care whether you like the House of Pain (artist of the song) or not, this is a darn fun tradition.  See some video of the "jump around" HERE.

I ran into a lot of celebrities during the tour.  From running into Philip Seymour Hoffman at the airport to practicing our jumpshot with Tubby Smith in Minnesota, we actually ran into quite a few including Rik Smits, Tom Creen, and Tai Streets.

Dustin Diamond, aka "Screech" is our winner just because he is so desparate for attention that we'll give him some before he hurts himself.  Some more photos of Screech and us having some beverages in Penn State are located HERE.

So at nearly every stadium, your options are walking to the game or parking in a lot nearby for a fee of $5.00 to $40.00.  Sure there is buses/shuttles, zip lines, underground tunnels, etc.

In Iowa City, they have a train.  Yes, I said Iowa City.  The Hawkeye Express will drop you off right outside of the stadium!  See this and more of the experience outside of Kinnick Stadium HERE.

Things get dirty at a tailgate and rightfully so.  However with the H1N1 virus out and about this season, it's important to maintain a reasonable amount of health precautions.  What better than a big-ass jug of hand sanitizer to ease all of your fears. 

As you may or may not know, Michigan provides a significant amount more for recycled bottles and cans than do most states.  As a result, every dropped can or bottle was picked up within seconds by some scavenger.  Congrats to Michigan State for winning the Mr. Clean award.  The Michigan State tailgate recap is HERE.

The evening is winding down.  Where to find food and congregate with other not-so-sober individuals.  In Wisconsin, you go to Ian's Pizza.  At Penn State, maybe it's Canyon Pizza.  Iowa City probably rules this category with the Pedestrian (or "Ped") Mall.  It's a huge open area where all of the bar entrances seem to meet.  There is live music playing, plenty of food vendors and plenty of people lingering even after closing time.  Head's up - this place gets so packed that it's often difficult to find a cab for the ride home!  This and some of the other Iowa sights can be seen HERE!

Another very close battle.  What I like in a blogger is one that posts an email address and responds to inquiries.  One that isn't plastered with advertisements, and one that is rather original rather than part of a larger umbrella of blogs.

I really love The Only Colors from Michigan State, Hammer & Rails from Purdue, Boiled Sports from Purdue, Nittany Lines from Penn State, Sippin' On Purple from Northwestern, and the Wolverine Blog from Michigan.

My winner is Lake the Posts.  The site is seemingly free of advertisements, is extremely original, has a lot of good content updated frequently, and contains some initiatives to further of the plight of the Northwestern Wildcat football program.  These initiatives include the flag project and ticket sales to increase attendance at Ryan Field. 

I could only hope to be such as great blogger as some of the sites mentioned above.  I'm getting better, but all I created so far has been a commentary on my MLB travels and NBA travels.

I beg you, check out all of the team recaps to see all of the humorous vehicles spotted during the tour.  It's amazing what you can find in a roadtrip.   I would have loved to interview the drivers of some of these cars.  Just as the tour was coming to a close, the winner was found in Columbus, OH.  If you haven't already seen all of the photos of it, please go HERE and scroll to the bottom.

Ohio State has a great large screen that is heavily used to get the crowd involved.  Minnesota has a brand new scoreboard that is extremely impressive, however it seems too simple for a brand new stadium. 

A late change in this award has it going to Purdue University.  You have to appreciate the small cameradeck/pressbox at the top, the flags raised above, and the huge LCD screen that can be can provide clear images of the game, replays, videos, and more.  It is also extremely versitile in that only the very top is static and the bottom 3/4 of the board has the ability to constantly changes its appearance.  See some other shots of the scoreboard and the Big 10 Tour storming the field HERE.

We think this one will be the toughest to judge. How do you compare ice cream to pizza?  A full stomach vs an empty one?  Late night vs early morning?  Tailgate vs Restaurant? Regardless of the difficulty of this decision, the group will decide what was the best.

Penn State had some good ice cream.  Purdue had a good breakfast joint.  Northwestern had some great chicken tenders.  Iowa has the turkey legs.  While it's not necessarily a campus food, I must say that the best thing I bit into all season long was the "Jucy Lucy" cheeseburger at Matt's Bar in Minneapolis, MN.  You may as well call it the best burger in the Big 10 because the burgers at Penn State and Ohio State are a bit too large for the average burger fan to enjoy.  The Blimpie burger in Ann Arbor is highly overrated and the rest of the burgers I tried were pretty average.  Be darn careful when you bite into this thing however because as you see in the photo, the molten core comes gushing out.  See some more photos from Matt's Bar HERE.

Lots of good nights.  Lots of inexpensive drinks in 11 college towns.  Minneapolis is really good, but you need a pretty fat wallet to enjoy many of the bars there. Penn State and Indiana will probably act as the runners-up.

The winner is not too far from Beer City, just up the street in Madison, WI.  I can't think of anywhere else in the Big 10 that has so many unique bars with so many unique niches as Madison.  Better yet, they are all in a very close vicinity, making the bar tour extremely simple.  Plenty of transportation and lots of eateries for the post-bar hungar, the Badgers home woms this award.  Some of our visits to bars in Madison can be viewed HERE.

While it is almost everything at many of these schools, the college football game does not occupy 100% of everyone's time.  So what's the best thing to do before or after a game? 

While it's completely annoying to wake up at 5 AM, it's completely worth it to try the Breakfast Club at Purdue.  Everyone dresses in Halloween attire on any given Saturday, and treats a 7 AM bar time as if it were midnight bar time.  Check out our visit to the Breakfast Club HERE.

College students are known to let go a little.  They don't necessary have to face any professionals in the workplace, so at times they forget where they left that Gillette razor.  We're looking for the most amazing beard in the BIG TEN.  The kind that makes people stop and say, "Wow, that's one hell of a beard."  Winner gets a free can of Barbasol!

While we saw many creative beards, moustaches, and chops all year, we had to look no further than our very first stop.  This guy had two handle bars protruding from his beard - almost as if his beard was growing two smaller beards.  For some of the other sights we saw at Penn State, click HERE.

Isn't this what it is all about?  We'll see 11 different stadiums and we need to determine a best.  If you could only see one BIG TEN stadium, which one should it be?  The crowd, the music, the comfort, the scoreboards, the food, & the memories.  There are some clear front-runners here, but at the start all 11 stand an equal chance.

The new Minnesota stadium, TCF Bank Stadium, is absolutely wonderful.  We sat in seats furthest from the field and still felt rather close to the action.  There is not a bad seat in the house.  The concourse is open, allowing the fan to see the action even when leaving their seats. 

That being that, this award goes to Ohio Stadium.  Since I just wrote about it last weekend, I'll spare myself the additional words, but you can see why HERE.   In summary, it's the loudest, is one of the largest, has lots of tradition, and lots of uniqueness that you won't see elsewhere.

Penn State makes some great arguments with the Joe Pa staue and the Lion Shrine.  Michigan State has its Spartan.  Northwestern has one in the back of the endzone! Nile Kinnick in Iowa is probably the runner-up.

My winner here is the Boilermaker statue.  Why?  1) It is huge.  Over 18 feet tall and over 5,000 lbs. 2) It looks good.  Many of the statues you see are just...statues...but this, this is impressive.  3)  After all that wondering, it explains to you what the hell a Boilermaker is!  There are some humorous videos of the tour members hanging out by the monument HERE.

As I'm sure you've noticed we drank a lot of Schlitz beer throughout this tour, but unfortunately Schlitz is not served everywhere.  I think one of Blake's goals was to try a local brew in every Big 10 town.  I think he may have accoomplished about 3 of the 11.  Michigan definitely probably has the greatest quantity of local beers, but as far as my favorite throughout the entire tour, I have to go with Surly Brewing Company.  I had many Surly beers while in Minneapolis and I even attribute my "rebirth" on a Saturday night there to it.  I'm sure you'll find a photo of me holding a beer somewhere in Minnesota HERE.

Our love for tailgating is one of the main reasons for embarking on this tour.  So who can show us a thing or two about tailgating?  Three main criteria come into play here: the people, the food, and the games.  Unfortunately some schools will not get to participate in this award as a few of them do not offer tailgating due to location.  We will also take into consideration the amount of time and time of day of the tailgate.  The Noon games only allow us a few hours while the night games allow us probably what is too much time to tailgate.

Likely the most difficult choice of all awards.  Week 7 was pretty impressive with the Buffalo Wild Wings Ambulance, but when I subsequently saw ambulance tailgating mobiles in Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio State, the idea lost its originality.  Nevertheless, Jon Hodge and the crew should be commended on their runner-up honor. 

My winner goes to Harriett, Lee, Jerome and the rest of the gang from Michigan State.  These people were phenomenal; inviting us in during week 2 before we even had any momentum with the tour.

They had every type of alcohol and lots of it.  They had plenty of seating for all that came, probably at least 20 chairs.  They had all sorts of food, from delicious breakfast foods to unique snacks to the simplicity of burgers and dogs.  Their school spirit was unparalleled.  Even when I speak to Harriett to this day, she talks of attending MSU basketball and hockey games. 

There was a combo of grass and pavement.  Restrooms were near by.  The was shelter if it rained.  A satellite TV.  Friendly people.  A clean lot that was cleaned often.  On what could have been a disasterous day for us, this tailgate really came through and made it a great one for us.  Read about the tailgate HERE.

While I certainly did not get to try every hot dog in the Big 10, I attempted to consume at least one per week.  While I missed it when traveling the actual tour, I recently stopped by to compensate for it.  After trying a hot dog at Mustard's Last Stand in Evanston, IL, I can easily grant them the award for Best Hot Dog in the Big 10.  Visit the Northwestern blog HERE.

Unfortunately, one of the fine sports traditions known as "the wave" seems to be dying.  Seemingly every Big 10 school tried to execute the wave while we were at the game, but very few succeeded in getting the job done.  Michigan runs a pretty decent wave, but only when they are winning in the 3rd quarter.  If you want to get the job done right, go to Madison, WI.  Regular waves, hyper-speed waves, and and a slow-motion wave.  If you're a fan of the wave, visit Camp Randall and participate in this great sports tradition.  See the entire Wisconsin recap HERE.

Ok, by default this award goes to Ohio State.  But if you had to pick a best band not named Ohio State, I'd go with Michigan State. 

This is probably a cheap way of electing a best band, but what I loved most about this band is that they played 4 Bruce Sprinstein songs!  Born to Run, Glory Day and more!  Of course, the formations were pretty impressive as well.  The entire Michigan State recap can be found HERE.

Credit to the schedule maker. 

While Northwestern lost to Minnesota by 11, it was seemingly much closer as only a few points separated them in the final minutes.

It took an interception in the final moments to settle the Iowa/Michigan game.

Purdue of course withstood a late charge from the Buckeyes and pulled off an amazing upset. 

In one of the most thrilling games of the season, Wisconsin squeaked by Indiana by 3 points.

Of course, there is was the "Big 10 Championship" game, which will probably go down as one of the most memorable games in Big 10 history between Ohio State and Iowa.

My personal favorite was the Cal vs Minnesota game.  I take a lot of heat from the other guys on this choice, but I was more invested in that game than any other one.  I have yelling, screaming, and high-fiving on nearly every play.  I guess it was a matter of being a beautiful day, having my best friend fly in from LA for the game, the tour really gaining momentum, Minnesota's front office treating us so kindly, and the fact that the Gophers had Cal, then a top 10 ranked team reeling in the 4th quarter. 

The award here goes to the Michigan State/Central Michigan game.  Week 2, all 4 original Big 10 tour members were still unified on the pursuit of visiting all 11 stadiums. 

After going back and forth all game, Michigan State scored a touchdown to take a 27-20 with 7:33 left to play in the 4th quarter.  With just 32 seconds remaining, Central Michigan retailiated, scoring a touchdown of their own.  In an extremely gutsy move, the Chippewas went for the win with a 2-point conversion.  The pass was caught out of bounds and it seemed that the Spartans had won.  On the ensuing kickoff, Central Michigan got the ball back with an onsides kick.  A 47-yard field goal was attempted and missed.  It once again seemed that the Spartans had won.  BUT...Michigan State was called for offsides and the Chippewas moved up 5 yards, tried again, and this time split the uprights for an upset victory.  After the game, we had a humorous road trip home the next day, read about it HERE.

If it was a great time and we can remember it, maybe it is the best bar of the BIG TEN.  Unfortunately we can't stop at every place in the BIG TEN, so we'll rely on the suggestions that our readers give us as "must see."  This bar must appeal to several demographics, have great prices, unique specials, and be a lot of fun!

I can't wait to get harassed by this decision, but I think the group had more fun here than anywhere else.  Honestly, Harry's Chocolate Shop (Purdue) or Nick's (Indiana) deserve this award, but 64 oz beers for $2.00, live music, Wes dancing with hippos, a plethora of free garbage.  No where did we have more fun than Cell Block at State College, PA.  More of the Penn State anarchy can be found HERE.

Okay, I'm sure that many of the students partying in the student section don't have anywhere near a 4.0, but anyways...  Student sections that I thought were pretty good - Michigan State and Illinois.  Student sections that I thought were great include Wisconsin and Ohio State. 

The best however was probably Penn State.  If you look at the photo attached, you can probably spot the block "S."   That probably makes up about 1/6 of the student section.  All those empty seats you see?  They were filled in a matter of 10 minutes.  Everyone is fond of the "We Are" chant, but my favorite part is when they grab some of the students and start tossing them up and down@

Oh, you haven't heard?  They are adding another 800 seats to the student section and wrapping it around the endzone in 2011.  Until then, you can see some of the Penn State in-game traditions HERE.

Sometimes creating a sign or painting your face requires a lot of effort and you just want to stick to your hands to support your team.  Clapping and fist pumps are a little overused, so what better than "the claw" to help your team get ready for a big defensive stop.  As an added bonus, it works the forearm muscles & many "rookies" often have sore arms on Sundays after a multiple claw game.  Check out some of the other fun we had at Northwestern right HERE.

Every Big 10 city has its own charm.  Columbus has over 700,000 people.  State College, PA has beautiful mountains, and Madison has two huge lakes to play on.  However, when you add up all of the benefits of Minneapolis, it has to be the winner.

If you add in the population of St. Paul, it is one of the 15 largest Metropolitan markets in the country.  It is represented in all 4 major sports.  It has a beautiful, clean, safe downtown area.  Plentiful parks and lakes nearby.  Most importanly, the friendliest of people (unless you're an Iowa fan).  This is one I'm not budging on - if I had to live in any Big 10 city, it would be Minneapolis.  If you haven't already read about our tailgate where we met Tubby Smith, you can do it HERE.

Hey, we all love the elderly (except behind the wheel of a car)!  Some of these individuals keep on living just to see college football on Saturday.  One of them is sure to make us smile more than all of the others and HE or SHE will be recognized here.

This was another easy one to award.  I'll never forget this gentleman.  After playing a few rounds of bean bags at Purdue, I went over to the tailgate where Jeff and Blake were already mingling with the locals.   Suddenly I heard someone yelling, "Where's my Schlitz, Where's my Schlitz?"  This guy wanted his Schlitz beer.  For the rest of the afternoon, he was jovial and friendly, but my only regret was not getting his name.  Check out the Purdue tailgate experience HERE.

This award goes to the BIG TEN front office that shows us the best time.  Which front office showed us the best time?  Which was easy to communicate with?  Were they genuinely interested in helping or just saving face for publicity.  Beware, one person can ruin this award for the entire staff!

This is another very challenging one.  There are 4 finalists: Ohio State, Minnesota, Michigan, and Purdue. 

Michigan came up with the most clever/unique idea in that they sat us in the navy "block M" at the Michigan/Penn State game.

The Purdue staff was quick to get back to us on any inquiries and provided some all-emcompassing help with the game, showing us around, and getting us in touch with some of the best tailgaters.

Minnesota provided us with an all-access tour just as the season opened and answered any questions we had.

Ohio State helped me personally with providing the press credential, but really didn't offer up a lot of information or help me with getting the balance of my group in the door.

After thinking it through, I am declaring Minnesota the winner.  From my very first inquiry, the front office got back to me within 24 hours.  Opening a brand new stadium, these guys were extremly busy as a top 10 team was coming into town.  The front office members still stayed late on a Friday afternoon to show us around the stadium, and provided answers to all of our questions.  These weren't just your canned corporate answers, but fun/truthful answers.  The fact that they tolerated a tattooed guy (Dan Lins) walking all over the facility is a big plus also.  If you didn't already read about our tour, you can do so HERE.

We tried to get an equal sampling of all teams when we did the scheduling.  Penn State however, was involved in more games than any other team, being 3.  In these three games, the Nittany Lions went 3-0 and outscored their opponents (Akron, Illinois, & Michigan) 101-34.  In fact, that win at Michigan was the first since 1996!

Our runner-up here would be Wisconsin, who went 2-0 in the two games that we saw them.  Wins against both of the Indiana teams and outscoring oppoents 68-28 (all 28 came from the Hoosiers, Purdue was shutout).  You can read about the PSU wins at Illinois and Michigan HERE and HERE.

Michigan State is often overshadowed by Michigan.  Purdue, Indiana, and Minnesota all present great experiences that many don't even give a chance to.  I would say, and Joe from Detroit would agree, that Northwestern is the most underrated.  Beautiful scenery, economical prices, typically a quality football team, and you'll find some of the best/most genuine fans here.                         

While many naive fans would scoff at the idea of a trip to Evanston, don't count this place out!  The Northwestern Main Page is HERE.

Maybe it was the magnitude of the game.  Maybe it was the time of day.  Maybe it was because of the warm temperatures in Mid-November.  I thought this one was an easy choice.  Ohio State was the loudest I had experienced anywhere.  In the pressbox, I heard the crowd as if I were sitting outdoors.  While standing on the field, there wasn't a chance of completing a phone call.  I could barely concentrate on the game as it was so loud; and loved every minute of it!  Hear Loud Noises HERE!

Quite simple...if you see one thing among all 11 BIG TEN schools, what should it be.  This one will be tough and I'm sure we'll have several finalists, but hopefully we'll provide something for our readers to see/do before they die.

I stressed over this one for awhile and then it came to me.  It was rather easy actually.  I decided to conduct some interviews just to make sure I was valid in my conclusion to what I think is actually the most prestigious award.  I called a friend living in the Pac Ten region.  Check.  I called a friend living in the SEC.  Check.  I called some unbiased Big Ten fans.  Check Check Check.  I think there's little question that everyone knows of and wants to see "The Big House" someday.   While there was so much excitement during the tour, I never really absorbed the fact that for the last 10 years I've been yearning to see Michigan Stadium. 

While it was one of the lousiest days in terms of weather, it was still a sight to behold.  Over 110,000 people jammed into a fairly uniform bowl.  More impressive is the fact that you enter this stadium at row 72 and look downward to the field.  If you're a sports fan, you've just got to try it!  The visit to "The Big House" is recapped HERE.

Winner: Penn State at Alabama

All year I've griped about the Penn State schedule.  This year's slate again Akron, Syracuse, and Temple was just pathetic for a big time school to match up against.  These matchups likely left the team unprepared for the Iowa and Ohio State games.  Well congrats Penn State, you've definitely stepped it up in 2010.  Penn State will take on Alabama in Tuscaloosa in 2010 and the Crimson Tide will visit Happy Valley in 2011 (source Go PSU Sports).  I am already booking travel plans for this one!