Georgia football: Yes, Sanford Stadium is a top SEC stadium

This site is written by Georgia fans, for Georgia fans. So yes, it’s slightly biased. But on a late-night YouTube rabbit hole, I watched Cole Cubelic talk about the SEC stadiums on his podcast. Fantastic listen FYI. He brings up a major point, that all stadiums in the SEC vary on if the team is good and the quality of the opponent.

In recent months many on social media IE Twitter being the catalyst for this; there have been many people saying our dear beloved Sanford Stadium is not a top 3 or top 5 stadium in the SEC. This is and will always be a silly argument to me. Sanford Stadium is a top 3 stadium in the SEC and in the top 10 in the country.

Cubelic brought up several of the unique traditions that Sanford Stadium brings to the table not only in the SEC but also around the College football landscape. The famed hedges, The Lone Trumpeter, The kickoff call/chant, Light up Sanford, the list could keep going. Not many places in college football are steeped in tradition, history, and rabid fans.

It has always been a tough place to play ever since it opened in 1929. I do recall a time at Sanford going to games as a kid in the early-to mid-2000s when the crowd could be a little laid back. The student section was either late to the game or left early. But that all changed when Kirby Smart took over.

The gameday atmosphere has dramatically changed. Now obviously how well the team has played since Smart’s tenure has started has helped a ton, but I give a lot of credit to Josh Brooks the AD, trying to fix many compliments fans had about Sanford. The Dawgs have only lost 3 games at Sanford Stadium since Smart has taken over. It truly has been a home-field advantage.

I think the moment where the changes to the game-day atmosphere really hit was last season against Tennessee. It was my last football season as a student and no game could have been bigger, no doubt the fans would be geared up for the game.

But, as I was sitting in the Student section in the rain during a TV timeout in the 4th quarter and the student section was “swag surfin’”. Now I’m an old man in a young man’s body, I have no idea what exactly the dance means.

As I joined in, I saw old men from the section next to the students join, and then the entire stadium. I’m not kidding you, I teared up seeing it. I was stunned and I knew then that we are in a different time in Georgia football History. So yes, Sanford Stadium is a top 3 SEC stadium and yes it is a great stadium to all of the doubters and haters out there.