Everyone likes a good road trip. In college football terms it’s even better when there’s a fun opponent included, nice stadium, welcoming fans, and either a charming campus or lively surrounding neighborhood/town/city. As the OG road warriors, Notre Dame football has been to a lot of places. Some good ones coming up in future schedules include:
Ohio State, Ohio Stadium, 2022 – First visit since 1995.
BYU, Allegiant Stadium, 2022 – First game ever in Las Vegas.
Texas A&M, Kyle Field, 2024 – First visit since 2001.
Georgia Tech, Mercedes Benz Stadium, 2024 – Rescheduled from 2020, first visit.
Arkansas, Razorback Stadium, 2025 – First ever meeting between the schools.
Wisconsin, Lambeau Field, 2026 – Rescheduled from 2020, first visit.
USF, Raymond James Stadium, 2029 – First visit.
Alabama, Bryant-Denny Stadium, 2030 – First visit.
Indiana, Memorial Stadium, 2031 – First visit since 1950.
Florida, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, 2032 – First visit.
We also have the Navy game in Ireland yet to be rescheduled from 2020 which likely is coming within the next 3 to 5 years according to athletic director Jack Swarbrick.
Where else should Notre Dame travel to in the future? Without adding in fantastical Shamrock Series matchups I’ve included a list of the top 30 destinations with the only caveat being the Irish cannot have played at these stadiums within the last 10 years. For example, Air Force is not included since the Irish played there in 2013.
Just Missed the Cut
*Last meeting in stadium in parentheses.
Kansas State
Bill Snyder Family Stadium
Visits: 0
We’ve never met on the field and there’s still some animosity (mostly from Irish fans) about the events and how they unfolded from 2012. We have a score to settle!
SMU
Gerald Ford Stadium
Visits: 0
We’ve met 13 times, although never as a true road game at SMU (5 have been played at the Cotton Bowl which served as their home stadium at the time). This would be the first game since *that* ugly beatdown in 1989 with the Mustangs coming off the death penalty, plus there are worse places to visit than Dallas.
TCU
Amon Carter Stadium
Visits: 0
There’s only one meeting from way back in 1972 and it was in South Bend, plus it’s in the Dallas metro area against what could be a fun Power 5 team, although 5 years ago it might have made our full list.
Arizona
Arizona Stadium
Visits: 1 (1980)
This is decidedly not a fun Power 5 team at the moment. Notre Dame has only visited once back in 1980 and you’ll find pleasant weather and plenty to do in Tucson.
The Top 30 Road Trips
#30 West Virginia
Milan Puskar Stadium
Visits: 1 (2000)
The only visit to Morgantown from 4 overall meetings was back in 2000 a year before Rich Rodriguez took over the program. Not much of a destination town for cool things to do but with a decent Mountaineers team the fan base could provide a memorable enough atmosphere.
#29 San Diego State
Aztec Stadium
Visits: 0
The lone meeting in series history remains that home opening squeaker back in 2008 which felt like torture. This new stadium will be completed for 2022 on the site of the old Jack Murphy/Qualcomm Stadium and was sold to SDSU by the city. Great weather, a strong G5 team, and for now at least a chance to beat Brady Hoke again.
#28 Iowa State
Jack Trice Stadium
Visits: 0
As long as Matt Campbell remains in Ames this would be a worthy road venue for a first-ever trip to Iowa State. The stadium is bigger than you think and is currently one of the tougher venues to play in for the Big 12 teams.
#27 Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt Stadium
Visits: 1 (1996)
Nashville is so hot right now and you can just sense a home-and-home series is going to be announced for our old friend Clark Lea in the near future. The Irish opened the season at Vanderbilt back in 1996 as the only visit.
#26 Appalachian State
Kidd Brewer Stadium
Visits: 0
In terms of scenery it’s tough to beat the hills of western North Carolina for a football game. Obviously, the Irish and App State have never met on the field, although it would be fun to visit their campus and re-live their 2007 game against Michigan [insert Anchorman “We are laughing” gif].
Seems pretty.
Small stadium of course, but for a competitive Group of 5 program with a scenic campus it’s tough to beat a trip to Boone.
#25 Oklahoma State
Boone Pickens Stadium
Visits: 0
Notre Dame has played Oklahoma 11 times but never met Oklahoma State on the field. There’s not much to do in Stillwater although the Cowboys home crowd has cranked up some fun games during the Gundy era, especially at night.
#24 Tulane
Yulman Stadium
Visits: 0
Half of Notre Dame’s 8 meetings versus Tulane have come on the road although the last in 1969 was played in the old Tulane Stadium which fell into disrepair once the Green Wave moved into the Superdome. Now, they have a new stadium opened for the 2014 season right on campus. Cool colors, neat little stadium, and you’re in New Orleans so let’s go.
#23 Maryland
Maryland Stadium
Visits: 0
Perhaps it’s the bias I’m picking up from Scott Van Pelt in believing an early-season warm weather visit to College Park is really underrated nationally. Both of the series meetings have been played in NFL stadiums so we’ve never faced the Terps on campus anywhere.
#22 South Carolina
Williams-Brice Stadium
Visits: 2 (1983)
[The sound of Sandstorm intensifies]
#21 Utah
Rice Eccles Stadium
Visits: 0
You could place BYU somewhere in this region (last visit 2004, plus we have that Vegas game next year coming) of our list and that would be completely fine. Personally, I think a visit to Salt Lake City for a Notre Dame game would be one of the more unique trips in recent memory and if the mountain valley area is your jam I could see this being much higher on other people’s lists.
#20 Navy
Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium
Visits: 0
Soon to be 94 total meetings between Notre Dame and Navy after this year and not once has the game been played on the USNA campus. Let’s put money aside and do it at least once.
#19 Cincinnati
Nippert Stadium
Visits: 0
Cincinnati will be joining the Big 12 within a few seasons and we now have the animosity of this year’s defeat to mull over for a while. This has always been a fruitful recruiting area for Notre Dame, we have the coaching history, and now some on-field bad blood for school’s about a 4 hour’s drive apart.
#18 Boise State
Albertsons Stadium
Visits: 0
Check off the blue turf from your bucket list and move on.
#17 Baylor
McLane Stadium
Visits: 0
If the Art Briles era and general handling of the Baylor athletics department has soured your desire to travel to Waco, I understand. If not, they have a new stadium less than a decade old that sits on the northern shore of the Brazos River as it winds itself through downtown.
Sailgating is in effect.
Notre Dame has also never faced Baylor on the road which makes this the No. 1 Big 12 destination on our list actually.
#16 Minnesota
Huntington Bank Stadium
Visits: 0
It’s shocking to me that the Irish have only played Minnesota 5 times in history with the last meeting stretching back to 1938. There have been 3 road games in the series although they happened so long ago they took place in the old Memorial Stadium which they haven’t played in during my lifetime (I’ll be 40 in January Lord help me). Now, the Gophers have a new stadium that opened in 2009 right on campus just a stone’s throw away from the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolis.
#15 Washington
Husky Stadium
Visits: 4 (2008)
On merit, Husky Stadium should be higher on this list but recent trips from 2005 and 2008 push it further back than perhaps it deserves. Washington typically ends up in the top 10 of the best college road trips in the country, enough said. It’s right on the water, downtown Seattle is minutes away, and of course Huskies are the best dogs for bonus points.
#14 UCF
Bounce House
Visits: 0
UCF has been the one program since their conversion to FBS in 1996 that many people thought would grow quickly in the sport. Mission accomplished. They have the 3rd largest school in FBS now and already have a mythical National Championship to their name. They’ll also be moving to the Big 12 soon and have been 27-2 at home since 2017 with plenty of opportunities for travelers to have fun in the Orlando metro area.
#13 Colorado
Folsom Field
Visits: 1 (1983)
Raise your hand if you thought Notre Dame had played more than 1 game at Folsom before? The last 3 meetings were all in bowl games and there’s only been one home-and-home series between the schools from back in the early 1980’s. It’s largely been hard times on the field for the Buffaloes in modern times but a road trip offers fun stuff in Boulder with Denver to the south and the Rockies immediately to the west. Plus, Folsom is a neat older stadium.
#12 Nebraska
Memorial Stadium
Visits: 4 (2001)
Nebraska used to be one of Rockne’s biggest rivals and yet 7 out of the first 8 meetings in this series were so long ago that they pre-date the existence of Memorial Stadium. The 2000-01 home-and-home series are the only games between the schools in my lifetime and the last visit to Lincoln before that was in 1948. It really makes you wonder why we haven’t visited this Big Ten town more often instead of wasting so much time at goddamned Purdue.
#11 California
California Memorial Stadium
Visits: 2 (1965)
An oldie but a goodie. Here we have all the benefits of being in the Bay Area except the game is in a much more scenic location with a recently renovated nearly 100-year old stadium. Plus, it’s not at Stanford.
Let me take you down ’cause we’re going to Strawberry Canyon.
The Irish and Golden Bears haven’t played since the latter’s 1967 visit to South Bend and although the series is lopsided (138-27 combined score) across 4 games there’s a lot of institutional compatibilities that Notre Dame should enjoy with California, who we must stress are not Stanford.
#10 Penn State
Beaver Stadium
Visits: 7 (2007)
Yes, there is a lot not to like about the Penn State fan base, it’s hard as hell to get to Happy Valley, and you’re not exactly swimming in the lap of luxury in State College. This is still a key rivalry from my childhood that I’d like to see played more often and few places dial up the passion like Penn State. Notre Dame has also lost its last 2 visits to Penn State and it’s been so long since the last road win (1989) that Beaver Stadium has added almost 25,000 seats since that day.
#9 Iowa
Kinnick Stadium
Visits: 10 (1968)
This was a huge rivalry for Notre Dame in the post-war years bringing us 21 meetings between 1945 and 1968 and yet the schools haven’t played at all since. Ferentz is the longest tenured coach in football, he’s carved out a nice legacy, and you’d think playing a game in a pretty solid college football atmosphere in the Midwest would be a big priority for Notre Dame.
#8 Tennessee
Neyland Stadium
Visits: 4 (2004)
Notre Dame is set to tick off 4 SEC venues in the coming official schedules and we will conclude this countdown by adding an additional 4 more to our list. The few trips to Knoxville have been highly rated by Irish fans and to be truthful, 1990 and 2004 both provided us some quality bangers to look back upon. Their program isn’t what it once was but Neyland Stadium remains a prime road trip locale.
#7 Wisconsin
Camp Randall Stadium
Visits: 7 (1964)
Notre Dame just played Wisconsin for the first time since that 1964 visit to Madison but does not have any future games scheduled at Camp Randall with the upcoming matchup re-scheduled for the home of the Packers at Lambeau Field. This is like visiting Iowa, except a lot more fun, and more accessible for thousands of Irish fans.
#6 UCLA
Rose Bowl
Visits: 1 (2007)
The triumphant win in the Rose Bowl was a highlight, perhaps the only highlight, of the 2007 season. That remains the only visit to Pasadena for the Fighting Irish. It feels like a crime. I think for many Irish fans, particularly those who live out west, this is the No. 1 road travel destination.
#5 Auburn
Jordan-Hare Stadium
Visits: 0
Notre Dame has never played 6 different Power 5 programs and will soon be scratching Arkansas off that list in the coming years. Auburn, by far, is the most prestigious team remaining on the never-played list. A visit would entail watching War Eagle take flight, scoping out the re-growing Toomer’s Corner, all with a very good SEC tailgating scene.
#4 LSU
Tiger Stadium
Visits: 4 (1997)
The Irish have faced LSU 6 times overall from the last visit to Death Valley back in November 1997. That day during the Davie era, Tiger Stadium was actually coming off a small capacity reduction project. Since then, LSU has won the SEC 5 times, claimed 3 National Championships, and upgraded the stadium 3 times to make it one of the largest in the country. It’s time for a return to Death Valley.
#3 Army
Michie Stadium
Visits: 2 (1973)
Notre Dame has actually faced Army 11 times on the road in non-neutral site games, including the first 9 meetings between the schools. This includes the series opener in the 1913 “Forward Pass” game that is arguably the most important in college football history. However, those 9 games were played adjacent to West Point’s parade ground “The Plain” on a stretch of field where the current Army baseball stadium stands.
Hudson River views, sheesh.Â
Army built Michie Stadium for the 1924 season but by then the ND meetings had shifted to their iconic New York City matchups that would span over the next 2 decades. The Irish have played twice at Michie first in 1957 in a close win and lastly in 1973 for a 62-3 thrashing but never since.
Let’s jack up the average ticket price, get GameDay to come, and play a game at West Point.
#2 Ole Miss
Vaught-Hemingway Stadium
Visits: 1 (1977)
The Irish and Ole Miss have only met twice in history, the first coming on a hot September day in 1977 when the unranked Rebels upset No. 3 Notre Dame. Cool Joe would later take over the quarterback job and win a championship but this loss nearly cost the Irish dearly. It’s time to return to Oxford, avenge that loss, and enjoy everything the tailgating at The Grove has to offer.
#1 Oregon
Autzen Stadium
Visits: 1 (1982)
Oregon has visited South Bend once in 1976 and the Irish visited Eugene once back in 1982. Many will be surprised to see Oregon in the top spot but for me it’s the No. 1 trip. The contrast in uniforms and traditions between the schools, the motorcycle entrance with Puddles, a pretty campus with the Autzen footbridge, “Shout” after the 3rd quarter, all in pound-for-pound the loudest stadium with one of the best night-game atmospheres in the country.
My pick for the top road game destination would be at Oregon, without hesitation. Now readers, unleash your personal opinions and stories of your favorite road venues.
Navy would be higher for me, but probably never going to happen. I’m still annoyed that the ACC is was to inflexible to allow it to be played there in the COVID year, simply because Maryland is no longer an active ACC state. Even though it is well within the conference’s footprint and was relatively secure being on-site for an academy.
Auburn, LSU and Ole Miss are great picks that have to be high any list. Any old school southern tailgate meshed against the tradition of Notre Dame is a perfect match. Tennessee is less high since their fans are boorish (see Lane Kiffin getting pelted).
And I know they played fairly recently, but I’d put Georgia and Texas back on over random locales that lack strong teams like Maryland, Iowas, etc. Oklahoma is in that category too since ND was there in 2012, but that’s the only trip to Norman in 55 years, and who knows when they’ll get back next. For historical purposes that would be a cool series to see more often then we’ve seen recently. I’d rather see that than UCF or something.
I thought the Tennessee fans were great when they played in South Bend in 2005. Of course, the intervening 16 years of Tennessee football may have made them a bit…surly.
Oklahoma fans were outstanding in 2013 too. I’d sign up for another home-and-home with them.
I wouldn’t judge on visiting fans, the segment of a fanbase that has the means and time and forethought to plan a long distance trip like that are typically going to be a classier group. The locals and pounding beers all day to defend the fort for a home game are a different sort.
Ole Miss fans did the exact same thing at a basketball game in 2019ish (funny enough, it was against Tennessee). I would just assume that any school that allows alcohol sales in the stadium is going to have some excessively rowdy fans.
Yeah, that’s a valid point, I might have been overly harsh on the Tennessee side, I’m just not a big fan. And Ole Miss has the Grove, so they get a pass.
Funny enough, this is the first year Va Tech is selling beer in the stadium and it has been an absolute disaster. The students are bleeding out of the student section and giving others a bad enough experience that now they have to do something about it. I was at that game and thought it was just typical college shenanigans, no more than anywhere else, but it does seem like it’s getting sloppier around the country these days.
But, really, while the school tsk tsk’d the students, they didn’t do a lot to help. In going to ticketless, mobile only, it was a disaster to get in. The guy in front of me had valid tickets but it didn’t scan, security just waved him in, very unconcerned about it. There was also 0 metal detection or anything like that, just a second line of security that kinda eyeballed you to see if they could visually see you bringing in anything bad. So while the students are rowdy there, I could see how it gets out of hand and the school should take some responsibility in their end of things too.
https://vtx.vt.edu/articles/2021/10/unirel-student-email-oct1421.html
Good lord, what an absolute mess. How in the world do you take something so easy and screw it up that badly?
I thought the issue with the VT game was that the student section was becoming overcrowded and recreating some of the same issues that lead to the Hillsborough disaster. Too many people, everyone standing, crowded, etc. I didn’t think it had much to do with Bud Light and more to do with their ticketing and crowd management systems.
Personally, I’d put Colorado, Cal, and Washington at the top of the list. Cal especially; I’m really sad our upcoming game with them isn’t a home-and-home.
I don’t really have any interest in visiting any more B1G venues. Maybe Minnesota, but none of the Usual Suspects.
I’ve been informed Navy’s stadium isn’t on campus which I didn’t know because we’ve never played them there.
Ah, gotcha, yeah I wouldn’t know either.
Hard pass on Maryland. College Park just straight sucks, plus the entire area is crawling with Maryland drivers.
I feel like every state except the state you learned to drive in has horrible drivers. Anyone visit a different state and notice how good they are at driving?
(But Ohio, Georgia & Missouri have the worst)
Ohio is a nice mention, but I agree with Publius that Maryland is the worst I’ve encountered. They abide by no rules of the road there
From the NY, PA, and OH I see the most Ohio does have a healthy lead as the worst.
Massholes. Or as my mom calls them, Massachusettsholes, because she doesn’t like making it sound like a swear, but that is simply what one calls someone with a Mass license (which I was for 10 years).
Probably many people have heard the term, and assumed it was related to sports or something, but for other New Englanders, it only actually refers to the drivers.
My theory is that the closer a population is to NASCAR environments (looking at OH and FL) the worse the driving due to the cultural acceptance of squatting in the left lane no matter the speed or circumstances.
My experience with New England and East Coast driving is that it’s aggressive, which can be bad, but I’d rather aggressive than a bunch of other things.
True. Aggressive does not necessarily mean bad. MA stands out as a bunch of big city drivers surrounded by a bunch of country bumpkin drivers. It’s probably how upstate NYers feel about city drivers.
My personal experience has actually been CT is the worst driving experience. Having lived and driven in Boston for 10 years (and I fully embrace and appreciate the aggressiveness), I have never been more terrified than while driving in the NYC adjacent areas of CT.
Wait, what NASCAR events are in Ohio? Not sure I agree with that theory. In any case, I live here and drive here and it’s certainly not great, but I think the drivers are pretty terrible most everywhere I’ve been.
The one thing I will say in defense of Ohio is that it’s pretty much par for the course for me to do long drives across 4-5 states and see more highway patrol in Ohio than in all of the others combined. Not that this is a good excuse to jam up the left lane, but it may explain some hesitancy in speeding. The cops are EVERYWHERE.
NASCAR culture is in Ohio.
Most of my Ohio experience is on the 90 and I always thought it wasn’t too bad because it’s so flat and you can see cops coming.
On the 90? What does that mean?
I-90. He’s speaking Californian.
Oh it’s super flat if you’re anywhere but the southern part of the state. The cops will still sit there and wait even when you can see them from a mile away. Never quite understood this, but I see people pulled over regularly so it must be working well enough. Probably drivers too busy texting to pay attention…
Why? Did Harry Kane just score in another Europa game?
100% agree with Oregon being #1. I did my grad school there and when people ask me to compare the two programs, I say exactly what you said – the style/approach is so different that they’re impossible to compare and I really enjoy both (though ND will always have my heart). Fascinating potential matchup. I cannot wait to see them play someday.
I think Auburn would be the #1 place I would want to go, followed closely by Oregon and Colorado. I also don’t particularly care to see many more Big Ten venues, although Wisconsin does have a reputation for being a very fun weekend.
I interviewed for a graduate school position at Auburn and had deja vu when I arrived. It’s really visually similar to ND’s campus: it has similar sized quads, it’s flat (aka The Plains), and there’s a uniform architectural style that’s similar to ours.
That’s the only positive thing I’ll say about Auburn. Not many positive interactions with their fans.
Jordan-Hare is a fantastic place to watch a football game
or to watch derrick brown take the head off of some poor ole miss guy
i, for one, welcome any and all irish road trips to the palmetto state or surrounding area
totally not biased or anything
As somebody who went to what was considered a very hyped-up Ole Miss-Texas game in 2012: Oxford is a bit overrated. Very good, but honestly the ND parking lot tailgate scene is at least as good as The Grove.
Lindberg Stadium on the Augustana College campus is pretty idyllic (and only 15 minutes from my house).
I checked out that stadium…
Sucker.
I actually just looked at it on Google Maps, wayyyyy bigger than I remember.