Editor’s note: As we count down to the start of the college football season, FOX Sports Carolinas ranks the game-day experience around the Atlantic Coast Conference. We started Monday with No. 12 Duke and Wallace Wade Stadium, and unveil the top choice on Tuesday, Aug. 21. (item rankings are based on a scale of 1 through 10). Today, it's the Miami Hurricanes:
10 – Sun Life Stadium, Miami (75,540)
Beauty (4): This was a cool stadium when it was built and called Joe Robbie Stadium, and while it’s still not bad looking, it could use a makeover.
Tailgating (6): Surprisingly, the tailgating at Miami is pretty good. The weather adds to it in some respects, but there’s more than many might expect and the quality ranks there with most schools.
Buzz (4): This place is awesome for really big games and can be downright horrible for ho-hum contests. Meeting in the middle, it needs work.
Fans (5): They don’t always show up, which means a healthy segment are probably bandwagoners. Yet, they are amazingly demanding (see Larry Coker).
History (2): The great U teams played at the old Orange Bowl, and you just can’t carry that over to Sun Life until it can provide some of the same magic.
Remark: If Miami could find the space, it would be better off playing in a 53,000-seat facility on or next to campus than here. It doesn’t serve the program as well as it should, and there’s little the school can do about it as a renter of the property.
