Knoxville road game...

It's a good trip, went last time. There isn't a whole lot of grassy areas to tailgate in like there are in Tuscaloosa, Auburn, Oxford. It's a very pretty stadium near the river, and the stadium is huge, if you can avoid the upper deck, try because it is steep. Hopefully it's in october like it is this year, the fall is nice up in the Smokeys.

i've been to ole miss, starkvegas, auburn, bama and knoxville. knoxville has so far been my favorite away game trip. we stayed an hour north of knoxville in the hills/mountains which was a great experience.

from a tailgating perspective, we set up on a hill that had some trees/shade near payton manning drive that had a view of the river. the weather was perfect, leaves were changing colors.... great time feeding tennessee folk who were taking their bowl of jambalya and dumping their seafood gumbo on top... (they didn't know yet said it still tasted great)

the stadium is a bit cramped... guess that's how they get to fit 100k+. the seats are literally so tight we were sitting on top of one another... plus our away section seats were located just below the moon. but hey, we could see the river... and kentucky. seriously, not a terrible view of the field and we won which made the whole cramp thing not so bad. stadium was surprisingly quiet with that much orange. the ramp to the upper deck, however, was very short and easy to access our seats.

overall great trip... can't wait to go back next year

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for those that have been to Neyland for an LSU-Tenn game, how is the trip as a whole?

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I had a great time when I went back in 2001. It is a big stadium. Never seen so many people in overalls in my whole life. I sat in the Tennessee section, lower level.

I stayed at a hotel right on or pratically on the campus. I can't remember the name, but it's really close to everything. Book early. Nice when you're stumbling home after a long day.

Great tailgating & fun road trip. But the stadium itself sucks since they cram over 100,000 people into an 80,000 seat stadium.

Good trip, but be warned there is next to no tailgating by the stadium. Beg, borrow, or steal yourself on to a houseboat on the TN river for tailgating. Calhoun's on the ,an easy walk from the stadium, has good BBQ. These TN folks are nice, friendly, loyal to their team, but they are hardly what I would call hard partiers as a rule. Two things for in the stadium; 1. the seats are REALLY narrow - way too narrow for my arse. 2. You will get really sick of hearing "Rockytop". KC.

One of my all time favorite road trips was 2001 @ Knoxville (after 9/11...unrelated, but game got rescheduled in October). Was a perfect, blue sky day. Krewe of Ragoo/HATT put on a show. I don't remember the 1st half. But, I do remember 2 things:

1. I sat so high in Neyland that I could talk to God.

2. God told me the hill billy roller coaster stadium was not designed for this many sardines.

the stadium's pretty okay, but the campus/surrounding area is not that great IMO. just giving you a head's up...

It's generally a good trip; biggest hassle IMO is getting out of the stadium AND getting to your hotel. Traffic control for 100K people is almost non-existent. The stadium is built so that you're almost waiting single file in line to leave the place. Once you find your car, break out the chairs/beer/chips and relax. You're not going anywhere for at least two hours. Oh yeah: You're going to get really tired of hearing Rocky Top. It's the only song they know.

By far my favorite road trip and I've been to them all. Beautful area. Plenty to do and make a vacation out of it. Fans are usually pretty good to us. Awesome tailgating along the river if you can get on a boat. Just look into parking well in advance. Lots of hills so get in shape. Stadium isn't anything great, alot like ours, nothing fancy just big and cramped.

Two things. First,

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biggest hassle IMO is getting out of the stadium AND getting to your hotel.

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Earlier in this thread, I mentioned a hotel on or very near campus. If you stay there, you can walk to the strip and the stadium. Parking is not an issue.

Second, regarding the seats. I sat in the lower level with the UT season ticket holders. I guess I was lucky because my seat was near the aisle. They are metal benches just like in Tiger Stadium. If you're on a row with a bunch of fat people, you may have a problem. I didn't, but the people on my row were average to thin sized for the most part.