My Ole Miss Review

I went to Oxford this weekend expecting to experience one of the best game-day atmospheres in college football. After seeing it firsthand, I came away pretty disappointed.

**The Grove:**
The Grove was extremely overcrowded. It was basically thousands of tents packed tightly together with very little room to move. Unlike an LSU tailgate, there was little cooking, music, or personal space. Getting to a tent meant navigating through crowds, chairs, tables, ice chests, TVs, and other tents.

The congestion was unbelievable. The bathroom lines were around an hour, and the Union was packed when we went inside for AC. It felt more like a hurricane evacuation center than a college campus.

**The Game:**
The stadium atmosphere felt more like a concert than a football game. There were light shows during almost every break, and piped-in music played constantly. I could see the Ole Miss band playing, but could barely hear them because the music drowned them out.

The stadium itself is relatively small, but I will give them credit: the bathrooms and concessions moved quickly. The food was also better than what I've had at Tiger Stadium. However, they ran out of ice and water in the fourth quarter.

**The Fans:**
The fans were not nearly as hostile as I expected. There were a few people talking trash, but nothing unusual. The fraternity groups around the Walk of Champions were unruly, although police had them barricaded and separated from everyone else.

**Overall:**
Ole Miss definitely has a unique game-day atmosphere, but I wasn't impressed. The Grove was far too congested, the stadium experience felt overproduced, and the crowd seemed too large for the infrastructure.

There were some positives, especially the food, efficient concessions, and relatively friendly fans. But overall, I felt Ole Miss did a poor job handling such a large crowd.

Coming from LSU, I expected a lot more from the famous Ole Miss game-day experience.