Palace on the Prairie not the biggest or the loudest but still one of most 'popular' college venues

The Palace on the Prairie -- otherwise known as Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium or even Owen Field -- has been the home of Oklahoma Sooner football since 1923.

Five hundred twenty-seven home games have been played in 100 seasons at the current stadium site for Oklahoma football, and the Sooners have won 81 percent of them, or 420 games. Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium is far from the largest stadium in college football, and it isn't the oldest or the loudest. What is, however, is the home field of seven national championship teams, seven Heisman Trophy winners, and a nation-best 50 conference championships.

And it also is one of the hardest places to win for visiting opponents. From 2005 to 2011, Bob Stoops' Oklahoma teams won 39 consecutive games at home. During the '40s and '50s visiting teams coming to Norman would call the OU home field the Snake Pit.

Over the last 100 years, the stadium size has grown from a capacity of 16,000 fans (two years after it first opened) to its current size more than 83,000.

Throughout the years, all kinds of college stadium rankings have been published, everything from the biggest in seating capacity to the best home field advantage to the best fan environment to the loudest and most intimidating crowd. Taken together, all of these measurement criteria could be collectively categorized under the ranking of "most popular."

ESPN recently asked 14 of its college football writers to rank the 20 best stadiums in college football. No parameters were offered or specific criteria. The writers were simply charged with submitting their top 20 stadiums in numerical order. Points were assigned: 20 for first place, 19 for second and so forth. The actual published ranking, however, includes 25 stadiums.

When everything was tabulated, LSU's Tiger Stadium came out on top, receiving 247 of a maximum 280 votes. "Soaking up the atmosphere on a Saturday night in Tiger Stadium is pure nirvana for football fans," wrote ESPN's Chris Low in describing one of the things that makes this venue special, "and it's hardly the game on the field." Spoiler alert: Oklahoma will get the opportunity to experience all of this when the Sooner close out the 2024 regular season with a trip to Baton Rouge on Nov. 30.

The Rose Bowl, where UCLA plays its home games, The Big House (otherwise known as Michigan Stadium), Notre Dame Stadium and Beaver Stadium, home of the Penn State Nittany Lions, round out the top five.

Oklahoma's Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium comes in 24th in the survey, with eight other SEC stadiums ranked ahead of it.

"The Sooners' stadium is surrounded by reminders of Oklahoma football glory," wrote ESPN's Dave Wilson in his accompanying text. "Outside the south end zone there are statues of (four) coaching legends. On the east side, Heisman Park is packed with (bronze statues) of seven of the Sooners' Heisman Tropy winners.

"Amid the gothic architecture of the surrounding campus, "Boomer" and "Sooner" ring out, as the Sooner Schooner glides across the field, forming one of the most quintessentially college setting in the country."

Notable about this top-25 ranking is that it is dominated by teams from the SEC and Big Ten. Nineteen of the top-25 college stadiums are from those two conference, with the latest conference realignment included. Big Ten stadiums made up six of the top 10.

Also somewhat surprising is that Darrel K. Royal Stadium ranks 25th behind Oklahoma, and Kidd Brewer Stadium, home of the Appalachian State Mountaineers and with a capacity of 40,000, ranks ahead of both OU and UT at No. 23.

You can view the entire top 25 ranking by clicking here.