The Swamp Barely Cracks Top 20 in ESPN Stadium Rankings

ESPN took on the impossible task of ranking stadiums around the country including the home of the Florida Gators.

The Swamp, home of the Florida Gators, barely cracked ESPN's poll of Top 25 stadiums / Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

ESPN asked 14 of their college football writers to rank the stadiums around the country to come up with a top-25 list. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, home of the Florida Gators better known as The Swamp, came it at No. 20.

ESPN gave the Gators credit for two traditions. First was Mr. Two Bits, and the second was a newer tradition.

"As a way to pay tribute to the late Tom Petty, a Gainesville native, 'I Won't Back Down' plays between the third and fourth quarters," wrote Andrea Adelson on ESPN. "Imagine more than 88,000 people at The Swamp -- one of the loudest stadiums in America -- singing, 'Hey, baby, there ain't no easy way out' and 'I won't back down' in thunderous unison. Pretty powerful. Especially at night with phone flashlights on."

With 144 writers contributing to the poll, one wonders how well represented the SEC actually was when looking at the results. LSU's Tiger Stadium came in at No. 1. Alabama's Bryant-Denny stadium and Tennessee's Neyland came in at No. 9 and No. 10 respectively.

Nothing against Beaver Stadium or Camp Randall, home of the Penn State Nittany Lions and Wisconsin Badgers, but if they're top-8 stadiums in the country, it's hard to see The Swamp, Jordan-Hare (Auburn), and Sanford (Georgia) as bringing up the back end of a poll like this.

Florida State's Doak Walker squeezes in between Auburn (17), Georgia (18), and Florida (20) at No. 19.

College stadiums are cathedral's to American sport all around the nation. There's really no "right" answer when comes to rankings. A heavy dose of bias is going to come into play. But anyone who has been at full throat with 90,000 of their friends in The Swamp for a Gators victory will be hard pressed to believe there are 19 better places to be.

That might make them biased, but it doesn't make them wrong.