ESPN Ranks Lane Stadium As One of College Football's Best

Where does Lane Stadium rank among college football's best?

Oct 14, 2023; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies cheerleaders dance during a time out of the game between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports / Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

Lane Stadium is rich in tradition. The infamous "Enter Sandman" tradition of fans jumping up and down started on December 1st, 2001. It's been history ever since. Lane Stadium opened its doors to the best fans in the world on September 24th, 1965.

For a long time, Lane Stadium has been praised as one of the hardest places to play in college football, exemplifying the home-field advantage that Virginia Tech plays with. Oregon's Autzen Stadium (No. 14), Kyle Field (No. 13), and Michie Stadium (No.12) all just rated ahead of Lane Stadium.

After placing Lane Stadium as the 15th best stadium in college football, here's what ESPN had to say:

"'Enter Sandman' has become an iconic part of Virginia Tech football, and it is hard to believe this tradition is only 25 years old. The song itself, by Metallica, has been played before the football team enters Lane Stadium since 2000, and it all started to help christen the first videoboard in the stadium. Fun fact: "Enter Sandman" was chosen over "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses and "Sirius" by The Alan Parsons Project, which is the Chicago Bulls' iconic entrance song.

The tradition of the crowd jumping up and down as the song plays began Dec. 1, 2001 -- when a band member started to jump and others followed. The cue is easy enough. The beginning instrumentals to the song start playing, signaling the time is near. A pregame highlight video plays, the players gather in the tunnel, and then whoosh, the team runs onto the field after touching the Hokie stone as the song lyrics start playing. The crowd screams, 'Exit light! Enter night! Take my hand! We're off to never-never land!'"

Although this is quite high praise for Lane Stadium, you could argue that the Hokies' stadium should be much higher. ESPN has given solid rankings to Lane Stadium in the past. In 2007, ESPN released their top 10 scariest places to play in college football, Lane Stadium was ranked #2.

Here's what they had to say then:

"The two loudest places I've ever seen a game are Lane Stadium and the Orange Bowl, but the Hokies' home crowd is a lot more consistent. The whole place rocks when they crank up 'Enter Sandman.' Two years ago I remember watching a decent BC team go there on a Thursday night and completely melt down."

"Enter Sandman" is probably the best stadium tradition in college football, and Lane Stadium still holds true to the standard that it once had. Hopefully the Hokies can find success at Lane Stadium this year, as they bring Marshall, Rutgers, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Clemson, and Virginia to town later in the season.