Despite what EA Sports has to say about it, Neyland Stadium is widely regarded as one of the toughest places to play in not just the SEC but the entire country.
The popular video game franchise slotted Tennessee in as the 12th toughest stadium in the latest installment of the College Football video game series, which prompted a response from Josh Pate online. The CBS Sports analyst came back with his own rankings, marking Neyland Stadium as the No. 1 toughest stadium to play at across the country.
USA Today is throwing its hat in the ring now, too. College football analyst Blake Toppmeyer didn’t go as far as ranking the stadiums on a national basis, but he did drop his SEC rankings on Thursday morning.
Toppmeyer has Neyland ranked as the third-toughest venue to play at in the conference, thanks to the 101,915 fans that show up each chance they get.
“Tennessee fans are ruthless,” Toppmeyer writes. “Former Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield described experiencing ‘a different type of loud’ while playing as an opponent in Neyland. And when ‘Rocky Top’ plays on a loop, it’s psychological torture.”
🥱 https://t.co/EEjVciuhTE pic.twitter.com/pilhisYF25
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) June 24, 2025
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The Vols are slotted behind two opponents whose stadiums they’ve seen in recent years. Toppmeyer has Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium as his toughest venue in the SEC, with LSU’s Tiger Stadium right behind at the No. 2 slot.
Without spoiling everything on the list, it is notable for Vol fans to know that Vanderbilt’s FirstBank Stadium is ranked dead last on the list. It’s knocked for the ongoing stadium renovations, but it didn’t present anything all that appealing before construction began, either.
“Vanderbilt sprints away with the cellar spot,” Toppmeyer writes. “No other SEC school would play a season with a scoreboard held up by a crane. If you want to know which SEC foe Vanderbilt is hosting, peep the stands. They’ll be tinted with the opponents’ colors, as road fans visit Nashville to get a taste of the honky-tonks and take over Vanderbilt’s small stadium.”
Tennessee will visit four opposing SEC stadiums during the 2025 season. Based on Toppmeyer’s rankings, they’ll travel to Mississippi State’s Davis Wade Stadium (No. 12) in September, Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium (No. 4) and Kentucky’s Kroger Field (No. 15) in October, and Florida’s Swamp (No. 1) in November.
To see Blake Toppmeyer’s full SEC stadiums ranking list, click here.
