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USA Today insider on Texas venue ranking: 'A bit of a wine and cheese crowd'

Grant Grubbs Profile Pictureby: Grant Grubbs07/28/25grant_grubbs_
Georgia Texas
Portion of the crowd during a record-setting night at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium for top-5 showdown between Georgia Bulldogs and Texas Longhorns © Sara Diggins/American-Statesman / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

After reaching the College Football Playoff semifinals in back-to-back seasons, Texas is finally receiving its flowers. Alas, the team’s fans aren’t.

On Monday, USA Today‘s Blake Toppmeyer ranked the Top 25 stadiums in college football. Toppmeyer particularly focused on which venues give their respective teams the greatest home-field advantage. Texas didn’t even make Toppmeyer’s Top 15, with Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium ultimately landing at No. 16.

“Texas is good, not great,” Toppmeyer said during an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show on Monday. “Texas fans and the environment at Darrell K Royal Stadium, it’s often described as a bit of a wine and cheese crowd. Big stadium, Texas has won 14 of the last 15 at home. But, I think, historically, the decibel level, the raucousness inside that that venue, it’s not matching the elite SEC venues. I think about Tiger Stadium or The Swamp or Neyland Stadium — I think there are more hostile road environments than Texas.

“Up until the last couple of seasons, I think it would bear out that Texas is a good home-field advantage, but maybe not an elite one. As Texas program has reached the top level the last couple years, it’s become a much harder venue as the team’s improved. But, overall, it’s just a good stadium, maybe not a great environment, though.”

Texas fans will undoubtedly take exception to Toppmeyer’s ranking. After all, just last season, Longhorns fans set a record for their team’s regular-season showdown against Georgia, packing Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium with 105,119 people.

The stadium is the fourth-largest in the SEC and the seventh-largest in the country. Texas boasts an all-time record of 406–123–10 (.763) when playing there. In comparison, the program has a .706 all-time winning percentage.

Last year, Texas completed installing a new instant-start multi-color LED system in the venue to keep it on the cutting edge. Toppmeyer isn’t the first person to leave Texas out of the conversation for the best stadium in the country.

EA Sports’ College Football 26 ranked Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium at No. 13 in college football. Longhorns fans won’t have to wait much longer to prove they provide one of the best home-field advantages in the sport.

After facing off against Ohio State in Week 1 of the 2025 campaign, Texas will return home and host San Jose State on Sept. 6. The game will take place at noon ET.