The Big Ten is known for having the most tradition and the most loyal fans in college athletics, having been around the longest. The stadiums are the biggest, and the fans really take their sports seriously. I have a serious bias to my hometeam's old haunts of Kinnick Stadium and Carver-Hawkeye Arena, but I will do my best to judge the conference's best fairly.

Top Football Stadiums:
1. Beaver Stadium (Penn State)-Located in Happy Valley, Pennsylvania with a capacity of around 105,000 (but probably more), Beaver Stadium has a slight edge over Ohio Stadium in my book. It is one of the most scenic campuses and places to play football around, and there are few things cooler than white out Saturdays. The student section is one of the best around, and this stadium generates a ton of noise, unlike some of the "other" massive stadiums around. The "We Are Penn State" chant is also one of the best in the country. The sheer size, noise, and the beauty of it all makes this the best stadium in the Big Ten.
2. Ohio Stadium, or the "Horseshoe" (Ohio State)-Another massive, historic stadium located in Columbus, Ohio with a capacity around 105-106,000. As obnoxious as OSU fans usually are, they support their dominate football team very well and fill up this hulk of a stadium every Saturday. The "Shoe" generates tons of noise, one of the most intense atmospheres in college sports, and the fans are pretty close to the field as well. You haven't lived until you've seen an OSU-Michigan game here. The scripting of O-H-I-O is one of the best traditions in sport, and they are known for spelling out those letters after touchdowns too. Could have easily been voted the top Big Ten stadium.
3. Camp Randall Stadium (Wisconsin)-Located in Madison, Wisconsin with a capacity of around 80,000, Camp Randall has one of the wildest and most raucous crowds in the nation. They make Camp Randall a sea of red every Saturday. This stadium is also the oldest in the Big Ten, filling every gameday with tradition. They are known for the "Jump Around" after the third quarter, when the famous party song blares out over the speakers and the entire stadium bounces around crazily like pogo sticks. Fans also stick around for the "5th" quarter, when the band plays more songs, win or lose, and keeps the fiesta atmosphere going well after the game.
4. Kinnick Stadium (Iowa)-My personal favorite, for obvious reasons, located in Iowa City, Iowa with a capacity of 70, 585. Kinnick has a unique, old school feel not found in any other stadium around the country. The brick structure gives it a very scenic appearance, and the way the Hawkeyes all roll up in the bus and touch the iconic Nile Kinnick statue on their way inside the stadium has become an amazing tradition. The Hawkeye fans are known for filling up Kinnick no matter if the team is winning or losing, but the atmosphere is one of the craziest around if the team is winning. The quintessential Midwest fall flavor is felt all around Kinnick, with fans tailgating on Melrose and the stadium just popping up along the street, like it has always been there since the beginning of time. Kinnick doesn't have the jaw-dropping capacity of other elite stadiums, but they generate just as much noise because the fans are packed in like animals and are sooo close to the field that they can basically reach out and touch the players on the sidelines. Gold-out and black-out games have become new traditions, intimidating mono-color seas of fans. The Hawkeyes are known for the "Swarm," when the whole team emerges from the locker room to the sound of the fight song holding hands. The "four corners" chant (the stadium is made up of four sections) is when the fans spell out I-O-W-A after every touchdown. Kinnick truly is a pageantry-filled legend every Saturday.
5. Michigan Stadium, or "The Big House" (Michigan)-The Big House, located in Ann Arbor, Michigan with an official capacity around 110,000, is intimidating and legendary for its incredible size alone. It is probably the most overrated stadium in the country, because while it's historic, huge, and well known in all circles of college football it doesn't generate much noise and the fans can be notoriously passive at times. Whenever they play Ohio State here it is an incredible atmosphere, and just to witness a stadium so huge is pretty amazing in itself, but The Big House is a fairly quiet 110,000.
6. Memorial Stadium (Illinois)-Located in Champiagn, Illinois with a capacity just under 70,000, Memorial Stadium, dedicated to the fallen heroes of WWI and WWII, hasn't always been the most intimidating atmosphere. The Illini have had an up and down history and haven't always had very full crowds, but as they showed last season when they went 9-3 and made it to the Rose Bowl, when Memorial Stadium is filled up it can be an insane atmosphere. The fans are loud and the student section raucous, and CHief Illiniwek used to be one of the cooler traditions in sports. But the fact that the team isn't always good and the fan support not always there makes it hard to put this place higher on the list.
7. Spartan Stadium (Michigan State)-Once described as a "snakepit" by Lee Corso, this 72,000-seat stadium in East Lansing, Michigan reminds me a lot of Memorial Stadium in the fact that the fans aren't always there or very into the games here, but when the team is winning, which isn't guaranteed, it can be a dangerous atmosphere. The fans are right on top of the action and the place is built to be loud, the team just has to return to consistent prominence and the fans will show up in full force. It looks like Mark Dantonio is doing a good job of doing just that.
8. Ross-Ade Stadium (Purdue)-Not a horrible stadium by any means, but this 65,00-seat stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana isn't very loud or very "big" for Big Ten standards. Last year when Purdue played Ohio State it seemed as if they were just as many Buckeye fans there as Boilermaker fans. Purdue has a pretty good fan base, and that annoying Boilermaker can sure create a lot of frustrating noise, but this stadium is just fairly boring and passive as far as Big Ten stadiums go.
9. Ryan Field (Northwestern)-Located in Evanston, Illinois, just outside Chicago, with a capacity of around 42,000, this is by far the smallest and most scenic stadium in the Big Ten. But in college football, scenic isn't what's important for the home team. Fans rarely show up in full force and the noise level is pretty pathetic; last year opposing teams' fans showed up with much more frequency than the actual Northwestern fans did, especially in the Iowa game. A nice little place to play but one of the least intimidating atmospheres in college sports.
10. Memorial Stadium, or "The Rock" (Indiana)-The late Terry Hoeppner really tried his best to make some traditions out of IU football, including the famous "Play 13" motto and re-naming Memorial Stadium "The Rock" while putting that famous rock just outside the field. The Hooisers returned the favor by making a bowl game last year, but they will be hard-pressed to do it again and this stadium is known for having some of the weakest fan support in the country. It is almost always half-full in this 50,000-seat stadium in the middle of Bloomington, Indiana, and the fans hardly ever make much noise. Even when the team is succeeding, fans rarely flood the gates to get tickets. Last year's IU-Purdue game was the 1st time I had ever seen it full. Hopefully that will change with last year's bowl game, but I don't see that happening with the lack of any real winning tradition here.
11. Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (Minnesota)-Even though Minnesota is moving to a fancy new outdoor stadium in 2009, they will still be playing one more year in the Metrodome, one of the worst atmospheres in college football. On a beautifully crisp fall Saturday, noone wants to go inside a stale dome and root on a crappy football team, but that's what Gopher fans have had to do for a while now. The Metrodome is useful for facillitating so many Minnesota pro teams as well as the college team, but a dome is just not a good place for college football, even if drinking is allowed inside. The only good memories I have of this place was in 2002 when the Hawkeyes won the Big Ten and students smuggled the goalposts out of here. Gopher fans, be glad you are moving out of this horrible stadium. Oh, by the way, it holds about 60,000 people (rarely ever that full) and is located in Minneappolis, Minnesota.

Top Basketball Arenas:
1. Kohl Center (Wisconsin)-One of the nicest and fanciest basketball arenas in the country, it is just such a beautiful place to play a basketball game. Really a borderline NBA arena. It's huge, the fans are rabid and they always show up, and it's a huge deal whenever the Badgers lose here. One of the best places to catch a game, and one of the toughest places to win.
2. Breslin Center (Michigan State)-No one wins here either!! I'm not even sure if Michigan State lost here last season, and I know Iowa hasn't beat them here since 1993!! One of the main reasons is the noise. The Breslin Center may be the loudest arena in the country, helped out by the swarming student section that surrounds the court and takes the "good" seats. Just a mind-numbingly loud place to play, and the Spartans are a different team here.
3. Assembly Hall (Illinois)-The large groups of "Orange Krush" students who clutter the arena push this one over the top; they are so loud and so close to the court that it's almost impossible to keep them out of your head and push the noise away. The swarms of orange that infest the arena on gamedays is one of the most intimidating things in college basketball, and when the Illini are winning there is really no better student section around.
4. Assembly Hall (Indiana)-Some of the best tradition of any arena in the country, with a definite old school "Hoosiers"-feel to it. The people here love basketball and fill the arena up every gameday, and the Hoosiers usually deliver with fantastic performances here.
5. Value City Arena (Ohio State)-Some of the loudest and best fans in the country, this is also one of the nicest arenas and best places to catch a game. Kind of a generic feel and not the most tradition felt here inside the arena, but a damn good one and one of the toughest to play in all over the country.
6. Mackey Arena (Purdue)-Another tradition rich arena in basketball-hungry Indiana, the fans here love their hoops and pack the arena every time the Boilermakers play. When the team is doing well it is one of the best homecourt advantages in college basketball.
7. Williams Arena, or "The Barn" (Minnesota)-They have a nickname for their rowdy student section, and they can be one of the loudest and craziest around when the team is doing well, but the team hasn't been very good lately so the impact of the great crowds haven't shown through as much.
8. Carver-Hawkeye Arena (Iowa)-The attendance has been declining steadily throughout the Steve Alford era as he pushed die-hard fans away, and culminated in last year's rebuilding mess, but when this place is full and the Hawkeyes are rolling it is one of the elite arenas in the country. There is a reason Iowa went undefeated here two years ago. Iowa fans are loud and rowdy when the basketball team is performing and I am confident Lickliter will get the team winning again and the fans back in their seats.
9. Crisler Arena (Michigan)-Michigan hasn't been relevant since the Fab Five days, but they have a large fanbase and a great recruiting area, plus with the new coach they will be back in action soon and fans should return to this arena, with one of the better student sections around, and make it one of the best arenas in the conference.
10. Welsh-Ryan Arena (Northwestern)-One of the cooler venues around, it has a definite high school feel to it with the low seating capacity and wooden bleachers. Fans rarely flock to the arena in full force, but it has a really cool, old school simplistic feel to it and is unique in the Big Ten.
11. Bryce Jordan Center (Penn State)-Definitely a dud of an arena, it is generic, boring in design, and rarely full. Basketball is not taken too seriously in Happy Valley, and this depressing venue reflects that.

Iowa's overall facilities are pretty solid, especially for football, and while we may not have the fanciest or shiniest new places for our athletes in the Big Ten, you have to consider that we are the smallest Big Ten state and have the smallest recruiting and alumni base, so for the size of state that we have, Iowa does a damn good job. Our football facilities are above average and are definitely up there with the elite teams in the nation. Along with the legendary Kinnick Stadium, we have the Kenyon Practice Fields, which is a bevy of different fields like grass or turf to practice on. They can do scrimmages, conditioning drills, and etc. They have all the practice room for any situation that they need to practice for. The "bubble" is a large indoor practice facility built by Hayden Fry in the 1980s to practice in when the temperatures get cold, and while it definitely still serves its purpose it is kind of an eyesore on the campus these days and too many sports use it in the offseason, so renovations to it are likely on the way. Football also has the large athletic hall that contains the weight room and all the legendary banners and trophys honoring Hawkeye acheivments such as bowl games and award winners. It's a great place for fans to visit and relive great Hawkeye moments and accomplishments, and a great training/film place for the players. A very fancy football-only facility. Carver is the arena where our men's and women's basketball teams play, and also where they share practices. A weight room is located here, along with the locker rooms and coaches' offices for basketball and wrestling. Wrestling has their own training area here. A practice facility is currently being built so men's and women's basketball don't have to share practice time or practice at inconvenient times, along with more weight room areas so wrestlers and ballers don't have to share the weights and better office areas for the coaches. Carver is being renovated as well with better seating and transportation around the arena, and more luxury seating to pay for the cost of these renovations. Duane Banks Field is our dump of a baseball field, one that could pass for an average high school field. You can tell baseball doesn't mean much in the Big Ten. Pearl Field is the softball area, a very nice facility and one of the best softball fields in the Big Ten. The old Fieldhouse has turned into a rec area, with a weight room, track, and plenty of courts to practice on for intramural teams or for the real players for pickup games. Track facilities, indoor and outdoor, are located near the softball field, along with an assortment of golf courses for the golf team to practice on and a large stock of tennis courts near Kinnick Stadium. Field hockey (Big Ten tournament champs) has their own field on the outskirts of campus, while soccer has their own playing field as well.