College Football Stadiums: Kansas State Wildcats - Bill Snyder Family Stadium

This time, our series takes us to Manhattan, Kansas, home of the Wildcats. Kansas State is not exactly nationally renowned for football, but they sure know how to have a good time.

On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the best football experience of a lifetime), let's take a look at how Kansas St. stacks up.

Friday Night: 10

Since I attended an afternoon game, I did not arrive in Manhattan until game day. However, after the game my group frequented the local night life. The bar scene was wild. There's a big group of bars in Manhattan called Aggieville. It is out of control. If headed to Aggieville, you must go to the Last Chance Saloon (also called Rusty's Last Chance). Other good bars were Kite's, Auntie Mae's, and Tubby's. The locals were not overly receptive or kind, but then again who is after another home loss?

Tailgate: 6.5

In my opinion, tailgating can always improve and Kansas St. is no different. Access to the tailgate scene was not great. Unless you want to pay big bucks to park, plan on settling down in a spot just off campus and walking to the stadium. Once there, it's a pretty fun scene before kickoff. And in the end, beer is beer, and about half of the K-State fans are willing to share and hang out with the visiting fans.

Pre-Game: 5

The band is okay, not that it matters. The entrance is pretty exciting and the student section gets loud and fired up. Don't be upset if you miss it though.

Atmosphere: 5

Wildcat fans are hit or miss. Depends on the weather, the season, the coach, and the time of day to determine if there will be any energy in the stadium. My expectations were kind of low heading into the game, but Bill Snyder Family Stadium is actually pretty nice. I always feel like the fans are on the brink of either absolute pandemonium or complete silence. Come on K-State fans, get consistent!

Stadium Engineering: 7

Unlike other stadiums I've been to, the engineers for Kansas State actually remembered to add bathrooms along with the additional seating capacity when it expanded after the 1998 season.

Decibel Level: 7

K-Staters can be loud when they need to be. Again, if they were a little more consistent, they would have received a higher score.

Overall: 6

If you are into bars and you like the color purple, Manhattan is definitely your place! Be careful though, if your team wins at Kansas State, the locals get a little angry.

Sources:

http://www.kstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=400&ATCLID=676648

http://www.aggieville.org/relax/