Joel Klatt's five toughest environments in college football

College football spring practices have wrapped up and transfers have found new homes. As we await the start of a highly anticipated 2024 season, I answered some life questions in a mailbag episode of my podcast, "The Joel Klatt Show." But one football question stood out: What are the top-five environments in the new Big Ten?

As you likely know, the Big Ten is expanding to 18 schools this summer. I'm obviously interested in the new Big Ten and what that's going to look like. But I didn't want to only rank the five toughest stadiums to play at in the new Big Ten. I also want to rank the five toughest stadium environments in college football. 

Truth be told, a lot of this has to do with how good your team is. That's pretty obvious. But I also wanted to focus on the environment of each stadium, particularly what it's like when they host a big game. 

Let's start with my five toughest environments in college football before focusing on the five toughest environments in the new Big Ten.

5. Clemson - Memorial Stadium

Clemson had a stretch where it went 62-1 at home from 2013-22. It won 40 straight home games during that stretch, marking the longest home winning streak in ACC history and the longest in the FBS since the great Nebraska teams of the 1990s. That's ridiculous. It's a combination of "Yes, this team is really good" but it's also a ridiculously tough environment to play at.

4. Oregon - Autzen Stadium

Autzen Stadium is one of the most underrated environments in all of college football. I know it's not a giant stadium, at least in terms of the number of seats, but man it's loud in there. The fans really get going in there and they're really intelligent. They understand the game. They know when to get loud, which