Big 12 Guide
The Big 12 is the most geographically scattered conference in college football — 16 teams spread from Morgantown, West Virginia to Provo, Utah, from Orlando, Florida to Boulder, Colorado. After losing Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC in 2024, the conference absorbed four former Pac-12 programs and two independent schools to maintain its footprint, producing a lineup of cities that ranges from major metros (Houston, Orlando, Cincinnati) to passionate small college towns (Morgantown, Stillwater, Ames) to the grand Texas cities (Fort Worth, Lubbock, Waco) and the Mountain West’s most distinctive markets (Boulder, Salt Lake City, and BYU’s Provo — where state alcohol laws make the craft beer story as interesting as the football). The craft beverage scenes in Big 12 territory are as varied as the zip codes. Here is where to drink, eat, and spend your time near every Big 12 stadium.
The 16 Big 12 Cities
Tucson, AZ — Arizona ·
Tempe, AZ — Arizona State ·
Waco, TX — Baylor ·
Provo, UT — BYU ·
Orlando, FL — UCF ·
Cincinnati, OH — Cincinnati ·
Boulder, CO — Colorado ·
Houston, TX — Houston ·
Ames, IA — Iowa State ·
Lawrence, KS — Kansas ·
Manhattan, KS — Kansas State ·
Stillwater, OK — Oklahoma State ·
Fort Worth, TX — TCU ·
Lubbock, TX — Texas Tech ·
Salt Lake City, UT — Utah ·
Morgantown, WV — West Virginia
TUCSON, ARIZONA — Arizona Wildcats
Arizona Stadium (50,782) · Bear Down · Sonoran Desert craft beer
The Stadium Story: Arizona Stadium’s “Bear Down” nickname comes from one of college football’s most poignant traditions. In 1926, University of Arizona student body president and starting quarterback John Byrd “Button” Salmon was fatally injured in an automobile accident. From his hospital bed, his last words to coach J.F. “Pop” McKale were “Tell them… tell the team to bear down.” The phrase became Arizona’s motto and is still spoken and signed at every athletic event. The Sonoran Desert surrounding Tucson is not just landscape — local breweries use its indigenous botanicals in beers that taste specifically of this high-desert border region.
Tucson has roughly 20 craft breweries and a scene that draws on Sonoran Desert ingredients — hibiscus, tamarind, mesquite, and agave showing up in beers that couldn’t be made anywhere else.
🍺 Drink: Crooked Tooth Brewing Company on Historic Fourth Avenue is the standout — Sonoran Sour Series using jamaica (hibiscus) and tamarind, a sunny beer-garden patio, and exposed brick that gives it the authentic converted-garage character that the best taprooms have. Two 2025 World Beer Cup medals. Dragoon Brewing Company is Tucson’s most distributed craft brand — the Dragoon IPA is the flagship and the taproom is a Tucson institution. Borderlands Brewing leans into the border culture that makes Tucson distinctive — Mexican-inspired flavors in beers that reflect the city’s unique identity.
🍽️ Eat: El Charro Café on Court Avenue is Tucson’s oldest Mexican restaurant, open since 1922 and the claimed birthplace of the chimichanga. A required stop for anyone visiting the city. Café Poca Cosa for the acclaimed modern Mexican cuisine that has earned national attention.
🎯 Fun: Historic Fourth Avenue — Tucson’s independent commercial district with vintage shops, restaurants, and the Crooked Tooth taproom — is the game day evening destination. The Rialto Theatre on Congress Street is Tucson’s historic live music venue. And Saguaro National Park on both sides of the city offers the most dramatic desert landscape in the American Southwest — worth a morning visit before any game.
TEMPE, ARIZONA — Arizona State Sun Devils
Mountain America Stadium (53,599) · Tempe Town Lake · 2025 Big 12 Champions
The Stadium Story: Mountain America Stadium sits adjacent to Tempe Town Lake — a 2-mile lake on the Salt River that provides one of the more distinctive stadium settings in college football, with the downtown Tempe skyline and Hayden Butte visible beyond the stadium’s south end. Arizona State won the 2025 Big 12 championship in their second season in the conference — the program’s most significant conference title in decades and validation of head coach Kenny Dillingham’s rebuild. Tempe is the Phoenix metro’s most walkable and most college-town-feeling community, with Mill Avenue running from the ASU campus to Tempe Town Lake.
Tempe has Arizona’s most concentrated craft beer scene outside Flagstaff, anchored by Four Peaks — one of the Southwest’s most recognized craft brands.
🍺 Drink: Four Peaks Brewing Company is the anchor — Kiltlifter Scottish-Style Ale is the flagship that has made Four Peaks Arizona’s most recognized craft beer brand. The main Tempe brewery and restaurant on 8th Street is the full experience, with multiple tasting rooms and a food program that matches the beer quality. Pedal Haus Brewery on Mill Avenue is the game day location — right in the heart of Tempe’s pedestrian strip with a patio, rotating taps, and the energy of ASU game days. Huss Brewing brings Phoenix-area craft brewing to Tempe with consistent, well-made beers across styles.
🍽️ Eat: House of Tricks in Old Town Tempe is the city’s most celebrated restaurant — James Beard-nominated New American cuisine in a historic 1920s bungalow with one of the best outdoor dining patios in the Valley. Cornish Pasty Co. on Mill Avenue for the British pasties that have become a Tempe institution.
🎯 Fun: Mill Avenue on a game day is Tempe at its most vibrant — pedestrian, energetic, and completely organized around the Sun Devil football Saturday. The Tempe Town Lake waterfront adds outdoor space and sunset views. The ASU Art Museum on campus has one of the more impressive contemporary art collections of any university museum.
WACO, TEXAS — Baylor Bears
McLane Stadium (45,140) · On the Brazos River · Chip and Joanna Gaines country
The Stadium Story: McLane Stadium opened in 2014 on the banks of the Brazos River — one of the most dramatic stadium settings in college football, with the water visible from the stands and boats anchoring on the river for game days. Named for Drayton McLane Jr., the former Houston Astros owner who donated the lead gift, it is one of the newer and more distinctive venues in college football. Waco has undergone a remarkable transformation since Chip and Joanna Gaines of HGTV’s Fixer Upper built the Magnolia empire here — the city is now a national destination for home design tourism and has a food and drink scene that significantly exceeds what its size would suggest. And Balcones Distilling has made Waco a serious stop on the Texas craft spirits trail.
Waco’s deep Baptist identity has historically meant a more limited bar scene, but the city has transformed and the craft beer and spirits options have grown to match its new national profile.
🍺 Drink: Balcones Distilling on South 11th Street is Waco’s most nationally significant craft beverage operation — the Texas craft whisky that put the state on the serious spirits map. The distillery tour and tasting is one of the best in Texas. Bare Arms Brewing is Waco’s most celebrated craft brewery — consistently the top-rated local option with creative, well-executed beers. Brotherwell Brewing rounds out a growing local craft scene with approachable, quality beers in a welcoming taproom.
🍽️ Eat: Magnolia Table — Joanna Gaines’s restaurant on Bosque Boulevard is the Waco dining pilgrimage. Arrive early; the lines are real and the wait is worth it. George’s Restaurant on South 8th Street is the Baylor institution — open since the 1930s and the game day gathering spot that alumni return to specifically.
🎯 Fun: The Magnolia Silos — Chip and Joanna’s flagship retail and dining destination — is Waco’s most-visited attraction. The Dr Pepper Museum on South 5th Street honors the soft drink invented in Waco in 1885. Watch the boat tailgate on the Brazos River before kickoff — the McLane Stadium riverside setting makes it one of the Big 12’s most distinctive pregame experiences.
PROVO, UTAH — BYU Cougars
LaVell Edwards Stadium (63,470) · 1984 National Champions · Unique alcohol culture
The Stadium Story: LaVell Edwards Stadium is named for BYU’s legendary coach who won 257 games from 1972 to 2000 and led the Cougars to the 1984 national championship. BYU is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the Honor Code prohibits alcohol, tobacco, and coffee on campus and for students. The stadium sells no alcohol. The surrounding city of Provo has limited alcohol options by comparison to any other college football market — Utah’s complex alcohol laws already restrict what is available statewide, and Provo adds an additional layer. This is not a barrier — it is simply a different game day experience, and the food scene in and around Provo and neighboring Salt Lake City (30 miles north) is genuinely excellent.
BYU is the only Power Four program in America that operates entirely alcohol-free on campus. If craft beer is your priority, plan your evening in Salt Lake City — 30 miles north, with one of the most interesting craft beer scenes in the Mountain West.
🍺 Drink (Salt Lake City, 30 miles north): Epic Brewing Company is the Salt Lake City flagship — Big Bad Baptist Imperial Stout is one of the most awarded craft beers in the Mountain West, and the downtown SLC taproom is a destination. Uinta Brewing Company is Utah’s largest craft brewery — organic brewing philosophy, widespread distribution, and a taproom that earns consistent praise. Beer Bar on Main Street is SLC’s craft beer bar with the most serious selection — 150+ beers by the bottle and can alongside 30 rotating taps.
🍽️ Eat: Communal in Provo is the most celebrated restaurant in the immediate area — farm-to-table American cuisine that has earned a following well beyond the BYU community. Pizza Pie Café is the Provo pizza institution that alumni reference as the game day fuel of their college years.
🎯 Fun: BYU’s campus is one of the most beautifully maintained in the Mountain West — the view of Mount Timpanogos from the campus center is genuinely spectacular. Utah Lake State Park is steps from campus. And the drive north to Salt Lake City passes through some of the most dramatic mountain scenery in the American West — make it an evening in SLC after the game and plan for the Epic Brewing taproom.
ORLANDO, FLORIDA — UCF Knights
FBC Mortgage Stadium (45,000) · Largest university in the United States by enrollment
The Stadium Story: UCF is the largest university in the United States by enrollment — over 68,000 students — which gives the Knights a fan base that dwarfs most Big 12 programs in raw numbers. The program famously declared itself “national champions” after an undefeated 2017 season in which they were excluded from the College Football Playoff, generating national controversy and attention that helped accelerate UCF’s push for a Power Five conference bid. The campus is in east Orlando, about 10 miles from downtown and close to the rapidly growing Waterford Lakes and Lake Nona communities.
Orlando’s craft brewery scene has grown dramatically — dozens of production breweries and taprooms across the metro, with several excellent options near campus and a full city worth exploring beyond the theme parks.
🍺 Drink: Tactical Brewing Company near UCF is the go-to campus-area craft brewery — military-themed, consistently well-rated, and a natural game day stop for Knights fans. Bowigens Beer Company in the Avalon Park area is the community brewery that has built a devoted local following. In downtown Orlando: Sideward Brewing earns consistent national attention for creative, well-crafted beers — one of the most acclaimed craft breweries in Florida. Orange County Brewers brings craft beer to the International Drive corridor for visitors combining the UCF game with Orlando tourism.
🍽️ Eat: The Ravenous Pig in Winter Park is Orlando’s most celebrated restaurant — James Beard Award-nominated New American cuisine in a gastro-pub setting that has anchored the Orlando food scene for over a decade. Hunger Street Tacos in the Audubon Park neighborhood for the casual option that locals consistently recommend.
🎯 Fun: The Audubon Park Garden District near downtown Orlando has the most concentrated collection of independent restaurants, coffee shops, and bars in the city — a genuine neighborhood destination that rewards the post-game evening. Winter Park’s Park Avenue and Rollins College provide the more upscale alternative.
CINCINNATI, OHIO — Cincinnati Bearcats
Nippert Stadium (40,000) · Oldest active major college football stadium (1901) · Chili city
The Stadium Story: Nippert Stadium is the oldest active major college football stadium in the United States, built in 1901 on the University of Cincinnati campus in Clifton. It is named for James Gamble Nippert — a UC player who died from a tetanus infection in 1924 after his leg was cut by an opponent’s cleat in a game. The stadium sits in one of Cincinnati’s most vibrant neighborhoods, with the Clifton/Gaslight District and the Over-the-Rhine craft beer corridor within easy reach. Cincinnati made the College Football Playoff in 2021 as the first Group of Five program — validation that helped pave the way for the Big 12 invitation that followed.
Cincinnati has one of the best urban craft beer scenes in the Midwest — anchored by a revitalized Over-the-Rhine neighborhood where 19th-century German immigrant breweries have been reborn as the city’s most vibrant entertainment district.
🍺 Drink: Rhinegeist Brewery in Over-the-Rhine is Cincinnati’s craft beer flagship — a massive converted 1895 bottling plant with rooftop ping pong, excellent beers (Truth IPA is the most recognized), and one of the best brewery atmospheres in the Midwest. MadTree Brewing is Cincinnati’s most consistent award-winner — the Happy Amber is the gateway beer and the production facility in Oakley is worth the visit. Braxton Brewing Company in Covington, Kentucky (just across the Ohio River) brings Northern Kentucky craft beer into the Cincinnati market and earns consistent praise.
🍽️ Eat: Skyline Chili — Cincinnati-style chili (a meat sauce with cinnamon, chocolate, and other spices) served over spaghetti or on a hot dog, in a chain that has defined Cincinnati food culture since 1949. Every visitor must try it. Boca in Hyde Park for the fine dining option that has earned a national reputation for Cincinnati cuisine.
🎯 Fun: Over-the-Rhine — the 19th-century German immigrant neighborhood that has been restored into Cincinnati’s most vibrant entertainment district — is the evening destination. The Cincinnati Art Museum in Eden Park is free and has one of the finest collections in the Midwest. The Ohio River bridges between Cincinnati and Covington are worth walking for the view in both directions.
BOULDER, COLORADO — Colorado Buffaloes
Folsom Field (50,183) · Ralphie the Buffalo · Best craft beer city in the Mountain West
The Stadium Story: Folsom Field sits at 5,300 feet elevation with the Flatirons — the iconic slanted rock formations of the Rocky Mountain foothills — visible directly above the west stands. It is one of the most beautiful natural settings in college football. Ralphie, a live buffalo who runs across the field before kickoff and at halftime, is led by a team of student handlers and is the only live animal mascot who actually runs on the field in the Big 12. The Deion Sanders era has brought national attention back to a program that had been dormant for years. Coach Prime’s 2024 season — a 9-4 record with Travis Hunter winning the Heisman Trophy — was one of the great single-season turnarounds in recent Big 12 history. Now in his fourth season in Boulder in 2026, Sanders is under pressure to rebuild after a difficult 3-9 campaign in 2025. The eyes of college football remain on Folsom Field whenever Colorado plays.
Boulder is one of the great American craft beer cities — the home of Avery Brewing, Upslope, Fate Brewing, and Sanitas, surrounded by the Front Range brewery corridor that runs from Fort Collins to Denver.
🍺 Drink: Avery Brewing Company on Nautilus Court is the Boulder craft institution — nationally renowned for bold, creative beers including Maharaja Imperial IPA and White Rascal Belgian white. The tap room and restaurant is one of the most complete brewery experiences in Colorado. Upslope Brewing Company brings clean, mountain-inspired craft beers to a taproom near the foothills — the Craft Lager is the everyday beer that captures Boulder’s outdoor-lifestyle identity. Sanitas Brewing Company on Broadway is the neighborhood brewpub with the best food program in Boulder’s craft scene — baked pretzels, smash burgers, and a rotating tap list that draws a loyal local crowd.
🍽️ Eat: The Kitchen on Pearl Street is Boulder’s most celebrated farm-to-table restaurant — seasonal, locally sourced, James Beard-nominated. Flagstaff House for the special occasion dining with the best view of Boulder’s city lights from the Flagstaff Mountain slopes.
🎯 Fun: Watch Ralphie run before kickoff — the buffalo charging across the field, led by handlers trying to keep pace, is genuinely thrilling and unlike any other college football pregame. The Pearl Street Mall pedestrian corridor is Boulder’s gathering place. The Flatirons hiking trails are steps from campus — a morning hike before any home game is the most Boulder thing you can do.
HOUSTON, TEXAS — Houston Cougars
TDECU Stadium (40,000) · Fourth largest city in America · Most diverse city in the US
The Stadium Story: TDECU Stadium sits near the University of Houston campus in the Third Ward — a historically significant African American neighborhood. Houston joined the Big 12 in 2023 and brought one of the most diverse and vibrant cities in America to the conference’s footprint. The city that is the energy capital of the world is also, quietly, one of America’s most celebrated food cities — more James Beard nominations per capita than almost any city in the country, and a restaurant scene shaped by the 145 languages spoken by its residents.
Houston’s craft beer scene has grown dramatically, anchored by Saint Arnold — America’s oldest craft brewery in Texas — and surrounded by a Heights neighborhood brewery cluster that rivals any in the state.
🍺 Drink: Saint Arnold Brewing Company on Lyons Avenue is Texas’s oldest craft brewery — Fancy Lawnmower is the iconic Houston craft beer, and the beer hall and garden is one of the most beloved communal spaces in the city. Eureka Heights Brew Co. in the Heights is the critical favorite — nationally recognized beers and a taproom atmosphere that captures the Heights’ neighborhood energy. 8th Wonder Brewery in EaDo (East Downtown) combines craft beer with a food program and event space in one of Houston’s most energetic emerging neighborhoods.
🍽️ Eat: Xin Chào in Sugar Land is one of Houston’s most celebrated Vietnamese restaurants — James Beard Award-nominated and a reflection of the Vietnamese community that makes Houston’s food scene irreplaceable. Truth BBQ on Ella Boulevard is the Houston barbecue destination that has earned a place on national best-of lists alongside the Austin and Central Texas standards.
🎯 Fun: The Houston Museum of Fine Arts has a collection that rivals any museum in the South. The Montrose neighborhood — Houston’s most eclectic and walkable — has the most concentrated dining and bar scene in the city. The Space Center Houston, 25 miles southeast, is worth a day trip for the most complete NASA visitor experience in the country.
AMES, IOWA — Iowa State Cyclones
Jack Trice Stadium (61,500) · Named for a pioneering Black athlete · Cyride Country
The Stadium Story: Jack Trice Stadium is named for Jack Trice — Iowa State’s first Black athlete, who was critically injured in his first collegiate game against the University of Minnesota on October 6, 1923, and died two days later from internal injuries sustained when opponents piled on him after plays. A note found in his jacket after the injury read: “My thoughts just before the first real college game of my life. The honor of my race, family and self is at stake. Everyone is expecting me to do big things. I will.” The stadium was renamed for Trice in 1997 after a long student campaign. It is the only major college football stadium in America named for a Black athlete. Iowa State led the 2024 Big 12 with an 8-1 conference record.
Ames is a classic Midwest college town with a craft beer scene that has grown to serve a community that takes its Cyclone football seriously — especially in recent years as the program has risen to genuine Big 12 contention.
🍺 Drink: Wheatsheaf Brewing is Ames’s most celebrated craft brewery — award-winning beers with a taproom that has become the craft beer gathering spot for the Cyclone community. Olde Main Brewing in downtown Ames is the game day brewpub institution — solid craft beers alongside a full restaurant menu in a historic building that fills with cardinal and gold on football Saturdays. Confluence Brewing in Des Moines (30 miles south) is the regional standout for serious craft beer enthusiasts making a day of it.
🍽️ Eat: Hickory Park on South Duff is Ames’s most beloved restaurant — a family-style barbecue and homestyle cooking institution that alumni return to specifically on game day visits. The wait is part of the experience.
🎯 Fun: Read Jack Trice’s note before the game — it is displayed at the stadium and is one of the most powerful documents in college football history. The Iowa State campus is one of the most beautifully landscaped in the Big 12, designed by pioneering landscape architect H.W.S. Cleveland in the 1860s.
LAWRENCE, KANSAS — Kansas Jayhawks
David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium (47,233) · Mass Street · Basketball school with a football revival
The Stadium Story: Kansas Memorial Stadium was built in 1921 as a tribute to Kansas students who died in World War I. The stadium has been known more for the suffering of the fans than the success of the team for most of its recent history — Kansas had a 248-game losing streak against ranked opponents before Lance Leipold arrived in 2021 and began one of college football’s most celebrated recent turnarounds. The 2022 season — when Kansas opened 5-0 and fans stormed the field in their own stadium after beating Houston — captured a program and fanbase experiencing sustained winning for the first time in years. Lawrence’s Massachusetts Street (Mass Street) is one of the great college town pedestrian corridors in the Big 12.
Lawrence has one of the Big 12’s best small college town craft beer scenes — anchored by Free State Brewing, the first legal brewery in Kansas since Prohibition.
🍺 Drink: Free State Brewing Company on Massachusetts Street is Lawrence’s most significant craft brewery — the first legal brewery in Kansas since Prohibition, opened in 1989, and still the gathering place for the Lawrence craft beer community. Adambier and Ad Astra Ale are the flagships. Lawrence Beer Co. brings a second production brewery with consistent critical praise for quality and range. Fields & Ivy Brewery is the newer standout earning raves for creative small-batch production. The Bourgeois Pig on Massachusetts Street is the Lawrence institution for cocktails and craft beer — creative drinks, a serious tap list, and a coffeehouse atmosphere that makes it equally good at any hour. One of the more charming bars in the Big 12.
🍽️ Eat: 715 on Massachusetts Street is Lawrence’s most celebrated fine dining restaurant — Italian-inspired, locally sourced, and consistently the top dining recommendation from locals and visitors alike. Mass Street Fish House & Raw Bar on Massachusetts Street is the Lawrence dining destination worth going out of your way for — fresh fish and oysters delivered daily, a raw bar program that rivals anything in Kansas City, and the kind of quality that makes you stop and reconsider what you thought a landlocked college town could deliver on the plate. If you’re in Lawrence, eat here.
🎯 Fun: Massachusetts Street on a game day is the Big 12’s most walkable college town corridor — independently owned shops, bars, and restaurants for six blocks. The Spencer Museum of Art on campus has one of the most underrated university art collections in the country. And the John Brown Museum in Osawatomie, 40 miles south, is one of the most significant Civil War-era sites in Kansas.
MANHATTAN, KANSAS — Kansas State Wildcats
Bill Snyder Family Stadium (50,000) · The Little Apple · The greatest turnaround in college football history
The Stadium Story: Bill Snyder Family Stadium is named for Bill Snyder — who arrived at Kansas State in 1989 to find the worst program in college football (a 299-game stretch without a winning season) and rebuilt it into a perennial Big 12 contender through the 1990s and 2000s. ESPN has called it the greatest turnaround in college football history. The stadium was renamed for Snyder in 1996, while he was still coaching, in recognition of what he had accomplished. Manhattan, Kansas — nicknamed “The Little Apple” — is about as deep into American heartland football culture as the sport goes.
Manhattan is a small college town with genuine craft beer options that have grown as Kansas’s brewing laws evolved.
🍺 Drink: Manhattan Brewing Company is the local craft anchor — consistently the top-rated option in Manhattan for craft beer enthusiasts. Tallgrass Tap House brings the regional craft brand to a downtown taproom format. Bourbon & Baker combines craft cocktails and spirits with a thoughtful food program that has elevated Manhattan’s drinking options beyond what its size would normally support.
🍽️ Eat: Harry’s Restaurant on Poyntz Avenue is the Manhattan institution — a steakhouse that has been feeding K-State fans for decades and remains the game day dinner destination that alumni reference first.
🎯 Fun: Learn the Bill Snyder story before you arrive — it is genuinely one of the most inspiring narratives in American sports. The Konza Prairie Biological Station — a pristine tallgrass prairie reserve 10 miles south of Manhattan — is one of the last large remnants of the Great Plains ecosystem and genuinely beautiful on a fall afternoon before a game.
STILLWATER, OKLAHOMA — Oklahoma State Cowboys
Boone Pickens Stadium (55,509) · Gallagher-Iba Arena is 500 yards away · Oklahoma passion
The Stadium Story: Boone Pickens Stadium is named for legendary Oklahoma oilman and philanthropist T. Boone Pickens, who donated over $165 million to Oklahoma State athletics — the largest single athletic donation in college sports history at the time. Pickens grew up in Holdenville, Oklahoma and attended Oklahoma State. The stadium’s expansion and renovation transformed it from a modest facility into one of the best game-day environments in the Big 12. Stillwater is a passionate college town where the Cowboys’ football and wrestling programs command genuine statewide attention.
Stillwater is a small Oklahoma college town with a craft beer scene that has grown as Oklahoma’s laws evolved — and the bar scene on The Strip near campus is one of the more lively in the Big 12’s smaller markets.
🍺 Drink: Tumbleweed Spirits is Stillwater’s craft distillery standout — Oklahoma whiskey and spirits that have earned a following among serious craft spirits drinkers. Hideaway Pizza — born in Stillwater in 1957 and the most beloved pizza chain in Oklahoma — has a bar program worth mentioning because the pizza-and-beer combination is non-negotiable on game day. Eskimo Joe’s on The Strip is the Stillwater institution — a bar and restaurant open since 1975 that alumni return to specifically on game weekends. The cheese fries are famous.
🍽️ Eat: Eskimo Joe’s — the cheese fries have been described as the most important appetizer in Oklahoma football culture. Kilkenny’s Irish Pub for the full pub experience that Stillwater fans gravitate toward on game weekends.
🎯 Fun: The combination of Boone Pickens Stadium and Gallagher-Iba Arena (home of the Cowboys’ wrestling dynasty and basketball program) within 500 yards of each other makes the Oklahoma State athletic campus one of the most compact and energetic in college sports. The National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater is the only museum of its kind in the world.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — TCU Horned Frogs
Amon G. Carter Stadium (47,000) · 2022 CFP Finalists · Cowtown
The Stadium Story: Amon G. Carter Stadium is named for the legendary Fort Worth publisher and civic booster Amon G. Carter Sr., who founded the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and was such a passionate Fort Worth advocate that he allegedly refused to eat in Dallas when he visited. TCU made the College Football Playoff national championship game in 2022 — the program’s biggest moment since the Sammy Baugh era of the 1930s. Fort Worth is Texas’s fifth-largest city and has developed its own distinct identity separate from Dallas — the Stockyards, Sundance Square, and a growing arts and food scene that make it genuinely worth the visit.
Fort Worth has a craft beer scene that has grown significantly in recent years, with several excellent taprooms complementing a food and entertainment scene that ranges from historic stockyards to world-class museums.
🍺 Drink: Cowtown Brewing Company is Fort Worth’s flagship craft brewery — the Horse With No Name IPA and the German-style High Brau lager are the standouts, with barbecue on the outdoor deck completing the Texas craft experience. Martin House Brewing Company is the Fort Worth craft brewery earning national attention for creative, boundary-pushing beers. HopFusion Ale Works is the newest addition earning consistent top ratings for quality and range.
🍽️ Eat: Lonesome Dove Western Bistro in the Stockyards — Chef Tim Love’s celebrated upscale Western cuisine, with a menu built around regional Texas ingredients and game meats. Heim Barbecue for the Fort Worth barbecue that has earned a place alongside Austin’s best.
🎯 Fun: The Fort Worth Stockyards — the historic cattle town district where longhorns are still driven down Exchange Avenue twice daily — is one of the most distinctive urban experiences in Texas. The Fort Worth Museum of Science and History and the Kimbell Art Museum (one of America’s finest mid-sized art museums) make the city’s cultural offerings genuinely competitive with Dallas.
LUBBOCK, TEXAS — Texas Tech Red Raiders
Jones AT&T Stadium (60,454) · Guns Up · Wreck ‘Em Tech · Wine country surprise
The Stadium Story: Jones AT&T Stadium is one of the most passionate home environments in the Big 12 — the Red Raider fan base in Lubbock gives the program a home field advantage that visiting coaches consistently note. Lubbock sits in the Texas Panhandle at 3,200 feet elevation on the Llano Estacado — the “Staked Plain” that is one of the largest mesas in the world. What most visitors don’t know: the Llano Estacado is serious wine country. Llano Estacado Winery, Mcpherson Cellars, and La Diosa Cellars produce wines that have earned national recognition and make Lubbock one of the most surprising wine destinations in Texas.
Lubbock is a flat, spread-out West Texas city that has developed a craft beer and wine scene well beyond what its relative isolation would suggest.
🍺 Drink: Lone Star Taps & Caps is Lubbock’s craft beer anchor — a serious selection of local and regional craft beers in a comfortable taproom setting. Texas Tech Cellar Bar on 19th Street is the game day institution near campus. Mcpherson Cellars on Texas Avenue is the Lubbock wine destination — award-winning Texas wines in a downtown tasting room that makes Lubbock a legitimate wine stop for visitors who expect nothing of the kind.
🍽️ Eat: Cocina de la Familia for the Tex-Mex that reflects Lubbock’s West Texas border culture. The Depot District restaurants and bars fill the converted railroad district near downtown and are the evening destination for game day visitors.
🎯 Fun: Visit Mcpherson Cellars or Llano Estacado Winery for the most surprising wine experience in Texas — the Llano Estacado terroir produces genuinely distinctive wines, particularly from Tempranillo and Viognier. The Buddy Holly Center on Crickets Avenue honors Lubbock’s most famous son, who grew up here and launched rock and roll before dying at 22 in the 1959 plane crash that also killed Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper.
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH — Utah Utes
Rice-Eccles Stadium (51,444) · PAC-12 champion 2021-22 · Rise and Shout
The Stadium Story: Rice-Eccles Stadium hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics — one of only two college football stadiums to have hosted an Olympic Games (alongside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum). Utah won back-to-back Pac-12 championships in 2021 and 2022 before joining the Big 12 in 2024 with two conference titles to their credit. The stadium sits at 4,600 feet elevation at the base of the Wasatch Mountains, giving it a dramatic mountain backdrop visible from every seat.
Salt Lake City has one of the most interesting craft beer scenes in the Mountain West — shaped by Utah’s distinctive alcohol laws (beer above 5% ABV sold only in state-licensed liquor stores until 2019) into something genuinely creative and resilient.
🍺 Drink: Epic Brewing Company on Broadway is SLC’s craft beer flagship — Big Bad Baptist Imperial Stout is one of the most decorated craft beers in the Mountain West. Uinta Brewing Company is Utah’s largest and most distributed craft brewery — organic, consistent, and widely respected. Avenues Proper on Second Avenue is SLC’s original neighborhood brewpub — small-batch house-brewed beer alongside a chef-driven contemporary American menu. Beer Bar on Main Street has 150+ beers by the bottle and can with 30 rotating taps — the most serious craft beer selection in the city.
🍽️ Eat: Pago on South 900 East is SLC’s most celebrated farm-to-table restaurant — seasonal, locally sourced, and consistently the top dining recommendation from Utah food writers. The Red Iguana for the best Mexican food in Utah, in a city with a surprisingly strong Mexican food tradition.
🎯 Fun: Temple Square in downtown SLC — the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including the Salt Lake Temple and the Tabernacle Choir — is one of the most visited sites in the American West. The Natural History Museum of Utah on the University of Utah campus has one of the world’s great dinosaur fossil collections. And the Wasatch Mountains above the city — accessible by ski resorts including Alta, Snowbird, and Park City within an hour of downtown — make SLC one of the best mountain destinations in America.
MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — West Virginia Mountaineers
Milan Puskar Stadium (60,000) · Almost Heaven · Country Roads
The Stadium Story: Milan Puskar Stadium sits on the banks of the Monongahela River in Morgantown — the state’s largest city and home of West Virginia University. Milan Puskar was a WVU alumnus and pharmaceutical entrepreneur who made a transformative donation to WVU athletics. Before every WVU home game, John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” — written about West Virginia — plays in the stadium, and 60,000 fans sing every word. It is one of the most emotionally resonant stadium traditions in college football. WVU is the only major university in West Virginia, which means the entire state’s football identity is concentrated here in a way that is genuinely intense.
Morgantown’s craft beer scene has grown significantly, anchored by a downtown “Morgantown Mile” corridor and the broader West Virginia craft brewing movement that has produced 30-40 active craft breweries statewide.
🍺 Drink: Mountain State Brewing Company is West Virginia’s most established craft brewery — one of the state’s original microbreweries with multiple Morgantown locations and the Almost Heaven Amber Ale as the flagship that captures the state’s identity in its name. Chestnut Brew Works on Chestnut Street is the current critical favorite for Morgantown craft beer — creative, well-executed beers in a downtown taproom. Iron Horse Tavern in the Morgantown Mile specializes in West Virginia craft beer and specialty cocktails in a downtown location that is central to the game day corridor.
🍽️ Eat: Pies & Pints is the Morgantown game day institution — creative flatbread pizzas alongside a serious craft beer selection in a restaurant that has expanded across West Virginia and beyond. Black Bear Burritos on High Street is the WVU institution that alumni reference as the late-night post-game destination that defines college food culture in Morgantown.
🎯 Fun: Sing Country Roads at the stadium. Know every word. Be prepared to cry. It is, without overstating it, one of the most genuinely moving stadium traditions in American sports — 60,000 people singing John Denver in the Appalachian hills of West Virginia. The PRT (Personal Rapid Transit) system — WVU’s automated people mover connecting the campus’s three sections — is one of the most unusual transit systems in American higher education and worth experiencing on game day. The New River Gorge National Park, 60 miles south, is one of America’s newest and most spectacular national parks.
