• Help Shape NCAA Football: Band Locations

    The NCAA Football team is reaching out to the community and wants your help in gathering team reference details for possible inclusion in the years to come. After asking for info on Cheerleader Chants several months ago, they now want your help in learning where each college football marching band sits in their home stadium, as well as bowl, conference championship and neutral site locations.

    Share your team - or any team you know - info in this thread with a photo reference/circling the section on a seating chart image. A written description would also work, but obviously a photo reference would be more beneficial.

    UPDATE - Band seating sections have been gathered for ALL venues in NCAA Football. Great work by the community! Feel free to double check the list and make sure the info for your favorite program is correct.

    Comments 400 Comments
    1. OSUCowboyofMD's Avatar
      OSUCowboyofMD -
      Quote Originally Posted by cdj View Post
      Based on this pic, maybe 127? There seems to be a mass concentration of white in that area by the cheerleaders. This may be one we can't solve...



      EDIT - Actually, those look like tubas in the lower left which would place the band in 135 or 136 or so.
      i think i might have found a picture close enough. But again this looks like a pre-renovation picture
      [SCROLL TO THE VERY BOTTOM]
      http://alumni.wku.edu/s/808/images/e...tadium1280.jpg

      They are cut off in the bottom right.
    1. JeffHCross's Avatar
      JeffHCross -
      OSU, if you're talking about the picture in the bottom row on the left, that's the same one I linked to. It's definitely pre-renovation.
    1. gschwendt's Avatar
      gschwendt -
      Colorado State - Hughes Stadium

      Section: Front 3/4 of N



      Based on this video:
      Spoiler: show


      The band sits at the 50 yard line of the student section taking up about the bottom 3/4s
      Section N??






      Panorama (Link)
    1. Paakaa10's Avatar
      Paakaa10 -
      I just wanted to start today off with another round of thanks and congratulations for all who have been part of this conversation and research to help the NCAA development team. As a few have said, I'm sure nobody down at EA HQ would've expected us to put forth these results within just a few days of web-based research. The well seems to be drying up at the other three places that this call has been posted--except for the odd contributor telling us something we already have written down--so it looks like it's down to us to continue the research on the last few school stadiums and what we have left of the bowl games.

      Chris (cdj), do note that the Sun Bowl sponsorship has changed to Hyundai from Brut; just didn't want there to be any confusion when you go through and add to our tally and see that I've listed it as the "Hyundai Sun Bowl" in my post.

      I'll literally be driving out of Maine on my way to Michigan at this time next week, so my research and posting availability here might be a little limited as we get our things packed in the week to come. I'll try to make the time to search and add at least one section--based on what's left over--each night leading up to then.

      Thanks all!
    1. Paakaa10's Avatar
      Paakaa10 -
      Quote Originally Posted by cdj View Post
      I'd say we try and figure out where it was in the old stadium and provide that for an 'educated guess' for their new stadium if it is in NCAA 12. Sometimes new stadiums don't get in unless the team gets a chance to visit it once officially opened to get measurements, pics, etc. as was the case with Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium.
      This is a good point. Makes sense to plan for Fouts Field then because it might be a few years of development before the team can get bands in their sections anyway. From the Wikipedia on the new stadium, it didn't sound 100% promising for North Texas playing there on time either. At least we can probably consult NCAA 11 and look at Fouts Field to try and figure out where the student section is versus the away team section for a start.
    1. Paakaa10's Avatar
      Paakaa10 -
      Quote Originally Posted by cdj View Post
      Based on this pic, maybe 127? There seems to be a mass concentration of white in that area by the cheerleaders. This may be one we can't solve...



      EDIT - Actually, those look like tubas in the lower left which would place the band in 135 or 136 or so.
      You've got way better eyes than I do if you're seeing tubas in the lower left of that picture haha. In some of these cases, we might need to just do the best that we can and then leave it to the dev team to actually contact athletic departments or something. At least with these pictures we've provided something to work with when this becomes something they can do in the game.
    1. Paakaa10's Avatar
      Paakaa10 -
      The Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl--formerly known as the Emerald Bowl--is played annually at the home of the San Francisco Giants, AT&T Park. I have yet to play that bowl myself in NCAA 11, but I'm assuming that the team doesn't have the license to use the actual stadium. Regardless, I've tried to do some research on where the bands sit. Here's the seating chart:



      Home Band: Front of Section 137
      Away Band: Front of Section 108

      The California band sat in Section 137 according to these pictures from the 2008 game:





      This picture MIGHT show where the other band sits--in Section 108 or so behind the opposite end zone--but I'm not sure because it might just be an empty section:



      I have yet to see a shot that shows a band on either side of the field, so I'm thinking that bands are behind endzones.
    1. JBHuskers's Avatar
      JBHuskers -
      Eastern Michigan - Rynearson Stadium

      Section: Front of 102



      http://easterneagles.wordpress.com/2...arson-stadium/

      the EMU Marching Band, “The Pride of the Peninsula” currently sits at the front of section 102, and generally speaking,
    1. Paakaa10's Avatar
      Paakaa10 -
      I've seen video of the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl in NCAA 11 and I'm pretty sure it's just contested in a generic outdoor stadium for the sake of the game; another one of those issues with licensing the actual Tropicana Field layout, assuredly. Nonetheless, since this research is being done for future reference, here's the seating chart:




      Home (LOU) Band: Front of Sections 140 & 138 (Better pic)
      Away (USM) Band:

      Here's a live shot to show the layout in the stadium:



      Haven't been able to find any really solid pictures of the crowd during the game being played at this point, however.

      EDIT

      Wouldn't blow me out of the water to learn that the bands sit behind the endzones in the same way that they do at AT&T Park for the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl/Emerald Bowl, however. Seems to be a preferred arrangement for these football-in-baseball-stadium setups.

      ***

      We already have the home team band's location, and now I've found the away team band location.

      Home Band: 138 & 140
      AWAY BAND: 111 & 113

      Seating Chart:


      Pictures with the away band in the background and some sweaty dudes in front of them:



      You can see the section label for 209 above the band in the first picture above, which is how I got the section here.
    1. cdj's Avatar
      cdj -
      Quote Originally Posted by Paakaa10 View Post
      You've got way better eyes than I do if you're seeing tubas in the lower left of that picture haha. In some of these cases, we might need to just do the best that we can and then leave it to the dev team to actually contact athletic departments or something. At least with these pictures we've provided something to work with when this becomes something they can do in the game.
      Actually, now that I look at it with a night's rest, those aren't tubas but rather the other team's cheerleaders (or people in yellow/gold). I'm baffled on where their band may be. My guess now is back to 127 (approximately) by the cheerleaders in red.
    1. Paakaa10's Avatar
      Paakaa10 -
      Now I KNOW that Reliant Stadium is in the NCAA games, so this one is more relevant in the short term; looks like one team band (Away band) sits in Section 135 and the other (Home band) sits in Section 115 on the seating chart below:



      Here are images from the game being played in 2006:


    1. Paakaa10's Avatar
      Paakaa10 -
      Another bowl game at an NFL field that I'm pretty certain is in NCAA; the bands sit in Sections 122 (Away) and 145 (Home) on the seating chart:



      The following picture from the 2008 game is pretty clear about the locations:



      On the far right of this 2009 game picture, you can see the bandleader's ladder in front of the band section behind the endzone:

    1. Paakaa10's Avatar
      Paakaa10 -
      There's only been one TicketCity Bowl--this year's--but the stadium it is played it is far older and more historic. As far as I can tell from recent pictures of games played at the Cotton Bowl, the bands are seated in Sections 28 (Away) and 9 (Home):



      Here are some pictures, first from the 2007 game:



      Another picture from the same game in case anybody thinks I'm slightly off for section numbers:



      Don't have the year for this picture, but the band is fairly easy to find:

    1. Paakaa10's Avatar
      Paakaa10 -
      And after a post about the old Cotton Bowl Stadium, might as well follow it up with the band information on the new Cotton Bowl Classic held at Cowboys Stadium; I can be pretty sure that the LSU band is in Section 145.

      Home Band: Section 145
      Away Band: Section 120



      You can see the SEC band section on the left side of the image behind these ladies:



      Another view of that same band section from a different seat in the stadium:



      A&M Band open section here (Link)
    1. Paakaa10's Avatar
      Paakaa10 -
      From the historical pictures I've looked at for the Sugar Bowl at the Superdome, it would appear that the bands have special seating at field level during the course of the game; I don't have a good picture that shows both bands, but I would assume that these sections mirror one another. Let's begin with the seating chart:



      Virginia Tech's band on the right side of the picture:



      Alabama's band at the top left of the picture at field level:



      LSU's band at the top left at field level:



      Both Bands on Field Level, Opposite Sides



      Both bands, field level opposite sides

    1. JeffHCross's Avatar
      JeffHCross -
      Quote Originally Posted by cdj View Post
      Actually, now that I look at it with a night's rest, those aren't tubas but rather the other team's cheerleaders (or people in yellow/gold).
      Yeah ... I wondered what the hell you were seeing last night, but decided to let it go in case I was missing something


      Also, Paakaa, your Virginia Tech image in the last post is a broken link.
    1. Paakaa10's Avatar
      Paakaa10 -
      Quote Originally Posted by JeffHCross View Post
      Also, Paakaa, your Virginia Tech image in the last post is a broken link.
      If you click on it, it should open the full-size image; just did that and it worked for me. True that it doesn't show up within the post itself, however.
    1. Paakaa10's Avatar
      Paakaa10 -
      This is also the home of the Arizona State Sun Devils, whose band sits in Section 37; from the actual Insight Bowl images I've been looking through, however, I've found a band placed in Section 24:

      Home Band: Section 24
      Away Band: Section 13



      Here is the accompanying live image; note the section labels:



      A wider-angle shot presumable looking at the same band section:



      Haven't found any shots that show multiple bands yet.

      EDIT (cdj)

      Both Bands

    1. Paakaa10's Avatar
      Paakaa10 -
      This was far easier than I expected it to be; the bands sit in Sections (Away) 108 and (Home) 123:



      Empty space where Virginia Tech's band would be sitting:



      Band seated on the opposite side of the field from the above image:

    1. Paakaa10's Avatar
      Paakaa10 -
      This bowl used to be known as the PapaJohns.com Bowl, which was a much better name because their pizza is tasty and compasses can't be eaten. Oh well; the bands for this game appear to be seated in the lower parts Sections 32 and 39. It's hard to tell with the angle of the photographs I found:

      Home Band: Front of Section 39
      Away Band: Front of Section 32

      PDF Link: http://www.bbvacompassbowl.com/image...ting_Chart.pdf

      Section 32 (?) Band:



      Section 39 (?) Band:



      Would appreciate other sets of eyes trying to match the photos to the seating chart.