I went to Ole Miss this weekend, and I was truly blown away by the whole stadium experience.

Vaught-Hemingway Stadium holds 64,038 fans, which is smaller than most other stadiums in the SEC, but you would never know it once you are inside. The way it is designed, wide and open, makes the crowd feel even larger and louder than its numbers. Every cheer echoes, every chant rolls through the stands and the energy feels tireless.

One of the most unique parts of the game-day experience is the fourth-quarter sequence. I was not expecting a firework show, and when it lit up over the stadium, the whole place was booming. Between that and the chants, the crowd never stopped. Hearing the drawn-out “First dowwwnnn, Ollllleee Missss” and the nonstop “Hotty Toddy” chants really put me in the tradition of the school. It is the kind of thing you have to be there to fully appreciate.

And then there is a night game in Oxford. That takes everything and cranks it up a level. By the time kickoff comes in the evening, the energy is overflowing into the stadium. Under the lights, it does not just feel like another football game; it feels like an event, a celebration and one of the best atmospheres I have ever experienced at a sporting event. The crowd was a difference-maker on Saturday, when the game came down to the wire on an Ole Miss strip fumble with under two minutes left in the game that finally sealed it.

The final score was Ole Miss 41, Arkansas 35