ESPN undervalues Lane Stadium as one of the best stadium's in the country

When opposing teams come to Lane Stadium, they know it's not going to be an easy game. To say that Lane Stadium carries some of the best college football traditions out there would be an understatement. Virginia Tech fans know that.

Last season before Old Dominion came to Blacksburg for the season-opener, head coach Ricky Rahne prepped his team for the environment they were going to enter by playing Metallica's Enter Sandman over and over and over and over in practice. ESPN ranked college football's Top 25 stadium and Lane Stadium made the list, but you could make the case that it is undervalued.

ESPN ranks Lane Stadium 15th best stadium in college football

ESPN ranked Lane Stadium the 15th best stadium in college football after they polled 14 of their college football reporters, and you could make the argument that it's rather low compared to some of the other stadiums on the list. Here is what Andrea Adelson said about Lane Stadium,

""Enter Sandman" has become an iconic part of Virginia Tech football, and it is hard to believe this tradition is only 25 years old. The song itself, by Metallica, has been played before the football team enters Lane Stadium since 2000, and it all started to help christen the first videoboard in the stadium. Fun fact: "Enter Sandman" was chosen over "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses and "Sirius" by The Alan Parsons Project, which is the Chicago Bulls' iconic entrance song.

The tradition of the crowd jumping up and down as the song plays began Dec. 1, 2001 -- when a band member started to jump and others followed. The cue is easy enough. The beginning instrumentals to the song start playing, signaling the time is near. A pregame highlight video plays, the players gather in the tunnel, and then whoosh, the team runs onto the field after touching the Hokie stone as the song lyrics start playing. The crowd screams, "Exit light! Enter night! Take my hand! We're off to never-never land!""

- Andrea Adelson

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that it should be No. 1, but No. 15 seems a little low. Enter Sandman is a tradition that is up there with some of the best the country has to offer and some great programs. The five ranked ahead of Virginia Tech are Neyland Stadium at Tennessee (No. 10), Memorial Stadium at Clemson (No. 11), Michie Stadium at Army (No. 12), Kyle Field, at Texas A&M (No. 13), and Autzen Stadium at Oregon (No. 14).

This season, Virginia Tech will welcome Marshall, Rutgers, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Clemson, and Virginia to Lane Stadium and if you ask all six of those coaches, they would tell you there are going to be some sleepless nights ahead of their trip to Blacksburg and dealing with Gameday Tradition that is one of the best the sport has to offer.