Top 10 College Football Tailgating Experiences in the SEC

Top 10 College Football Tailgating Experiences in the SEC
Fact Checked by Nate Hamilton

While the summer solstice won’t arrive until Thursday, there’s no denying that the fall is arriving with lightning speed which means that SEC football will be here before we know it.  

In places like Knoxville, that means that thousands of gridiron revelers will make their way along the banks of the Tennessee River to cheer on Josh Heupel and Tennessee Volunteers football as the SEC stalwart looks to make their first trip to the CFP in 2024.  

While the team at Bet365 TN has UT at +900 to win the SEC in 2024, ranking in a tie with Alabama for fifth out of 16 teams behind LSU (+800) and ahead of Missouri (+1200), there’s no denying that the Vols offer some top-notch hospitality on fall Saturdays.  

We’re getting closer to tailgating season for college football fans across the country. BetTennessee.com broke from our normal Tennessee sports betting coverage to figure out where the best tailgating experiences are out of the SEC. Using StadiumJourney.com, and Sports-Reference.com, we factored in food and beverage, atmosphere, fans, return on investment, and overall records in our scoring system to find the top 10 campuses for college football tailgating in the SEC. 

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10 Best SEC Tailgating Experiences

This info won't help you on Tennessee sports betting apps, but it will help you find the best tailgating locations in College Football. 

Rank 

Team 

Total Score 

 1 

Alabama Crimson Tide 

273 

 2 

Oklahoma Sooners 

254 

 3 

LSU Tigers 

234 

 4 

Tennessee Volunteers 

232 

 5 

Florida Gators 

222 

 6 

Auburn Tigers 

211 

 7 

Georgia Bulldogs 

203 

 8 

Texas A&M Aggies 

192 

 9 

Arkansas Razorbacks 

172 

 10 

Ole Miss Rebels 

152 

Where UT Ranks SEC Wide in Tailgating

Based on our scoring system, UT finished with the fourth best tailgating total, with the Volunteers netting 232 points to finish just behind the Bayou Bengals, who had 234 points in total.  

Atop the SEC tailgating standings for 2024 were Alabama, which scored 273 points to finish well ahead of the next closest program (Oklahoma, at 254 points), while the Florida Gators were No. 5 with 222 points to their name.  

Throw in Auburn (211 points), Georgia (203 points), Texas A&M (192 points), Arkansas (172 points) and Ole Miss (152 points) and you have the full top 10 among SEC tailgating stalwarts.  

Among the six schools to not make the cut were Nashville’s Vanderbilt Commodores, who were joined by Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina and Texas in not making the SEC-wide top 10 in the newly expanded, 16 team collective of some of the biggest brands in college sports.  

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Author

Christopher Boan

Christopher Boan writes for BetTennessee.com and has been covering sports and sports betting for more than seven years, with experience at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.