The 5 Ugliest College Football Fields in America

Ugly is in the eye of the beholder. But in some cases, you’ve got to believe that every single beholder agrees on what constitutes ugly. As such, we’re confident you’ll agree with the five picks we’ve made for the ugliest college football fields in America.

By and large, we like the football fields — both natural grass and artificial turf — at American college and university stadiums, with Iowa State University’s and the University of Colorado’s fields among our favorites. However, there are a select few fields that metaphorically tear up our turf.

Eastern Washington University

Roos Field at Eastern Washington University

Marketing Touchdown?

The god-awful bright red turf installed in 2010 at Eastern Washington University’s Roos Field tops our list. Former NFL player Michael Roos, an alumnus of Eastern Washington, chipped in $500,000 for the green-to-red turf transformation — a project that, in large part, was launched as a marketing ploy.

“The red turf is going to make a significant difference at the box office, in marketing and in merchandising,” Eastern Washington’s athletic director, Bill Chaves, said in 2010.

That may be so, but from our perspective, the red turf has made a significant difference only when it comes to stepping up the ugly quotient of college football fields. Roos Field isn’t alone in offending our eyes, though. Here are the five college football fields that we’ve declared the ugliest in America.

1. Roos Field

Roos Field

Eastern Washington University
Cheney, WA
Turf colors: Red, white and black
Our take: We’re seeing red over this hideous turf.

2. Lindenwood Stadium

Lindenwood-Belleville

Lindenwood University-Belleville
Belleville, IL
Turf colors: Red and white stripes with black accents
Our take: Whoever decided this striped turf was a bright idea should be wearing jail pinstripes.

3. Albertsons Stadium

Boise State University turf

Boise State University
Boise, ID
Turf colors: Blue, orange and white
Our take: Boise State started the terrible trend of colored football turf back in 1986 when it installed the now-famous (or is that infamous?) Smurf Turf.

4. Estes Stadium

Central Arkansas University turf

Central Arkansas University
Conway, AR
Turf colors: Purple and gray stripes with predominantly black end zones
Our take: These two colors aren’t terrible on their own, but when they’re thrown together in a pattern of alternating stripes, they’re pretty unappealing.

5. Brooks Stadium

Coastal Carolina University

Coastal Carolina University
Conway, SC
Turf colors: Teal, light brown and white
Our take: Actually, it’s hard to beat SB Nation’s assessment of the teal-dominated field: “This actually isn’t the most offensive artificial turf color out there. It’s still offensive, though.”

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John Egan

John Egan is the former editor in chief of LawnStarter.com. Now, he is a freelance writer extraordinaire. He lives in Austin, Texas.