Camp Randall Stadium at a fever pitch

Photojournalist and Cal Poly student, Ian Billings has spent his summer away from the Central Coast in Madison, Wisconsin, where Big 10 Football is king.

Billings recently documented Madison on game-day, the beauty of Camp Randall Stadium, and a sea of red and white. Fans at the game saw Wisconsin beat Tennessee Tech 48-0, but the spectacle of a great college sports town on a football Saturday in September is timeless.

Photos by Ian Billings

From Ian –

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of photographing a Big Ten football game. This wasn’t like any game I had photographed before. The sidelines were full of equipment and other media while around me sat 83,000 fans; the experience was more comparable to a professional sporting event than any Cal Poly game or college football game I have ever experienced.

I arrived a few hours before game time and as I walked to the stadium, Madison’s commitment to the Badgers became clear. I saw people offering their lawns for parking, people in dressed red and a great many tailgaters. After some confusion and a few wrong turns, something I would experience often that day thanks to the enormous size of Camp Randall, I arrived at the stadium.

Gradually the stands began to fill as enthusiastic students and fans filtered in. After a rousing performance by the Wisconsin Marching band its was time for the game to get underway. I would soon realize that this was the same game I have been photographing for years, what really made it big was everything else around it. From the band members circulating through the aisles playing to any fans, Bucky Badger doing a pushups for every score and the “jumping around” after the 3rd quarter, it became clear people don’t just go for the game, they go for the atmosphere and tradition. Madison has been called the greatest college sports town in America and it lived up to its billing. The students love the Badgers, the town loves the Badgers; I witnessed that this past Saturday when I saw Camp Randall turn red. -IB