Hitting the road

I'll be heading down to Austin, Texas, in less than 15 hours and the trip got me thinking about great places to watch a college baseball game.

The University of Texas has a great baseball tradition. I went to a game their last year for the first time and came away unimpressed by Disch-Falk Field, but the atmosphere was great.

Same goes for LSU baseball. Alex Box Stadium is the same way (sorry LSU fans). Structurally it's outdated, but put 8,000 screaming fans in there and it's magical.

Rice University has turned what once was a substandard high school-type field into a palace. Take in a night game at Reckling Park and check out one of the neatest views of the Houston skyline.

Personally, I'm partial to watching a game at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field in Lafayette at my alma mater, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. There's nothing like looking at one of the neater backdrops in the state -- pine trees behind the left-field fence and the track behind the right-field line.

As for underrated places to watch a game, try Louisiana Tech, which has done an extreme makeover on its facility; Southern Mississippi; Tulane and the University of Houston.