Even in a poor economy, the arms race rages on in collegiate sports. The University of Minnesota's new TCF Bank Stadium is a notable case in point.

At a cost of $288.5 million, the new on-campus home of Gophers football is part of the U's effort to keep up with the rest of the Big Ten in the competition for state-of-the-art facilities that can attract recruits, donors, season-ticket buyers and million-dollar coaches. It starts with the locker room. At TCF stadium, the home team's dressing area is 60 yards long, shaped like a football and lined with 120 cherry-wood lockers. The flat-screen TVs will soon be installed. It may still smell like a locker room on game days, but it's likely to make a positive impression on 17-year-old high school recruits. So will the well-appointed recruiting lounge, where prospective Gophers and their parents will be wooed in style. The red brick looks familiar, but TCF isn't your father's Memorial Stadium.

The Gophers left campus and moved to the Metrodome in 1982. There have been memorable victories -- and monumental losses -- in downtown Minneapolis. But as the Dome aged and as colleges around the Big Ten and the rest of the country upped the ante with new or greatly improved on-campus venues, momentum built for a move back to the university. The relocation will be complete on Sept. 12, when the Gophers open the season vs. Air Force.

After a recent tour, we offer these impressions on how well TCF stadium will stack up for fans more used to the climate-controlled Teflon structure west of the Mississippi. We'll leave the debate over the merits of the arms race for another day.

•Atmosphere: College football should be played on campus. Period. On a crisp fall afternoon, the fan experience in and around TCF stadium should compete with the best in the Big Ten, from Ann Arbor to Madison. Expect the relatively few bars and restaurants on and around campus to be crowded, especially with the alcohol ban at TCF.

•Convenience: Some local observers have predicted traffic and parking nightmares, but U officials contend there will be plenty of nearby parking spots even with sellout crowds of 50,700. Traffic flow in and out of the area is likely to be challenging, though -- even more so than in downtown Minneapolis. The Central Corridor light-rail line eventually will help matters.

•Amenities: More concessions, more bathrooms and plenty of concourse room. Unlike at the Dome, fans will have a shot at using a restroom and grabbing a burger without missing nearly a quarter of action. And the views of the field from the main concourse areas are terrific. TCF also has plenty of swanky club and suite seating for those willing to spend the big bucks.

•From the seats: The sight lines are excellent, with views of campus and the downtown Minneapolis skyline from the open west end of the horseshoe. Because the stadium is more of a boutique size than is typical in the Big Ten, even the worst seat in the house is likely to seem fairly close to the action -- and much closer than the upper deck of the Dome was. The giant high-definition scoreboard is impressive. But the most striking difference from the Dome: fresh air and open sky.

• Winning: No guarantees here. A sellout crowd in the new stadium should create more of a home-field advantage than the dreary Metrodome, especially with seating built so close to the field. But the boost the new stadium gives to recruiting may ultimately determine wins and losses.

In 2004, while the Gophers warmed up during their first visit to the newly renovated Camp Randall Stadium at the University of Wisconsin, former U coach Glen Mason looked at the 83,000 red-clad fans filling the seats and asked, "How do you compete with this?"

Well, coach, TCF Bank Stadium is a start.