Went to the Orange Bowl when FSU beat the cornshuckers for the 1993 National Championship. Also was at the Sugar Bowl disaster a few years later.
The best trip I've taken to a major sporting event was in 1983. I was home from college for the summer, and a few of us were at a buddy's house watching Game 1 of the NBA Western Conference finals. One was a huge lakers fan, the other a huge spurs fan (I'm a diehard Celtics fan). The brother of the Spurs fan lived in San Antonio, and called at halftime; jokingly asked when we'd be there & said getting tickets wasn't hard. We laughed, but as the 3rd quarter was going on we started talking about it & realized that none of us had a damn thing to do; by the end of the 3rd quarter we'd decided we were going. Called bro & told him we'd be there Friday morning.
The three of us left at lunchtime Thursday, drove non-stop to San Antonio. Got there mid Friday morning, hung out, went to Game 3 Friday night. Saturday we went back downtown, saw that there was only one decent hotel near the arena, and figured the Lakers must be staying there. Went in & saw Magic & Rambis eating lunch in the hotel lobby restaurant. They were just finishing, so when they headed to the elevator we hopped in with them & pushed a random button. Chatted with them on the ride, found out they had practice a little later, so went back over to the arena & hung out around there. Stood by a back entrance with a few of them and a security guard, watching on a little black & white tv the Eastern Conference game 3. Got pics with most of the Lakers (Kareem, Wilkes, Rambis, Nixon...Magic blew us off. Years later, I realized he probably had to hustle off to bang a groupie), several of the Spurs (Gervin, Gilmore), as well as two college players who were at there to formally announce whether they were going pro or staying for another year in college (Drexler, Olajuwon).
Nixon, Wilkes, and Gilmore were all very nice, stayed & chatted with us for a bit & were part impressed/part thought we were nuts for driving across the country just to attend a couple of games. I especially remember Nixon's reaction when we told him we'd driven for the games from Tampa. "Tampa FLORIDA? You guys must be some serious basketball fans!"
Back then, the NBA was just starting to regain popularity. IIRC, neither game sold out, and on the Saturday when we were there talking to/meeting players, we were about the only ones doing so. They could leisurely stroll from the hotel to the arena without being mobbed by people asking for photos, autographs, etc. I'm sure they are escorted nowadays.