Camp Randall is the hardest B1G road trip

[Excel]

Top 20 Per Scout

 

=

1. LSU

=

2. Oregon

=

3. Florida

=

4. Oklahoma

=

5. Wisconsin - "The Badgers are a pristine 51-4 in Madison since 2004, losing only to Ohio State, Penn State and Iowa (twice)."

=

7. Ohio State - "Ohio State hasn't lost more than a single home game in a season since 2001."

=

9. Penn State - "Over the past seven seasons the Nittany Lions have had few stumbes at home, winning 42 and losing just eight times over that span."

=

16. Michigan - "Michigan has long held a tremendous home-field advantage over visitors, greeting them with an ardent base that jams nearly 110,000 people into the Big House on Saturdays."

=

18. Iowa - "Overall, the program is 60-12 at home since 2001."

=

20. Nebraska - "Nebraska has sold out an NCAA-record 318 games that dates all the way back to 1962."

=

What say you HB?

[WoodyHayes1951]

This poll has two points of view potentially.

 

Do you consider a homefield advantage brilliant because of home record or because of atmosphere and crowd noise?

 

 

Personally I think it has to be the latter which would make it either The Shoe or Beaver Stadium for top spot.

 

This list is heavenly slanted towards home record. No way would OU be top 5 otherwise. Is that right considering Ohio State has played OU's current biggest rival more times at home than OU has?(in the past ten years)

 

No one thinks of OU's crowd as some sort of amazing spectacle either. They just happen to be a top-10 all time program. Just think of it as a much less obvious Miami Hurricanes during their great run when they couldn't even sell out every game(that is an extreme example because obviously OU sells out and has great fans but it makes my point clear)

[Excel]

Big Ten teams at home since 2000:

 

Ohio State: 73-11, 0.869

Nebraska: 68-17, 0.800*

Wisconsin: 66-17, 0.795

Iowa: 62-17, 0.785

Michigan: 65-19, 0.774

Penn State: 62-21, 0.747

Michigan State: 55-27, 0.671

Purdue: 52-28, 0.650

Northwestern: 42-32, 0.568

Minnesota: 44-35, 0.557

Illinois: 40-36, 0.526

Indiana: 34-41, 0.453

 

Since 2007:

 

Wisconsin: 32-3, 0.914

Michigan State: 30-6, 0.866

Ohio State: 31-5, 0.861

Penn State: 29-7, 0.806

Iowa: 27-7, 0.794

Nebraska: 27-9, 0.750*

Michigan: 24-14, 0.632

Illinois: 20-12, 0.625

Northwestern: 20-13, 0.606

Purdue: 20-15, 0.571

Indiana: 15-18, 0.455

Minnesota: 13-22, 0.371

[Excel]

This poll has two points of view potentially.

 

Do you consider a homefield advantage brilliant because of home record or because of atmosphere and crowd noise?

 

 

Personally I think it has to be the latter which would make it either The Shoe or Beaver Stadium for top spot.

 

This list is heavenly slanted towards home record. No way would OU be top 5 otherwise. Is that right considering Ohio State has played OU's current biggest rival more times at home than OU has?(in the past ten years)

 

No one thinks of OU's crowd as some sort of amazing spectacle either. They just happen to be a top-10 all time program. Just think of it as a much less obvious Miami Hurricanes during their great run when they couldn't even sell out every game(that is an extreme example because obviously OU sells out and has great fans but it makes my point clear)

 

I agree with your assessment and think that their list seems to be based heavily upon records. That said I think that most great stadiums combine the two groups of criteria you identified, for example Death Valley has huge, loud and rowdy crouds and a great home record. They combine to make it an intimidating road trip. You can say the same for most schools on the list save for maybe Boise and WVU (I honestly don't know how loud OU gets or what games in Norman are like)

[Moiraine]

I honestly don't know how loud OU gets or what games in Norman are like

 

It's an older average age just like in Lincoln

[WoodyHayes1951]

This poll has two points of view potentially.

 

Do you consider a homefield advantage brilliant because of home record or because of atmosphere and crowd noise?

 

 

Personally I think it has to be the latter which would make it either The Shoe or Beaver Stadium for top spot.

 

This list is heavenly slanted towards home record. No way would OU be top 5 otherwise. Is that right considering Ohio State has played OU's current biggest rival more times at home than OU has?(in the past ten years)

 

No one thinks of OU's crowd as some sort of amazing spectacle either. They just happen to be a top-10 all time program. Just think of it as a much less obvious Miami Hurricanes during their great run when they couldn't even sell out every game(that is an extreme example because obviously OU sells out and has great fans but it makes my point clear)

 

I agree with your assessment and think that their list seems to be based heavily upon records. That said I think that most great stadiums combine the two groups of criteria you identified, for example Death Valley has huge, loud and rowdy crouds and a great home record. They combine to make it an intimidating road trip. You can say the same for most schools on the list save for maybe Boise and WVU (I honestly don't know how loud OU gets or what games in Norman are like)

 

 

 

That's true. I think a good mix is necessary otherwise how can you really justify the crowd noise and atmosphere if there aren't decent results ? This list probably puts 80% into the home record.

The wine and cheese crowd at Texas makes that pretty obvious.

 

What I wanna know is is USC's home record really that bad? I think it's almost impossible to win out there. The crowd is mediocre and they don't sell out the season but the teams are almost impossible to beat for a non familiar team.

[NUance]

A stadium that didn't make the list but maybe should have, is Husky Stadium. Granted Washington generally has a crappy team. But it's not for lack of home field advantage. All those freaky overhanging layers make that place rock with noise. One of the loudest stadiums in the nation.

[WoodyHayes1951]

A stadium that didn't make the list but maybe should have, is Husky Stadium. Granted Washington generally has a crappy team. But it's not for lack of home field advantage. All those freaky overhanging layers make that place rock with noise. One of the loudest stadiums in the nation.

 

 

 

Great Stadium.

 

I haven't been to a bunch of stadiums but Husky Stadium does get really loud.

 

Gorgeous view of the Lake too

[Excel]

Part of the reason I dislike USC is the apathy (or non-existence) of their fan base. A team with as much success and history as they have and with few competitors in the area shouldn't have ~30,000 empty seats at the opening game of the season like they did last year.

 

I'm having a hard time getting a handle on their stats. It seems like they're 57-8 over the last decade at home but that includes being "home" at bowl games. You hit the nail on the head with the whole "familiarity being the key to beating USC at home"...Every team that's beat USC at home this past decade has been from within their conference or a long time and well acquainted rival (ND)

[HuskerShark]

I think the poll got it right, just based purely off of what I saw/heard from the first season in the conference. Just watching the Wisconsin game on TV, it was extremely intimidating. I can't imagine what it was like to be on the field getting screamed at.

 

It is very impressive how large of a portion of Wisconsin's crowd was young people, and I think that plays a lot into it.

[WoodyHayes1951]

USC is a small private school based in the ghetto in a Pro Sports town in a semi-transient city(not really close to the level of Tampa or Phoenix)

 

I think they do pretty well to get big crowds

[Moiraine]

It is very impressive how large of a portion of Wisconsin's crowd was young people

 

Part of that is how many they allow. Nebraska's student section limit is the smallest percentage (per stadium capacity) in the big 10. It's 11,000 if I'm remembering correctly.

[Excel]

USC is a small private school based in the ghetto in a Pro Sports town in a semi-transient city(not really close to the level of Tampa or Phoenix)

 

I think they do pretty well to get big crowds

 

They also do pretty well to get all the damn media attention they get. The SEC gets tons and rightfully so but for some reason nothing annoys me more than the media sucking up to SC. How many Trojan fans, and I mean fans, not t-shirt/sidewalk alumni, do you all actually know?

 

I don't know a single one.

[Moiraine]

How many Trojan fans, and I mean fans, not t-shirt/sidewalk alumni, do you all actually know?

 

I don't know a single one.

I know two

[WoodyHayes1951]

Well USC does have a really good football team in the second biggest market. That's why they get media attention.

 

I don't know any USC fans but then again I have never lived West of Chicago. It's a different world than the Big ass public Universities of the Big Ten where the alumni are everywhere.