College Football 25’s Toughest Places to Play: Debating the rankings

The return of EA Sports’ college football video game has brought a surge of anticipation to the deep offseason, and after 11 years out of production, game developers have gone to great lengths to pack the latest edition with as much realism as possible. On Tuesday, EA Sports unveiled College Football 25’s Toughest Places to Play, a top-25 ranking of stadiums which will pose additional challenges to gamers playing as the visiting team.

The Toughest Places to Play ranking was a staple of prior editions of the game, and its return comes alongside countless enhancements to the game’s depictions of the atmosphere and environments that make college football a unique experience. As the game’s official website touts, “you might experience squiggly lines, play art appearing incorrectly, audibles and hot routes failing to register at higher rates, or receiver icons fading in and out during a crucial moment of your game.” A visiting team’s players may also experience more frequent drops in their confidence and composure based on the game situation and crowd enthusiasm.

But before fans see how the Toughest Places to Play affect their gaming experience, we have EA’s ranking of the 25 toughest environments in college football to argue about. EA says it factored in “home winning percentage, home game attendance, active home winning streaks, team prestige and more” while building this list. Did the game developers get their rankings right? Below, our writers debate the biggest surprises, snubs and debates within the top 25.

College Football 25’s Toughest Places to Play

What’s the biggest surprise from the top 25?

Sam Khan Jr.: Autzen Stadium and Rice-Eccles Stadium both seemed too low. Oregon fans make Autzen one of the loudest stadiums in the country, and the Ducks are 28-1 there in the last five years, tied with Georgia for the best home record among power conference teams in that span. Utah boasts “the MUSS,” one of the loudest and rowdiest student sections out there. And the Utes are similarly tough to beat at home, going 27-2 the last five years.

Max Olson: I think many college football fans will be surprised to see any school other than LSU in the No. 1 spot. I haven’t played this game yet, but I’m already nervous about my Dynasty team’s five-star freshman QB having to play a Saturday night game in Death Valley. He’s not ready for it, especially if the reports are true that “Neck” is indeed in the game.

Chris Vannini: I think the rankings are mostly good, save for a few oddities. Notre Dame at 21 is surprisingly low. That stadium has seen so many big games over the decades, and the crowd always delivers. They were penalized in 1988 for being too loud. That place should definitely be closer to the top 10.

Audrey Snyder: Michigan Stadium is where? The Big House at No. 16 is mind-bending. The behemoth of a stadium is by no means the fourth toughest place to play in the Big Ten. I’d put Michigan around fifth or sixth overall and would certainly place it ahead of Camp Randall in the conference. At worst, it’s the third toughest venue in the Big Ten and at best the second behind Ohio Stadium. Those “Mr. Brightside” moments are a viral sensation. The spectacle of so many people packed into a venue of that size really allows it to get rolling when the Wolverines are up. The large divide between the Horseshoe and the Big House here makes little sense to me.

Pete Sampson: This may be home-beat bias, but Notre Dame Stadium at No. 21? One spot above Michigan State? The Irish have a top- 10 winning percentage at home in the past decade and at one point had a 26-game winning streak in Notre Dame Stadium. Touchdown Jesus may not scare many opponents, but the Irish are a very tough team to beat in South Bend.

Which stadium is ranked too high?

Khan: I hate to say it, but Kyle Field at No. 1 seems a tad too high. Not because there’s anything wrong with the fans. It is arguably the best game day atmosphere in the sport, with more than 30,000 towel-waving students yelling from start to finish as part of a raucous crowd of 100,000-plus. But “toughest” implies it’s hard to win there, and for opponents, it hasn’t been as tough in the last decade. Appalachian State infamously upset the Aggies in 2022, a season in which they finished 4-3 at home. In the Kevin Sumlin era, A&M had a losing record at home against SEC foes and didn’t beat an SEC West team in Kyle Field for two consecutive years. That’s on the teams, not the stadium or fans, but it should be taken into account.

The only time this century that Texas A&M has had an undefeated home record in a season is 2020, the year full crowds were not allowed because of pandemic restrictions. The next most recent season that A&M went undefeated at home was 1999. If you’re the No. 1 toughest place to play in the country, going unbeaten at home should be a more frequent occurrence.

Olson: Georgia coach Kirby Smart has a 44-4 record in home games and has won 13 consecutive games against ranked opponents at Sanford Stadium. His teams are obviously extremely intimidating to play on any field, and Sanford’s game day experience has certainly been elevated in recent years, but I’m sure there are several fan bases — Penn State, Florida State and Florida especially — who’d argue they deserve the Bulldogs’ spot in the top five.

Vannini: I’m going to say Oklahoma at No. 8 but with a caveat. Because the annual Texas game is in Dallas, the Sooners don’t often get a good home schedule. That will change this year with Tennessee and Alabama coming to town as part of OU’s first SEC slate. I look forward to seeing whether Sooner fans can live up to the ranking.

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Snyder: Spartan Stadium at No. 22. I realize the lens through which I’m viewing this — as a Penn State beat writer who often makes this trip during Thanksgiving weekend for the Land Grant Trophy game — is never the best representation of a crowd. I’m trying not to focus on that too much, but I’ve never gotten the feeling during all my trips there that it was truly one of the premier atmospheres in the sport. Maybe I’ve just had unusual trips there, which is certainly possible. However, when it comes to wacky Big Ten weather that can make life difficult for visitors, this place certainly delivers. Through snow, lightning delays and everything in between, you might find yourself playing in a hostile winter wonderland in East Lansing.

Sampson: I realize this video game is coming off an 11-year hiatus, but Lane Stadium? “Enter Sandman” may be an iconic entrance, but it doesn’t carry over to the actual game. The Hokies are 2-10 at home against Top 25 teams in the past decade. Once the game starts, Lane Stadium is just another college football venue.

What’s your pick for No. 1 Toughest Place To Play?

Khan: There’s no place quite like Tiger Stadium for an LSU home game. A Saturday night in Death Valley is as intimidating as it gets. Because LSU fans know how to tailgate, they come into Tiger Stadium properly lubricated and ready to scream for three-and-a-half hours. Former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow put it best in a 2021 conversation with Paul Finebaum: “When you pull up the fans are pushing your bus. When you get out of the bus, they’re pouring beer on you. When you walk into the stadium, you have three generations, side-by-side, that are all saying stuff I can’t repeat to you. And then the game starts, and they’re loud.”

Olson: The two loudest stadium experiences I’ve ever had were at Texas A&M and Virginia Tech, so I cannot argue in good faith that A&M has no business being in the top spot on this list. I’ve attended a few epic night games in College Station — 2021 Alabama, 2018 Clemson, 2010 Nebraska — and came away extremely impressed. Still, I assumed LSU would be No. 1.

Vannini: It’s gotta be LSU’s Tiger Stadium. Who else can claim an “Earthquake Game,” as LSU did in 1988 against Auburn? There’s nothing like a night game there. Death Valley is “where opponents’ dreams come to die.”

Snyder: LSU. Saturday night in Death Valley — an event I’ve only ever experienced from afar but hope to one day see in person — always seems to cut through as one of the premier jaw-dropping atmospheres in the sport. It’s clear enough to me even on TV that it’s special. Like Beaver Stadium with the White Out, Ohio State’s dotting of the I, Rammer Jammer at Alabama and the Wave at Kinnick Stadium, the Death Valley experience is one of the many moments I hope the video game captures well for fans. Best of luck to those playing in Tiger Stadium at night with 102,000-plus losing their minds.

Sampson: From personal experience, nothing tops Sanford Stadium in Athens. Georgia got on the light show trend early and knows how to keep a party going all day and all night. And good luck snapping the ball. At Georgia, no one can hear you yell “hike.” It’s a perfect marriage of fan culture and five-star talent.

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Which stadium was the biggest snub?

Khan: Ask ACC teams how they like going into Carter-Finley Stadium for a night game at NC State. It’s hairy. The Wolfpack are 27-7 at home in the last five years, second only to Oklahoma State among power conference teams not included in this top 25. They sold out all their home games last season, and their 57,600-seat stadium has averaged more than 53,000 annually since 2003 (except for 2020). Carter-Finley has a strong case to be included.

Olson: I was a little surprised to see Oklahoma State’s Boone Pickens Stadium get omitted from this top 25. That’s a tough road trip for any Big 12 visiting team, with its extremely tight sidelines and all those fans slamming the walls with paddles. The Cowboys are 27-5 at home over the past five seasons under Mike Gundy, which ties them with LSU for the 10th-best home win percentage among Power 5 schools in that span.

Vannini: I had to check two or three times to make sure Washington was really left out of the top 25. That’s my clear top snub. With the overhangs on the sideline, that stadium gets remarkably loud for any game with a shaking press box, and the Huskies’ run to the national championship illustrated how tough they are at home. I was there last season for the win against Oregon, and I have no doubt the crowd helped influence a missed Ducks field goal as time expired.

Snyder: Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium. Maybe I’m leaning into nostalgia too much and maybe we all are thinking too far into the past thanks to the return of the video game, but to not have the Huskers on here feels off. I guess the sellout streak and the sea of red matters very little to the developers.

Sampson: The Los Angeles Coliseum: one of the sport’s most iconic venues, a Heisman Trophy factory and a fan base that will turn out, at least for a winner. Few stadiums double as national stages quite like this, and opponents feel it. USC might not be an intimidating trip for no-name opponents, but it can be a snake pit in prime time.

(Screenshot courtesy of EA Sports)