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Stadium Effects
By Daniel Freer | July 7, 2008
Your top fantasy players are on the road on the last week of the season. The choices are tough.
Do you go with the super-producing QB who must visit a rival playing in a pre-World War I icebox. The fans there are rabid and seem to be right on the field.
Or do you go with the QB who gets a trip to a Southern school that plays in a modern venue, where the fans leave for the post-game tailgate at the end of the first quarter?
With 120 Division I FBS college football programs, getting to know the unique characteristics of stadiums and are a plus, making the difference whether your fantasy team is successful or not.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN COLLEGE AND PRO STADIUMS
Unlike professional football where most of the franchises play in state-of-the-art facilities designed for comfort and aesthetic (for both players and spectators), college football venues tend to be older (many built before World War II…some even before World War I) and with fewer modern conveniences. Although a number of major programs have expanded and upgraded their stadiums over the years, it still is the basic original structure (with additional seats around it).
Most important, the college facilities provide more of a home-field advantage to their hosts than do the pro football stadiums:
Colleges Have Smaller Structures, But Hold More People - College venues actually hold more people than the pro venues…as college venues have fewer individual chairback-seats, fewer cup holders on seats, less space between aisles and the other luxuries. Most college venues, unlike their pro counterparts, use rows and rows of bench seating, packing in as many people as possible.
College Facilities Closer To The Field - As a rule, college stadiums tend to have the spectators closer to the field, even with the venues built in bowl-style. The newer pro venues are designed to have the sidelines larger. This is so they can accommodate more players, team and league officials, media and workers. Most of your college venues were built before television became popular. Players back then played both offense and defense the entire sixty minutes, so less need to have space between the field and the spectators.
College Stadiums Are Noisier - With the first two reasons, this one is pretty obvious. Additionally, college venues are filled with students and alumni who have more than just a football game at stake. This is the school where they invested a lot of time and money for a number of years. Most pro venues are pretty tame and quiet, even those that play in domes. There is a noticeably more upbeat atmosphere at college stadiums.
WEATHER
Before submitting a fantasy roster or making changes before a deadline, it is important to find out weather information. This is especially true if your fantasy players are playing up north in cooler months. The best online weather source is obvious: The Weather Channel . Also, a number of college preview magazines contain the local telephone numbers of weather bureaus in all Division I FCS locations, most notably Phil Steele’s College Football Preview .
With college stadiums, weather actually plays more of a factor. Most college stadiums (especially non-BCS schools) tend to have open end-zones or end-zones with very little bleacher-type seating. Also, college venues tend to be located in smaller cities and towns with few tall buildings or surrounding structures.
Note that many of the college venues built decades ago were designed (especially northern schools) with only afternoon games in mind. Many did not even have lighting for night games thus they played the games in the warmest part of the day. Now, due to television, they are playing night games in November at these venues. Brrrrr.
This is important especially in games where wind and/or blowing precipitation plays a factor. Most college QBs lack the arm strength of their pro counterparts, making wind and weather a bigger factor than in pro football. Also, now that a number of schools have brought back the option offense, wet weather has become a greater factor (not to mention those water-resistant polyester jerseys, which makes anything wet very slick).
Some of the college football venues directly affected by weather:
Mid-American Conference (MAC) Schools : Especially in late October and November, the weather gets colder. The MAC schools are more affected as their stadiums are smaller and more open-ended than their nearby Big Ten counterparts. Schools especially of note are: Northern Illinois, Bowling Green, Kent State, Eastern Michigan, and Buffalo .
All Florida Schools: Especially early in the season, as Florida still tends to have violent summertime storms even into October. Most troubling is when lightning delays games, which can make plays and teams out of sync once action resumes. College games are more likely to be delayed due to lightning than pro games.
Extreme Elevation: All those schools who play at 5000 feet elevation or above (Air Force, Colorado, Colorado State, Wyoming ) pose an unique problem as there is less oxygen at the higher altitudes, making it tougher for teams coming in from lower elevations. Also, these locations are known to get a late September/early-October snowstorm.
Syracuse: Yes, they play in a dome, but the Carrier Dome is not air-conditioned. More than the irony of a dome named after an air conditioner not being air conditioned, the Carrier Dome is brutally hot on a warm day early in the season. Few teams outside the Big East are aware of this. Cramping and heat exhaustion can be a problem in the Carrier Dome, more so than the Orange players lately.
TURF
In recent years, the quality of the turf at college stadiums has improved greatly, even at the non-BCS programs. No more of those old-skool "mud games", as most schools have skilled landscapers and have installed state-of-the-art drainage systems. Although I do recall a quagmire at Bowling Green a couple years ago for a national ESPN audience, but that is very rare.
By the early 1990’s, schools using AstroTurf went back to natural grass or another variety of artificial turf. There was a definite speed advantage for teams that played on AstroTurf. The biggest benefactors were teams who normally played on grass and then went on road games to AstroTurf stadiums. This is no longer the case, as the newer artificial turf (Prescription Athletic Turf/PAT, FieldTurf) is so similar to the real stuff.
The one noticeable difference between the new FieldTurf and natural grass is that FieldTurf is a little slick when wet, more so than natural grass. Be wary, especially of running/option teams who play on natural grass and have to travel to a FieldTurf stadium. The slick conditions make cutting and ball-handling a little more difficult on FieldTurf.
MOST INTIMIDATING
Which stadiums are truly the most intimidating in college football? There is always debate every season on which stadium is most intimidating to visiting foes. However, in most seasons, the following schools will likely be mentioned (not ranked in any particular order):
Tiger Stadium - LSU (Baton Rouge, LA): Famous for its noisy and boisterous fans. Winning two National Championships in the 00’s has made it crazier. One time some years ago, it got so loud during a game in Tiger Stadium that it set off the seismograph at a nearby earthquake-research center.
Ohio Stadium - Ohio State (Columbus, Ohio): Always an intimidating place and recent stadium expansion has made The Horseshoe even noisier (especially now that it is more a bowl than a horseshoe). The "Script Ohio" pregame show frenzies the Buckeye fans.
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium - Florida (Gainesville, FL): A recent addition to the intimidating list, as it really was not until the 90’s that The Swamp gained its reputation. Steve Spurrier built the program into a national power and the result was the filling in of the end zones with triple deck seating. Chomp Chomp.
Notre Dame Stadium - Notre Dame (South Bend, IN): Yes, 2008 was a dismal year for the Irish. However, in most years this place intimidates because of the legends behind the storied program. It doesn’t hurt having Touchdown Jesus looking down on everything. Wake up the echoes!
Camp Randall Stadium - Wisconsin (Madison, WI): One of those stadiums that make you wonder "how they get 80,000 people in there". The fans are so close to the field, they probably can hear inside the huddles when it is not so noisy. More of a factor since Barry Alvarez arrived as coach in the 1980s
Neyland Stadium - Tennessee (Knoxville, TN): Over 100,000 attendance every game, where they sing and play "Rocky Top" nonstop. It stands high and tall all around which is a definite advantage for the Vols, especially during big SEC games.
Memorial Stadium - Nebraska (Lincoln, NE): Although the Huskers have had some lean seasons recently, this stadium is tough on visiting teams. This is especially true near the end zones, as this stadium has a good number of its seats located there. This place has sold out every game since 1962, an NCAA best.
Bronco Stadium - Boise State (Boise, ID): Of the non-BCS schools, this is the toughest venue. Since 2000 the Broncos have lost just one home game. Also, don’t underestimate the Blue Turf as it takes a little getting used to for the visitors.
Autzen Stadium - Oregon (Eugene, OR): Definitely the most intimidating on the West Coast, even though it is one of the smaller Pac Ten venues. The fans are very close to the field and are the most intense in the Pac Ten.
LEAST INTIMIDATING
Which stadiums are the least intimidating? Not an easy answer, because some programs with small fan bases can do quite well making things inhospitable. However, the least intimidating college venues tend to be ones shared with pro teams. These pro facilities serve as home field for college programs that do not have the revenue to build their own facilities, therefore the fans are not real close to the field.
Schools That Share Venues With Pro Teams: Temple, Tulane, San Diego State, Pittsburgh, Miami, FL*, South Florida, Minnesota#
(* Miami moves from the Orange Bowl to Dolphins Stadium in 2008)
(# Minnesota plays its last season in the HHH Metrodome in 2008, moves to a new on-campus outdoor stadium in 2009).
Note: The least intimidating are listed in order from worst to least worst.
CONCLUSION
This introduction into college stadiums should assist you during your fantasy season. Here at Fantasy College Blitz, we felt that knowing where and when your top players are going to play at can be a big advantage for your fantasy team.
For other references, there are a number of publications and websites dedicated solely to college football stadiums. A good source is College Football Stadiums, An Illustrated Guide To Division I-A , by Alva W. Stewart (available at bookstores and at Amazon.com). Also, the website Collegegridirons.com is a site dedicated to college venues, including photos.
Topics: College Football, Daniel Freer, Owner's Playbook |
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