It’s tough to argue against how important home field advantage is in college football. A team’s entire season outlook can change depending on who they have to play on the road.
The fact that some teams have a bigger home field advantage than others should come as no surprise. Winning a night game in Baton Rouge or in The Horseshoe is nearly impossible for visiting teams.
However, according to a new study published by the Wall Street Journal, they don’t have the strongest home field advantage.
- North Texas Mean Green (5.94)
- Wisconsin Badgers (5.77)
- Arkansas Razorbacks (5.66)
- Kansas Jayhawks (5.66)
- Marshall Thundering Herd (5.2)
The numbers were calculated by the Prediction Machine. No, they didn’t base their findings on the best home field winning percentage, or even crowd noise. The Wall Street Journal reports:
Prediction Machine, a statistical outlet that simulates games, studied which teams have the biggest home-field advantage since 2000, comparing home performance relative to road performance, taking into account the level of competition and expectations. North Texas leads FBS with a standardized home-field advantage of 5.9 points.
In short, it’s based on which team outperforms their level of play just because they are at home.
Of the Power Five schools, Wisconsin has done better in Camp Randall than anyone else.
The local schools didn’t fair all that well according to the rankings. Northern Illinois finished the highest at No. 46, followed by No. 48 Notre Dame. Illinois was ranked No. 72.
Northwestern fell even further in the rankings. The Wildcats, who just upset Stanford at home, were ranked No. 115 of the 127 schools included.
