Davis Wade Stadium Ranked Among Toughest SEC Venues for 2015
Mississippi State went undefeated at home last year and that was a big part of their success as they won 10-ball games in 2014. To continue that success into 2015, the Bulldogs need to be equally as dominant in front of their home crowd. With the new expansion and packed out crowds, Davis Wade Stadium has become one of the toughest SEC venues to play in for opposing teams.
Predictionmachine.com recently evaluated all Division-one schools home field and how tough it is to play in each venue.
"If you are a college football fan, then you probably have thought of a list of the loudest and toughest stadiums to play in on Saturdays in the fall. However, the true home field advantage for each program may surprise even the most diehard fans.Home field advantage in college football is typically presumed to mean about three points for the hosting team. This means that if two teams are identical, neither team should be favored on a neutral field, while the home team would be favored by about three if they played at one of the team’s stadium. This can lead to essentially a six point swing from one venue to the next. The truth is that some stadiums could actually mean up to six points, while some do not help much at all (the expected difference in the margin of victory between Arkansas and Wisconsin from one stadium to the next, for instance, could be around 12 points, while the location does not really matter when Central Michigan plays Bowling Green).Note: All data goes back to 2000 and compares home performance to road performance relative to competition and expectations. In general, recent seasons are given more weight than seasons long ago, especially for programs that are newer to FBS football (Charlotte is not included at all since it has no FBS seasons). For teams that have new stadiums, seasons in new stadiums are given stronger consideration. The Home Field Advantage value in the charts is the expected advantage a team would gain for playing at home as compared to a neutral field against a totally average opponent if it played at a totally average pace (we use this to assess the impact of home field advantage on every play in a game)."
The SEC as a whole ranked fourth in the country as they have a 2.97 “points advantage” as a conference; the number one conference was the Mountain West Conference, followed by the Big-12 at number two.
Arkansas gets the nod as the toughest place to play in the SEC as they are given a standardized home field advantage of 5.66, followed by LSU at number two with a 4.36; Mississippi State checks in at number three with a 3.75.
The Bulldogs are 25-8 at home since 2010 and post a 76-pecent winning percentage while playing in front of their home crowd. Davis Wade Stadium should again be filled with fans and standing room only areas packed out, as the Bulldogs look to again be a player in the SEC West come late November.