Mississippi State rated as one of the toughest places to play in College Football 25

We're now less than a month away from the release of EA Sports College Football 25, and this week, EA is dropping more details about the game. On Tuesday, the unveiled the toughest places to play in the game.

Home field advantage is a huge part of college football, and it was a huge part of the original NCAA Football series. When you played on the road, specifically in the sport's loudest stadiums, it became harder for your offense to execute, and that feature is going to be amplified in College Football 25.

That makes these rankings all the more important for gameplay, so how did they shape out? And specifically for Mississippi State football, was Davis Wade Stadium included as one of the toughest places to play?

Davis Wade Stadium cracks the Top-25 toughest places to play in EA Sports College Football 25

Mississippi State's Davis Wade Stadium got some love from EA Sports. The home of the Bulldogs was ranked as the #25 toughest place to play in College Football 25. And given the wall of sound that comes with 60,000 cowbells ringing in unison, music to the ears of Bulldog fans but wonderfully hellacious for the visiting team, it makes perfect sense that Davis Wade would be considered one of the more difficult road environments to play in.

Texas A&M, Alabama, LSU, Ohio State, Georgia, Penn State, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Florida State, and Florida made up the Top-10 of the rankings.

Is Davis Wade Stadium fairly ranked in College Football 25?

When Davis Wade is full and rocking, it's louder than any venue in the country, and it can be a nightmare to deal with for visiting teams. So why is it ranked just 25th?

Attendance and home winning percentage factored into the rankings. With a capacity of 60,311, Davis Wade is on the smaller end of the nation's toughest places to play. And recent history hasn't exactly helped when it comes to winning percentage.

Over the last five years, Mississippi State is 20-14 (59%) at home overall and 8-13 (38%) in home SEC games. Truthfully, Davis Wade hasn't provided much of a home field advantage. But there's some important context needed that in that span, State had three losing teams. And the 2020 COVID year is included in which home field advantage wasn't at all a thing.

In the five years before that, State went 25-9 (74%) at home overall with a 12-8 (60%) home SEC record. That's quite a bit better, and it makes sense with State fielding much better teams at that time. For as much as home field matters, team quality still makes most of the difference.

But when the Bulldogs are competitive and Davis Wade is regularly getting packed out, there's no questioning that playing to the tune of cowbells gives a good boost to MSU. So all in all, #25 is a reasonable rank.

Now as for the other rankings, I can't at all agree with putting Kyle Field #1. Is it incredibly loud? Yes. But frankly, I think it's a borderline Top-5 home atmosphere just in the SEC. LSU should undoubtedly be atop the list. Death Valley is simply untouchable when it comes to creating a home field advantage, and Penn State's Beaver Stadium should probably come in behind it.

Neither Alabama or Ohio State deserve to be Top-5. Those teams win at home because they're better than everyone else; not because their stadiums, even with such large capacities, are intimidating. Both Auburn and Utah are incredibly undervalued here. Those places get insane and give those teams a chance to win even when they have no business winning.

Oklahoma is definitely too high; Tennessee is too low. I could nitpick more, but those are the biggest qualms I have with the rankings. Regardless, it makes for fantastic offseason discussion, and more important than anything, it means we're another step closer to finally playing this game.