B1G Environments Ranked

Where do the crowds actually affect the game in the B1G? What stadiums scare teams the most?

EA College Football 25

The new college football video game comes out in a few weeks. Leading up to its release they have dropped a list.

EA Sports College Football 25 toughest places to play.

#1 was Texas A&M. In my eyes, the list has already lost all credibility. It’s widely accepted that in college football the top 2 home environments are LSU and Penn State (EA has them at #3 and #6 respectively). Odds makers in the desert have given a home-field advantage bump to the point spread up to 6.5 points for those 2 schools. Things can change, but right now they are the best of the best.

The rest of EA’s list is fine. And you can check it out here if you’re interested.

I will be talking about what I know. My list isn’t the toughest place to play in CFB,

it’s the…

Toughest Places to Play in the B1G

Tier 1

1 – Penn State

Penn State is in a tier all by themselves. Most weeks they have an environment as good as any of the schools in tier 2. But, the White Out Game separates them from the competition. It’s an unparalleled environment in college football and a certified weapon used to win big games.

Tier 2

2 – Oregon
3 – Ohio State
4 – Washington
5 – Iowa

This tier is headlined by Oregon, who despite having a stadium almost half the size of Ohio State, is consistently as loud or louder than the horseshoe. Washington and Iowa fans show up, stand up, and yell for the entirety of anything resembling a good game. That can’t be said for teams below this tier.

Tier 3

6 – Wisconsin
7 – Nebraska
8 – Michigan
9 – Michigan State

Once upon a time, Wisconsin may have been as high as #2 on this list. Those days have passed. The crowd is still loud on 3rd down and stands at important moments, but an aging fan base and too many tickets being sold to away fans have knocked the Badgers down from previous heights. That said, the environments for Ohio State and Nebraska in 2023 were still epic.

Nebraska has an incredible sell-out steak, but their fans are known for being nice, not necessarily loud. Historically, Michigan should be a lot lower. But, they just won the natty, so people are coming to games and occasionally being loud. It just seems like their fan base only cares about Ohio State and forgets they have 7 other home games to show up for during the season. Michigan State is similar to Wisconsin but to a worse degree. Spartan Stadium used to be intimidating, but now it’s only mildly threatening.

Tier 4

10 – Purdue
11 – Minnesota
12 – Illinois
13 – USC

Purdue was really hard to place. Based on Wisconsin at Purdue in 2023, they should be up in tier 3. I just don’t think they show up like that consistently. Before PJ Fleck, playing at Minnesota was a joke. Since they went 11-2 in 2019, they have had respectable crowds with respectable noise levels. I see them as a team moving up the list over time. Illinois cares about football, the problem is they usually stop caring by week 5 when they have 2 to 3 losses. USC can get up for a big game. But only if USC themselves are in the top 10. The Trojans have an incredibly fair-weather fan base in a very distracted LA market. Plus, football isn’t nearly as popular in Cali as baseball or basketball.

Tier 5

14 – Rutgers
15 – Maryland
16 – Indiana
17 – UCLA
18 – Northwestern

This is the tier for “what home field advantage?” All these teams have terrible attendance. Rutgers is very slowly reviving their program under Greg Schiano. Maryland had the worst attendance in the B1G in 2023. Indiana is a basketball school.

UCLA is in LA, see the USC problems listed above. They aren’t even in school for the first 3 weeks of the season. UCLA’s stadium, the Rose Bowl, is 45 minutes away from campus which contributes to the horrendous attendance.

Northwestern has to be last, but hopefully, it’s temporary. They will be playing the 2024 season on their practice field while a new indoor stadium is under construction. That said, it’s not like their fans were showing up to the old stadium so maybe this is where they belong.

Want more Walk On Fan?

Check out our last post where we outline what has changed in the College Football landscape in the last year.

This article was written by Cole Tollison and edited by Hayden Breene