The release of the much-anticipated EA Sports College Football 25 is around the corner. We’re so close we can almost smell it. And EA giving us small glimpses of the game certainly has helped pique our interest in what they’re calling Ratings Week.
So, with today’s release around the toughest places to play in CFB25, where did they go wrong? You don’t have to look far.
Kyle Field Overrated in EA Sports College Football 25 Toughest Places to Play
Yes, we know. Kyle Field is not an easy place to play. The 12th Man, as they’re called, certainly brings an element that few other college football stadiums present.
But are we overlooking recency bias too much in this ranking? Historically, Kyle Field presents troubles for opponents to get play calls in, hear quarterback cadences, and just force opponents to live in general disarray from a communications standpoint.
But has it lent itself to success on the field with the actual results?
The Aggies haven’t won double-digit games since 2012 and have seen the end of the Kevin Sumlin and Jimbo Fisher eras while playing comfortable schedules in College Station. In fact, since that 2012 season, the Aggies have compiled just a 53-19 record at home.
Here’s how that’s stacked up the past few seasons, notably padding their win totals against inferior competition:
- 2023: 6-1
3-1 vs. Power Five @ home - 2022: 5-3
3-2 vs. Power Five @ home - 2021: 6-2
3-2 vs. Power Five @ home - 2020: 4-0
4-0 vs. Power Five @ home - 2019: 6-2
3-2 vs. Power Five @ home - 2018: 6-1
3-1 vs. Power Five @ home - 2017: 4-3
1-3 vs. Power Five @ home - 2016: 6-2
4-2 vs. Power Five @ home - 2015: 6-2
3-2 vs. Power Five @ home - 2013: 4-3
1-3 vs. Power Five @ home
So that’s 28-18 at home against Power Five teams in the past 10 seasons.
Is that really the hardest place to play in all of college football?
If you forget the results on the field, yes, Kyle Field is absolutely in the discussion as one of the toughest places to play in all of college football, but are they the top dog on this proverbial chain?
Absolutely not.
So, who else could be the toughest place to play? Let data drive your decisions and go right to the seismograph that would indicate that Death Valley, Baton Rouge, home of the LSU Tigers, belongs in the conversation as the toughest SEC place to play, as would Sanford Stadium, where the Georgia Bulldogs haven’t lost a game since 2019 and only lost twice since 2016 at home.
Yes, this is a video game rating of the toughest places to play, and Kyle Field likely belongs in the top 10. But it’s June, and we’re nitpicking the inevitable release of a game’s rating system that we can ultimately affect or change once we play some dynasties.
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It’s all in good fun, and no ranking system like this would ever be perfect. To that end, we thank you and applaud you, EA Sports, for giving us what we want.
But Tiger Stadium > Kyle Field, and there’s no real denying that.
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