EA Sports, the legendary video game company behind such vaunted titles as Madden NFL, College Football, FIFA (now Sports FC), and WCW Backstage Assault, has set the sports world on fire today by releasing its rankings of college football's 10 toughest places to play… in the real world.
The list has ignited a firestorm of debate amongst college football fans, bringing up so many existential questions along the way: how does a video game company know all this? Are we living in "The Matrix"? Did they include the quality of the stadium hot dogs in the ratings? And most importantly, how in the heck did they rate the Texas A&M Aggies’ Kyle Field as the No. 1 toughest place to play in all of college football?
EA’s website claims that their ratings are based on several factors: “historical stats such as home winning %, home game attendance, active home winning streaks, team prestige, and more.”
That’s a little vague, especially for fans furious that Alabama Crimson Tide’s Bryant-Denny Stadium came in second, LSU’s Tiger Stadium finished third, or the Michigan Wolverines’ Big House didn’t even crack the top 10.
RELATED: Ejected Aggie hecklers should be banned from Kyle Field ASAP
But after a little digging, it seems perhaps there was a method to EA’s madness after all. For starters, Kyle Field is the current record holder for largest venue in the SEC with a capacity to hold 102,733 fans, which also makes it the fourth largest stadium in the United States and the sixth largest non-racing stadium in the world. Not too shabby.
But what may have put the Aggies’ home field over the top is the 12th Man. Boasting a capacity of 39,000+, the 12th Man is the largest student section of any stadium in the country.
“Kyle Field is so underrated,” according to ESPN’s Greg McElroy, who ranked Kyle Field as the No. 5 most hostile environment in college football (and also snubbed has alma mater Alabama in the process.) His reasoning is the loud coordinated chants, songs, and dances of the huge student section that deafen opponents and drown out their fan-bases as a key reason why.
Is EA Sports right? Is Kyle Field the toughest place to play in all of college football? Are we all living in a simulation? Who knows? But on Aug. 31 in a prime-time, under-the-lights showdown, the visiting Notre Dame Fighting Irish will find out for themselves in the biggest matchup of the real opening weekend of the 2024 college football season.
