Toughest Place to Play in Your Conference

Started by e_lee, August 22, 2005, 09:53:45 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

e_lee

What are the toughest places to play in your conference?  In the OAC my vote goes to Baldwin-Wallace's Finnie Stadium.  Although MUC has to be considered for obvious reasons, but they are hard to beat anywhere.  BW is much harder to beat at home than in your own place.

Your thoughts?
The eyes are the groin of the head.  -- Dwight K. Schrute

Ron Boerger

#1
Trinity (TX) has not lost a home SCAC game in nearly ten years (10/21/95 vs. Centre).    They've had four road losses in conference since then, pulled a rabbit out of their hat to avoid a fifth last year at DePauw.   

IMO it's the travel along with the strength of the program that contributes to this streak; Trinity's closest SCAC FB opponent is over 500 miles away (Millsaps).   The home crowd is loyal and strong, but the tiny stadium only seats around 1,000 on the home side. 

Lot of interesting changes in the SCAC this year, though.  I could see that streak ending before too much longer if trends continue.   

Matt Barnhart (kid)

For the ODAC, the easy answer would be Bridgewater ... 23-straight regular season wins at Jopson Field (McDaniel could very well end that in two weeks).

But I'm going to go with Washington & Lee.  Considering they've gone 29-31 overall over the past six seasons, their home record of 19-10 over that time is pretty impressive (7-2 over the last two seasons).  And over that span, they've always had a winning record each year at home.

And of the 10 losses, five were pretty "impressive":

- Last year, lost 31-28 to 8-2 Hampden-Sydney
- Were down only 7-3 at the half to 12-2 Bridgewater in 2003 before they lost 28-3 to the national semi-finalists.
- Only lost 21-14 to 9-2 Hopkins in 2002.
- Lost in overtime (34-28) to 12-1 Bridgewater in 2001 (national runner-up)
- In 2000, they were down 14-10 at the half to 8-3 Emory & Henry before losing 24-10 to the eventual ODAC champions.
Former Publisher of BridgewaterFootball.com

smedindy

In the NCAC, I'd have to say:

Allegheny - because it's going to be muddy.
Witt - because they're Wittenberg.
Wabash - 3,500 to 4,500 crazies on the home side of the stands.

reality check

My vote in the OAC goes to MUC not because the stadium has some sort of intimidating quality but rather because you can't help but know where you are when you walk into the stadium.  You just know that so many teams have had it handed to them for the last decade+ there.  It's a cool old stadium too; reminds me of the county fairground horse tracks with the old covered stands on one side.

The carpet at B-W may be the toughest game because of the field surface  but I didn't feel the same when I stepped on that field regarding my surroundings.
OAC Champs: 1942 (one title ties us with Ohio State)
OAC Runners-Up: 2017, 2016, 2015, 2010, 2009, 2005, 2004, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1982, 1941 (Stupid Mount Union!)
MOL Champs: 1952, 1950

Weak Safety

In the ASC, my vote goes to Hardin-Simmons' Shelton Stadium (The Storm Shelter), which was built in 1993.   The first regular season loss in the stadium was on 11/15/97 to Sul Ross (fake field goal with no time remaining).  The only other regular season loss at Shelton Stadium was to UMHB in 2003.  As far as the playoff games however, HSU is 6-5 at home since 1997.

As a player at HSU, the toughest place to play, in my opinion, was Gordon Wood Stadium in Brownwood (but that was before the UMHB era).

patcummings

Centennial Conference:

McDaniel's Bair Stadium.  Can be quite imposing as a gaggle of Green Terror fans ring the stadium from above with tailgating to watch the game. 

Middle Atlantic:

IMO, kind of a toss up.  Albright's Shirk Field was old and decrepit and instilled some fear in opponents, but had been totally re-done.  Del Val's field is now the worst in the conference, making it difficult in general.  The total package to me would probably be Lycoming.  A combo of the crowd and the patent history of football there lean me that way.

Trin9-0

At the risk of sounding biased the only possible choice in the NESCAC is Jesse/Miller field at Trinity College in Hartford, CT. The Bantams have gone 16-4 since 1999 and a perfect 12-0 in "The Coop" since the new synthetic field-turf was put in at the start of the 2002 season. 

Williams College's Weston Field in Williamstown, Mass is a close second, but losing to NESCAC bottom-feeder Bates at home in 2003 and being trounced by Trinity last year at home has removed some of the anxiety for visiting NESCAC schools.
NESCAC CHAMPIONS: 1974, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1987, 1991, 1993, 1996, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2023
UNDEFEATED SEASONS: 1911, 1915, 1934, 1949, 1954, 1955, 1993, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2022

splik

I agree with pat about the MAC toughest places to play.

Shirk stadium was terrible and it was a long bus ride on game-day.  Lycoming's field is difficult to find and once you get there you get to deal with one of the perennial contenders in the MAC.  I'll also add FDU's field just because it used to be terrible, I remember there was no coaching box to sit in so the assistant coaches sat on scaffolding behind the bleachers.

Josh Bowerman

I was going to give the nod to Gordon Wood, Weak Safety.  Seems like the refs are always homers there!   :'(
"Without struggle, there is no progress."--Frederick Douglass

gordonmann

Splik:

Not sure if it impacts your opinion, but FDU upgraded its facility recently.  It seems pretty nice, though I'm not sure where the coaches sit.

Weak Safety

Josh, no doubt strange things happen every time HSU plays at Gordon Wood! 

Chum Slam

MAC - Albrights stadium never instilled fear in anyone, I like the drab rundown look. It makes you wanna fight. I always loved playing at Lyco, nice field, nice stands (especially the away side where fans are 2 feet from ours behind a fence) So im not really sure where the toughest place to play is.
"Worrilow, get away from me before I choke you"  -Sama-

fanfave

My vote in the HCAC would be Bluffton for the toughest place to play.  Now before you all start laughing as you read this let me say why I think this.  It's tough because it is so windy in that part of Ohio and there is nothing around to stop it.  No trees, no buildings, no nothing!  It affects the kicking game, sometimes the passing game and it does not help you if you have a toupee (I don't have one).  Ha! It also does not help that the mascot is a beaver for crying out loud.  Now the most fun place to play is Mount St. Joseph with the brand new stadium with the field turf and all that good stuff there.  However I think the toughest is Bluffton.

FYD

Stephen1452

I think that in the ASC based on fan noise, the two toughest places to play is at UMHB and HSU.