TPD: What EA Sports got right, wrong with its 'Toughest Places to Play' stadium list

There's less than a month until EA Sports releases College Football '25 and the whole world is eager to pick up the sticks and dive back into the game.
This week, EA released its rankings of which stadiums are going to provide the best home-field advantage. On the latest episode of THE Podcast Daily, Austin Ward and Jeremy Birmingham talk about what EA got right and wrong, including Ohio Stadium's placement on the list.
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[@bucksncat1997]

If y’all need stuff to talk about an episode or episodes talking about the day to day/week to week for what you guys do during the season would be cool. Like everything that goes into writing the stories, how you watch and cover the game, how you prep for media sessions. For Birm how he does reporting for recruiting works and how it’s changed since he started since it’s a 24/7 thing now.

[@divjak8]

A peak behind the curtain would be cool!

[@moose4ku440]

They did one where they ranked Big Ten stadiums based on the experience for writers/photographers and that included some insight on day-to-day activities

[@WOLF167h]

And... it's a Great Day to be a Buckeye!!

[@mecahhannah]

ALWAYS GO BUCKS!

[@kentacohut3011]

They should have titled the rankings list as game atmosphere instead of toughest places to play.

[@JackycClark]

I read a comment here that said it right . Ticket prices have shut out the true Buckeye fans who are gonna make it rough on opposing teams . Ohio State has enough revenue to lower ticket prices so everyone can go to a game . Coach Day wouldn't have to ask the fans to be loud . The team would benefit from it . And recruiting would benefit both from players visiting and from how it comes across on TV . The loss on the gate would be made up for and , it's the right thing to do .

[@JohnnyinCLE]

"The Shoe" is NOT what it used to be. Long gone are the days, where you couldn't hear yourself think, and your whole body would rumble from the crowd electricity. Gene Smith's transforming Ohio Stadium into a corporate environment took the electricity out of the facility. And it will require a different strategy and direction to bring it back.

[@gracemcgrew3545]

Episode idea: (not sure if it’s right home is for TPD) but you could talk about the recruits/players that once seemed like they were going to be buckeyes but ended up going elsewhere and where they are now. You could also evaluate how much of a loss they were

[@divjak8]

Based on Birm’s criteria - winning - the following teams have the best home record over the last 10 years: Bama Clemson Ohio State UGA

[@markstandohar5977]

Birm forgot about the Pink Painted Visitors Locker Room effect @ IOWA…😂

[@user-os9sr4hc5j]

The Shoe has flat out been embarrassing quiet for a several years now IMO. I've been to several road games over the years that were dominated by Buckeyes that were louder. It's not a revisionist history thing, it's just not near what it use to be. IMO when the student section was told to change their saying on the kickoffs to take their shows is when it was starting to quiet down. The student section is as loud, the older people buying tickets, sitting on their hands or telling people not to yell around them is the issue to me...

[@CharlesMillerII]

100 percent agree. Every game I go to at the show I am literally embarrassed. It gets incredibly loud for singular plays but then everyone just sits back down. When going to away Buckeye games I have seen us stand the entire time and takeover stadiums. But when we get back home I look around especially in my sections it all old people no offense to them but they are silent lol. And I feel even worse when I go to other teams home games and see their fans stand the entire game only sitting at halftime. I don't get it.

[@ethanmaxfield4709]

Only going to get quieter. Took a stadium tour this spring. B deck getting removed in the future for more corporate suites. Probably be around 90k capacity soon.

[@powerhouse539]

​@@CharlesMillerII happens when you price ppl out for bigger games

[@uncreativeCFB]

It’s hard to talk about interesting things everyday. No doubt. Some do better than others. Big OSU shows based on variety of topics I’d rank: kings of Columbus (Doug is odd but always interesting) Buckeye Huddle, The Podcast daily (Austin is very hit or miss and the naming of the days is horrendous) Menace to sports (not really a Buckeye show anymore and then Buckeye Scoop (half or more of the show is responding to super chats which usually aren’t good) For smaller shows Voice of CFB Ohio State has a lot of smaller videos on good topics. Scarlet and Great is ok. OHIO pod is often very clickbait. Scarlet and Gray is poor, Juck on Bucks is the obvious choice. Oh I forgot talking stuff, if you like recruiting it’s fantastic

[@JackycClark]

​@@powerhouse539 You hit the nail square on the head .

[@markstandohar5977]

Jeeeeezzzz Birm, did you have to put the ‘Whammy’ on OSU like that⁉️😆

[@ericdehoff6693]

If you're talking about this year's team and atmosphere I don't know how Auzten isn't Top 5.

[@michaelbeecham525]

You're doing a great job. An off season with little to talk about outside of recruiting is a good thing.

[@OpenMikein7]

There's been tons of content about the team. They literally did positional breakdowns every day for like two weeks.

[@jd3428]

The dog days of summer

[@JuckOnBucks]

Hostile. Much better discussion. What venues affect the game most

[@mecahhannah]

Awesome as always thanks guys go bucks!❤

[@StephenMelvin-i7d]

I respectfully disagree with them both. I don’t really make the home record a big factor when it comes to these rankings. If you go by that going into this year it’s a defacto top 25 team ranking list. If anything I think it shows the true home field advantage when your team is struggling and the fans still show up loud and ready to go week after week

[@markstandohar5977]

I feel like most, not all, but most of OSU’s worst disappointing losses in last 20 years were @ HOME in the Shoe 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️ I generally preferred OSU on the Road in big games vs. @ Home…therefore, don’t really think Ohio Stadium 🏟️ is that tough of a place to play

[@scottr.heffner9078]

Jordan-Hare is massively underrated. As an LSU fan, I’ve seen them take down juggernauts there with mediocre teams. It should be top 5 imo. A&M is a joke. They practice cheering. Who needs to practice cheering? 😂 I think LSU is an obvious #1 (but I am biased). Bama doesn’t even play all of their home games in Bryant Denny until recently. Auburn should be higher. Ben-Hill Griffin stadium is tough. Record/awful coaching aside, it is loud and hot as hell just like Baton Rouge but not quite as good. Tennessee deserves more respect but not above Auburn. I’d argue Auburn at 2 til I’m blue in the face.

[@scottr.heffner9078]

Whoa! Non-football nerds isn’t ok. They layered a ton of great stuff in this game. They made some mistakes but you out of line.

[@user-it8lz8me4u]

Birm knows this…. Teams are not scared to come into ohio stadium. Ask … Virginia Tech- Oklahoma-USC - Oregon - Texas all road wins in the Shoe

[@buckguy720]

Congrats you named the only non-conf road wins at Ohio Stadium since 2005 …. That’s 19 years. And for the record, there’s only 6 more conf wins (Illinois in 2007, PSU in 2008, PSU and MSU in 2011, MSU in 2015, and UM in 2022).

[@michaelraymond9274]

Who cares what EA thinks!! I don't give EA credit for being very smart or knowledgeable. They are just trying to sell games. 🤔 I've been in some of these stadiums and have First hand knowledge. Go Bucks 😎

[@dogedave3188]

Blackout > Whiteout

[@user-pv7pj4tu1r]

Thinking a video game and where's the toughest place to play according to the game is not very news worthy or podcast worthy...pretty lame

[@derekfuller6404]

Imagine another episode of Austin wanting to complain about something