OU football: Sooners best team at home, but is that a good thing?
OU has the top home-field advantage, according to research by PredictionMachine.com. The website, though, says that is not necessarily a great thing.
NORMAN — Oklahoma has the No. 1 home-field advantage in college football, according to new research by PredictionMachine.com.
But, Sooner fans, before you get too excited, know that topping this list isn't necessarily meant to be a badge of honor.
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PredictionMachine.com's rankings
Here are the top 10 college football home-field advantages, according to PredictionMachine.com's rankings, along with some other programs of note.
Top 10: 1. Oklahoma; 2. Wisconsin; 3. UCLA; 4. Missouri; 5. Nevada; 6. Arkansas State; 7. Houston; 8. Hawaii; 9. California; 10. Troy
Noteworthy: 14. Kansas; 17. Oklahoma State; 24. Texas Tech; 27. Kansas State; 60. Tulsa; 96. Florida; 100. Texas; 106. Alabama; 108. LSU; 111. West Virginia
What pushed OU to the top
Paul Bessire, general manager of PredictionMachine.com, pointed to a few specific games that helped push Oklahoma to the top of his list ranking college football home-field advantage.
2003 vs. OSU: The No. 1 Sooners beat the No. 14-ranked Cowboys 52-9.
2005 at UCLA: OU, ranked No. 21 at the time, lost 41-24 at the unranked Bruins.
2007 at Colorado: OU was No. 3 when it fell 27-24 at unranked Colorado.
2007 vs. Miami: The Sooners were ranked No. 5 and Miami was unranked, but OU still exceeded expectations in this 51-13 rout.
2008 vs. Cincinnati: No. 4 OU blasted Cincinnati 52-26 in Norman.
2008 vs. TCU: No. 2 OU easily handled No. 24 TCU 35-10 at home.
2008 vs. Texas Tech: The Sooners, ranked fifth, destroyed No. 2 Texas Tech 65-21 in Norman.
2010 at Texas A&M: OU, then ranked No. 11, lost 33-19 to the unranked Aggies.
2010 at Cincinnati: OU was ranked No. 8 early in the season when it narrowly defeated the unranked Bearcats 31-29.
Out of 120 FBS teams, defending national champion Alabama ranks 106th and LSU is 108th.
The rankings indicate the Sooners play much, much better at home than they do on the road, which is why teams like Alabama and LSU come in so low.
“Teams that are consistent national championship contenders should not be as susceptible to playing much better at home than on the road,” said Paul Bessire, the website's general manager. “If fans can accept the fact that Oklahoma is in the next tier of teams that is not consistently elite, but really good and reliant on a strong home-field advantage to maximize its talent, then it is should be a compliment to see the ranking that high.”
The analysis reviewed every FBS team's performance at home and on the road from 2000-2011, relative to what would be expected based on 50,000 simulations of each game on a neutral field.
Bessire said the reason OU tops the home-field advantage list is because there are several instances between 2000 and 2011 where the Sooners dominated games in Norman that should have been closer, and either lost or barely squeaked by on the road in games when they were, on paper, far superior.
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