Tougher place to play

[Prodigal Cat]

I mean Greeley stinks to high heck. The locker rooms are in the next county. There's no one at the games so the atmosphere is dead. Yet no one talks about how tough it is to win there. Team quality is always a factor.

[TomCat88]

I mean Greeley stinks to high heck. The locker rooms are in the next county. There's no one at the games so the atmosphere is dead. Yet no one talks about how tough it is to win there. Team quality is always a factor.

Greeley is up there. Probably fourth in the BSC behind all the domes.

[Vamos Gatos Vamos]

The toughest place to play is Walkup Skydome. 7,000+ elevation and loud. Fill that place up and it’s the toughest place to play. Nothing else is close.

I’ve never had the chance to attend a game at NAU. Do they fill it? If you had to quantify the advantage is points how would you rank it then. Is it worth 7 points?

It wasn’t full when I was there but it was loud and annoying because the PA guy was obnoxious. I’d much prefer to play outdoors in the cold than indoors at 7,000 feet. At least outdoors both teams are cold, but only one team is affected by the elevation. The Cats and Griz have both lost lots of cold weather home games.

I don’t think you should factor in how good a home team is into this discussion.

WaGriz is loud & built so that the fans are right on top of you. They pride themselves on decibels. NDSU hasn't lost many home games in 12 years & their atmosphere is raucous. But the Skydome's elevation just punishes opponants & nowhere do players vomit like Flagstaff. (no offense to Flagstaff!)

[ClowderUp]

I think Holt arena will be tougher and tougher in the next couple years. I really like the ISU new D coordinator and clan Hawkins will start doing the right things to turn the program around. Pocatello will really start to embrace that team if/when they start winning. It's a really weird dome and can easily turn to a very nice home field advantage for the Bengals.

[TomCat88]

Best atmosphere is Washington-Grizzly. MSU needs to do something about the north end zone and East grandstand to match it. The student population has grown by about 4,000 since the south end zone was built (2010). And the area population is up by 40,000!! (89,000 to 129,000) since then (2010).

[RootinfortheCats]

These discussions are like the analogy of if your aunt had nuts.

A simile with an analogy in one short sentence.

Tip of the cap, sir…

[Catbacker_1]

I was originally was talking about the Montana schools but I do like expanded discussion. How I’ve been thinking about it is if you have two teams playing and the road team is a 3-7 point favorite, what stadium is getting the home team the win better then 50% of the time and reversed if played on at a neutral site. Some of the places mentioned I don’t think pass based on past records and I guess I would have to include MSU. I don’t think we were the underdogs going into many of the games played in the last five years.

[cat22[2010]]

MSU and um stadiums aren’t difficult places to play in the second half because the fans don’t return fast enough from the tailgates.


——quickly runs away——

[RICO CAT]

Bobcat Stadium is a work in progress and definitely has room to grow. It was determined, and I agree, that the indoor facility would be the most beneficial project at this time. Personally would like to see the enclosure of the northwest end zone corner next, as that would be more attainable than the east stands. The east stands will be a huge project that will likely wraparound and enclose the northeast corner of the end zone, looking nothing like the renderings from the 20-year plan.

[onceacat]

The toughest place to play is whoever has the best team. That sure as hell isn't the Griz this year. Just ask Weber State.

But eliminate the team, the setting itself needs to be factor. Factors are crowd noise, altitude, weather. I’ll take high altitude over weather. Noise is great.

If you gave me the best players and coaches then gave me a choice of where I want to play my home games, I taking Walkup without hesitation.

Yeah, look at the number of times that good Cat or Griz teams have struggled or lost there. NAUs record kinda proves it.

[utucats]

Ok it’s loud. Is it much louder than MSU? I don’t think so. What got me thinking about this was a comment made by Colter on one of the gris podcasts where he thinks Missoula is worth 6-10 points where Bozeman is worth 3. My personal opinion is it’s not that big of a difference.

Shows the state of things over there when they are relying on their stadium to score their points. If memory serves wagriz had a tough 1st half against powerhouse PSU, managing zero points. How about that 30-14 beat down by UC Davis? The team is so bad that it was really 30-8 but the wagriz factor! When Weber State scored a season high 55 was the stadium having a rough night? Perhaps a little banged up?

It’s a bunch of nonsense. After this weekend wagriz will be a non factor because the team that plays there sucks.

[Monymony]

I’ve heard Colter say it, most gris fans believe it, and one of Sam Herders recent articles state it, but I believe it to be absolutely false. Where is the hardest place to win in the FCS? I agree that at one point it was wa-gris. It seems to me that teams no longer fear playing there and their home record suggests it. I believe Bobcat stadium has taken the title and it’s not even close. Only one loss since 2019 in a OT heart breaker.

Here is the first paragraph from that article.

A night game in Missoula could spell trouble for Tennessee State. While the Thanksgiving weekend crowd may be a bit lighter than normal, Washington-Grizzly Stadium is still the toughest place to play in the FCS.

I’ve spent a lot of time as gris games with a sibling going there. I absolutely love Bobcat Stadium and totally believe it is one of the best environments but wagris just is damn loud.

[Monymony]

Best atmosphere is Washington-Grizzly. MSU needs to do something about the north end zone and East grandstand to match it. The student population has grown by about 4,000 since the south end zone was built (2010). And the area population is up by 40,000!! (89,000 to 129,000) since then (2010).

This is it. We have the people, we have the passion, heck I think we even have the donors. This has to be next on the agenda

[BleedingBLue]

Best atmosphere is Washington-Grizzly. MSU needs to do something about the north end zone and East grandstand to match it. The student population has grown by about 4,000 since the south end zone was built (2010). And the area population is up by 40,000!! (89,000 to 129,000) since then (2010).

This is it. We have the people, we have the passion, heck I think we even have the donors. This has to be next on the agenda

Pony up!!

[110010110]

I think Wa Griz is the toughest road environment. MSU’s home record is better because the football teams have been better.

Isn’t the caliber of team you field part of the reason you’re tough to beat?

Griz have lost more at home this season than the Cats have in 5 years.

Griz didn't field a very good team this year. They lost a lot at home this year, but would have lost even more if it wasn't for the home field advantage their stadium gives them. I guarantee they lose to Missouri State on a neutral field. I'm not sure they beat WCU or PSU on a neutral field either.

[catatac]

Ya, WAGriz is 100% the loudest and most intimidating stadium in the FCS. Bobcat Stadium is incredible too, and it has nothing to do with how passionate the fans are or how loud they yell, it's just science based on architecture, and numbers. They used to have that advantage, AND a incrednible team almost every year. Thank God that second part isn't true any more.

[84CatGrad]

Mighty Weber State (4-8) doesn't seem to think Wa-Frizz is all that tough a place to play.

[Montanabob]

lots of empty seats on saturday.......
https://griztix.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncom ... ev_montana

[tetoncat]

UNC is tough with no atmosphere, NAU because dome and elevation, WaGriz seats close and sound stays in field but if get crowd out of it not tough.
Travel, locker rooms, stadium layout, and quality of team all have impact.

[damnyoutuesday]

Overall it's WaGriz. That stadium is massive for FCS and the crowd is right on top of you, and they know how to get loud. Griz are 238-37 all time there.

For elevating the home team, it's NAU. They hang around and beat teams they shouldn't in that place because it's indoors and at 7000' feet. We can only dream about if the Cats had that kind of advantage at home