top 10 toughest placest to play in the socon.. past and present

[AsuBucETSU34]

1. App state -- The rock is the hardest place to win at in the socon today..
2.GSU - Paulson is a very very hard place to win.. its been that way for a while now
3. Marshall - they are not in the socon now but i said past and present.. they had a hard place to win at
4. Wofford - Gibbs stadium is a great stadium.. its hard to win there to
5.Furman- also another hard place to win at..
6.Elon- they havent been in the socon long so i cant rank them as high this.. but its a hard place to win at these days.
7. The Cit - use to be a old boat now its shapeing up to look really nice...
8. ETSU - The mini dump everyone hated it.. but it was pretty hard to win there.. always had good games at home..
9.WCU - use to be a hard place to go to.. but slumping alot here lately hopefully they can get thier big fan base back...
10. Samford - yes i said samford.. 1 year in the socon and they gave app all they wanted at home... i wont put chatt cause if the vistors have more fans then home it just cant be ranked.

whats your ranking.. its just a fun thing to do...

[appfan2008]

if you are going to do past and present then you need to include a majority of both the SEC and the ACC... I do believe it is harder to win at Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, Clemson, UGA, UNC... and on and on...

[wkuhillhound]

Georgia Southern is a tough place to play and WKU squeaked out a victory. :D xbowx xbowx

Wofford may be even tougher for the Toppers. :( xmadx

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

Charleston is my least favorite place to play a SoCon game behind Boone.

[GaSouthern]

Not a good list if you are going to include the past.

Where are teams like UGA?

[furman94]

I would think he means past as in the last 30 years or less.

[smallcollegefbfan]

1. App state -- The rock is the hardest place to win at in the socon today..
2.GSU - Paulson is a very very hard place to win.. its been that way for a while now
3. Marshall - they are not in the socon now but i said past and present.. they had a hard place to win at
4. Wofford - Gibbs stadium is a great stadium.. its hard to win there to
5.Furman- also another hard place to win at..
6.Elon- they havent been in the socon long so i cant rank them as high this.. but its a hard place to win at these days.
7. The Cit - use to be a old boat now its shapeing up to look really nice...
8. ETSU - The mini dump everyone hated it.. but it was pretty hard to win there.. always had good games at home..
9.WCU - use to be a hard place to go to.. but slumping alot here lately hopefully they can get thier big fan base back...
10. Samford - yes i said samford.. 1 year in the socon and they gave app all they wanted at home... i wont put chatt cause if the vistors have more fans then home it just cant be ranked.

whats your ranking.. its just a fun thing to do...

Here are some other schools to consider when putting these rankings together.

Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, LSU, Maryland, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Tennessee, Tulane, Vanderbilt, Virginia, and Virginia Tech.

You have to include Bama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Tennessee, and VT in that list for sure.

[PaladinFan]

No way App State beats Georgia Southern for the top spot if you are talking recent history. Furman and App have only won in Paulson Stadium a handful of times combined. Furman, just as an example, still owns the all time series record against App in Boone.

I don't think Wofford goes in front of Furman either. FU has been a lot better for a lot longer.

[furman94]

I agree, and we historically own Wofford at PalStad East, Gibbs Stadium

[th0m]

I don't mean to hate on your rankings, but your logic for ranking most of these teams is "it's hard to win here". I mean, if you are going to have text explaining your rankings...shouldn't you involve some variables? Like, the crappy facilities always lets the visiting team come out of the gates deflated...or...the smell from that food-processing plant means we're always barfing all over the field in the first Q...or...them cheerleaders over there are so smokin'...our players keep misfiring!

Just sayin'

[Saint3333]

No way App State beats Georgia Southern for the top spot if you are talking recent history. Furman and App have only won in Paulson Stadium a handful of times combined. Furman, just as an example, still owns the all time series record against App in Boone.

I don't think Wofford goes in front of Furman either. FU has been a lot better for a lot longer.

Not true ASU leads the series in Boone 9-8-2. ASU is 7-1 in the last 8 meeting in Boone.

http://cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_iaa/southern/appalachian_state/opponents_records.php?teamid=1229

Furman is 2-7 all time at GSU. So if ASU beats Furman this weekend, would you agree ASU is tougher recently xsmiley_wix?

[ElonFirefighter]

if your including the past you need to go back to the origion of the socon and include the garden of eden

[blueballs]

GSU owns the two longest home win streaks in FCS history and App is third. That would MOL tell the story IMO.

[PaladinFan]

Not true ASU leads the series in Boone 9-8-2. ASU is 7-1 in the last 8 meeting in Boone.

http://cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_iaa/southern/appalachian_state/opponents_records.php?teamid=1229

Furman is 2-7 all time at GSU. So if ASU beats Furman this weekend, would you agree ASU is tougher recently xsmiley_wix?

Tougher in the last three years? Maybe. Tougher over the last 20? Not even close. Paladin Stadium probably gets ranked above KBS if you go back more than five or so years.

Remember, a national championship App team barely barely beat a 3-8 GSU squad in Statesboro a few years ago. All bets are off in that stadium.

[Saint3333]

Tougher in the last three years? Maybe.

Maybe??? Come on PFan.

And Paladin Stadium tougher than KBS, surely you jest.

[PaladinFan]

Maybe??? Come on PFan.

And Paladin Stadium tougher than KBS, surely you jest.

You seem to forget that the only team to beat Furman in 2004 and 2005 in Greenville was national champ James Madison in the playoffs.

Everyone talks about the long streaks of Southern and App, but let's not forget that Furman and Wofford are daggum tough at home. Have been for a long time.

According to numbers I can find Furman's overall record at Paladin Stadium is 136-34-1. App's overall record at KBS is 192-59-5. Kidd Brewer is 20 years older than Paladin Stadium. Both teams are undefeated at home in 2008.

Of course ASU has the better homefield right now. However, if you want to look at history (and some on here were) it's not so clear cut. Both teams, historically, have been extremely difficult to beat at home. Furman has more history of being a tough road game, App has been more dominant in recent years.

[asu70]

Tougher in the last three years? Maybe. Tougher over the last 20? Not even close. Paladin Stadium probably gets ranked above KBS if you go back more than five or so years.

Remember, a national championship App team barely barely beat a 3-8 GSU squad in Statesboro a few years ago. All bets are off in that stadium.

Just some quick facts for you, in the last 20 years against FU in Boone... App holds the lead 7-4. Games played in Paladin Stadium... FU holds the lead 6 wins to 5. App has 109 wins with 20 loses in KBS since 1987. What would Furman's record be in Paladin Stadium to make the comparison not even close?

[Saint3333]

Another Paladin fan leaving the 80's, taking a lesson from their Clemson brothers in the upstate.

Prior to 1984 ASU had a 65.7% home winning percentage is KBS.

The last 25 years: 84.2%
last 20 years: 84.6%
last 15 years: 87.0%
last 10 years: 90.3%
last 5 years: 96.7%

KBS > Paladin Stadium.

ASU passed Furman projected cummulative attendance for the year after two games. What has happened to the Furman faithful. No one walks into Paladin stadium and looks at it as a "hostile" envirnoment.

[PaladinFan]

That wasn't the question friend. If people are going to pull out Auburn as a tough SoCon place to play, then how does Furman in the 80s and 90s not count?

The question was not "what is the loudest place to play," or "which stadium holds the most fans." The question concerned the toughest place for a road team to win. App doesn't have a monopoly on homefield advantage. Wofford draws less than we do and I'm not thinking many teams want to go play at Gibbs these days.

[Saint3333]

You stated prior to the last 5 years Paladin stadium was tougher than KBS. The numbers don't support that.

Another poster is including SEC/ACC member, not me, that's just silly.

Furman and Wofford just have good teams, not good home field advantages or toughest places to play IMO.

KBS has had the turf, the crown on the field, and the atmosphere.

Seriously what's wrong with the Furman attendance this year, average less than 10K for the first time I can remember.

[LarryBoy]

Sorry, can't agree at all with the OP's rankings. Here's my take (specifically, since the I-AA split):

1. Georgia Southern: The down years as of late do little to diminish Paulson Stadium and the Eagles' domination there. GSU was bringing 20,000 loud, engaged fans years before Kidd Brewer was considered to be even a little intimidating.
2. Appalachian State: On October 12th, 2002, Kidd Brewer gained a certain mystique. 6 years, 3 National Championships, and many record-breaking crowds later, it has become a place of doom for many a team. Winning in Kidd Brewer is like winning in an SEC stadium, and I've sworn that I'll personally never make the trip up for a long, long time.
3. Marshall: Being a visiting fan at this West Virginia dump wasn't just unpleasant; it was downright oppressive. This was the kind of place you didn't bring your kids, too, and you may have even thought twice about bringing your team. From what I hear, these guys make drunken ASU students look like cordial butlers.
4. Furman: I'm personally biased to the Furman atmosphere, though student enthusiasm seems to take every other year off. But moreso than the atmosphere, it's the way the Paladins play at Paladin Stadium...they seem to have an extra spring in their step when they don the purple uniforms. In 27 seasons, the Paladins have lost just 34 games at Paladin Stadium...and those numbers are skewed by a large handful of lousy 1990's Paladin teams. Since '99, the Purple People Eaters have lost just 7 regular season home games.
5. The Citadel: You won't find an atmosphere like this anywhere else in the conference, that's for sure. Everything about The Citadel is imposing; the castle-like structures, the routines and presence of the cadets, and that hot, sticky Charleston weather. It's about time that The Citadel got back to fielding some imposing teams on the field, as well.
6. Wofford: Little Wofford and little Gibbs Stadium has been the punchline of many jokes, from the "band" to the "attendance." Still, as "little Wofford" has turned into "Southern Conference Power Wofford," very few teams find themselves walking out of Gibbs with a win. Oddly enough, it seems that most D2 and Big South opponents give the Terriers tougher games there than most of their SoCon brethren. Except for Furman, of course, who has only lost in "Paladin Stadium East" once. I'm going to keep holding onto that one for as long as I can.
7. Western Carolina: All I can say is, "back in the day..." Unfortunately, as Western's stadium has gone in the right direction (two sets of stands!), the team has backpedaled. Really hope they can get back on the right track.
8. ETSU: East Tennessee State actually gave us a model for doing a lot of good with their stadium. Rather than leaving their local closed-down Sam's Club empty, they put a football field inside of it. That's looking out for the community. In terms of toughest places to physically play, this tops it all. If you were a player running out of bounds, you had approximately one second to put on the brakes before a brick wall put them on for you.
9. Elon: Elon's stadium seems to be intimidating in the same way the Clemson fans have always said that Duke's stadium is intimidating...the quiet gets to you. Even some of Furman's best post-2000 best teams have struggled to win at Elon against mediocre-to-bad Phoenix teams. Elon has gotten rid of the medicore-to-bad team part (I'm thoroughly impressed with the Phoenix this year, as we should all be), and we'll see if the atmosphere starts to change.
10. Chattanooga Chattanooga beats out Samford and VMI simply because the National Championship is played there, and when you're playing in the National Championship, you're normally playing a really good opponent, therefore making it tough to win.