George Sarkisian-Home field advantage in weeks one-five of the 2011 season div 1-a college football

Home field advantage in weeks one through five of the 2011 season div 1-a college football.

October 05, 2011

In weeks one through five of the 2011 div 1-a college football season, div 1-a schools were involved in 322 games.

In week one, div 1-a schools were involved in seventy-eight games.

Louisiana State defeated Oregon at neutral sight Dallas, 40-27.

The home team lost eight games. (8/77=10.3%)

The home team won sixty-nine games. (69/77=89.6%)

In week two, div 1-a schools were involved in sixty-five games.

The home team lost seventeen games. (17/65=26.2%)

The home team won forty-eight games. (48/65=73.8%)

In week three, div 1-a schools were involved in sixty-four games.

The home team lost twenty-games. (20/64=31.2%)

The home team won forty-four games. (44/64=68.9%)

In week four, div 1-a schools were involved in sixty games.

The home team lost twenty-one games. (21/60=35.0%)

The home team won thirty-nine games. (39/60=65.0%)

In week five, div 1-a schools, were involved in fifty-five games.

The home team lost twenty-eight games. (28/55=50.9%)

The home team won twenty-seven games. 27/55=49.1%)

Seventy-one different schools div 1-aa schools provided the opposition in eighty-nine different games. (89/322=27.6%)

The div 1-aa school was the road team in all eighty-nine games.

The div 1-aa road team lost eighty-three of the eighty-nine games. (83/89=93.3%)

In week one, Sacramento State won at Oregon State, 29-28 in OT.

In week one, Richmond won at Duke, 23-21.

In week three, Indiana State won at Western Kentucky, 44-16.

In week four, Sam Houston State won at New Mexico, 48-45 in OT.

In week four, North Dakota State won at Minnesota, 37-24.

In week four, Southern Utah won at Nevada Las Vegas, 41-16.

Minnesota (Big Ten legends) is a hard team to figure out.

In week one, they lost at Southern California, 19-17.

In week two, they lost at home to New Mexico State, 28-21.

In week three, they won at home against Miami-OH, 29-23.

In week four, they lost at home to North Dakota State, 37-24.

In week five, they lost at Michigan, 58-0.

The part that is hard to figure out is the week one game at USC. How can Minnesota play such a good game at USC then be so inconsistent the next four games. It couldn’t have been the Southern California weather because it was still warm in the Mid-west. Maybe Tommy Trojan and Traveler inspired the Golden Gophers. Most likely, it was the USC cheerleaders.

Let us face facts; great high school football players do not want to play north of the Mason-Dixon line anymore. Despite artificial surfaces and domes, most of the BMOTHSC (Big Man on the High School Campus) picture themselves wearing bling and driving expensive/fast cars and walking on the beach rather than wearing flannel shirts, swinging axes and driving pick-ups trucks. Growing up to be Paul Bunyan is no longer a priority.

Although not the powerhouse it once was with Marcus Allen, Ricky Bell, Charles White, Anthony Davis and O.J., USC is 4-1 with victories at home against Minnesota, at home against Utah, at home against Syracuse, and at home against Arizona, Its only loss was on the road at Arizona State.

Minnesota is still looking to find the second coming of its 1941 Heisman Trophy winner Bruce Smith and 1960s all-world DE/LB Bobby Bell.

It is not likely that Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Michigan will be consistently at or near the top of the national polls in the coming years. Top flight passing high school quarterbacks don’t want to be throwing in the snow and 20 degree weather for their college team while they are auditioning for an NFL roster spot. Who wants to throw the ball when snowflakes bat passes down?

Nebraska and Oklahoma will because they are the only game in town.

The University of Texas shot itself in the foot by not sharing its television revenue with the rest of the Big Twelve and destroying that conference, but there are enough of those State of Texas football players willing to practice in 100+ degree weather in August to stage a comeback for that part of the country.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the all sports in the United States adopted the format used in some European soccer circles, whereby consistently bad teams are relegated to a second division with second division benefits?

I guarantee you we would not have 27.6% of games played against div 1-aa schools.

George Sarkisian

Chief Executive Officer