Alabama's ranking in USA TODAY Sports' toughest college football stadiums doesn't add up
With a seating capacity of 100,077, Bryant-Denny Stadium and its patrons have witnessed the Crimson Tide lose just three times in Tuscaloosa since the back end of the 2012 season. The most recent loss came in 2023 when the Texas Longhorns toppled Alabama in a 34-24 win.
On the eve of a new college football season, USA TODAY Sports' Paul Myerberg and Blake Toppmeyer ranked the sport's unfriendliest stadiums entering 2025 by using "tracked records, traditions and environments to list the 25 most inhospitable stadiums in the FBS." Alabama's Bryant-Denny Stadium was ranked No. 8 on the list.
Does the math check out for Alabama's ranking? If we're going by "tracked records" (i.e. wins and losses) and "mesmerizing home-field advantages" that Myerberg and Toppmeyer allude to, the answer is no.
Let's start by repeating this fact: Alabama has lost just three times at Bryant-Denny Stadium since the start of the 2013 season. The Ole Miss Rebels pulled a 43-37 upset of the Tide in 2015. Alabama bounced back from that Week 3 loss and ended the season as national champions for the fourth time in six years under Nick Saban.
Aside from that 2015 loss to Ole Miss and the one to Texas on Sept. 9, 2023, the only other team to beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa from 2013-present was LSU during its 15-0 national championship season in 2019. The Tigers held on for a 46-41 victory in their closest game in a season that truly ranks as one of the most impressive and dominant campaigns since the turn of the century.
In full, the seven teams whose stadiums placed ahead of Alabama on Myerberg and Toppmeyer's list were: LSU at No. 1, followed by Penn State, Ohio State, Oregon, Clemson, Tennessee and Georgia.
Some of those schools' home losses far outweigh Alabama's. Tiger Stadium may be where "opponents' dreams come to die" as former coach Les Miles said many years ago, but try telling that to Alabama. The Crimson Tide have lost in Baton Rouge only nine times since Tiger Stadium opened in 1924, most recently in 2022.
In the same 2013-present stretch, LSU has lost more times (five) in Tiger Stadium to Alabama alone than the Crimson Tide have lost to their opponents combined at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The Tigers have 11 total losses in Baton Rouge in that span.
Penn State being ranked No. 2 in USA TODAY Sports' list seems far too generous for the Nittany Lions, given that they've lost a total of 16 times at home since 2013. That's hardly as impressive as Ohio State, who ranked one spot below Beaver Stadium. The Buckeyes have just six home losses in the past 12 years.
Oregon (ranked No. 4) has nine home losses since 2013, though the Ducks have just one loss at Autzen Stadium since the start of 2019. Clemson at No. 5 on the list has six home losses since 2013.
If we're truly going by "tracked records," Tennessee has the most egregious ranking on this list at No. 6. The Vols have a whopping 27 home losses since 2013 (four of them to Alabama alone). While Josh Heupel has turned the program around and Tennessee has only one loss at Neyland Stadium since the start of 2022, Georgia still has a far better claim than the Vols do for the toughest environment.
Kirby Smart's Bulldogs haven't loss at Sanford Stadium since 2019. Since Smart took over in Athens in 2016, Georgia has just three other losses "Between The Hedges" -- all of which came during his first season as head coach.
As far as traditions and environments go, every stadium on Myerberg and Toppmeyer's list has its own unique charm. But if tracked records such as actual wins and losses truly matter in determining the most unfriendly places to play in college football, Bryant-Denny Stadium and Alabama take a back seat to no one. The math doesn't lie.
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This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: Alabama, Bryant-Denny Stadium ranked too low on toughest stadiums list
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