Which college football teams really have the best home field advantage? Most sources try to generalize the upper hand into a simple number that can be applied to every team and every game. The fact of the matter is, there is no magic number that applies universally (the national average is just over three points, but it can vary drastically).
Each team has built their own home field profile, and that is what I have tried to capture. I will go into more detail about how I came up with these numbers below, but the table that follows shows how much better each team has performed historically (represented by points) at home compared to on the road.
The data was taken for each team for games between 1989 and 2014 in conference play only to help remove outliers caused by playing inferior non-conference opponents. Keep in mind that some of the best teams in the nation over the past few decades show up at the bottom of this list. This doesn’t mean they don’t have any home field edge, but rather that they play just as well on the road as they do at home, so their true advantage is simply not as significant.
So, where do these numbers come from? Like I said, I pulled game data for each team for all of their conference games from 1989 to 2014. I then took the difference of each team’s home margin of victory and road margin of victory and divided that number by two to get each team’s advantage at home over a neutral field. As you can see, not all home field advantage is created equal!
Home Field Advantage in College Football
| Team | Home Record | Home Scoring Margin | Road Record | Road Scoring Margin | True Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii Warriors | 83-61-3 | 5.50 | 44-76-1 | -8.61 | 7.06 |
| Cincinnati Bearcats | 60-44-1 | 1.40 | 41-74-0 | -9.90 | 5.65 |
| Texas El Paso Miners | 54-79-2 | -4.01 | 25-108-3 | -14.93 | 5.46 |
| East Carolina Pirates | 67-44-1 | 4.78 | 53-67-0 | -6.00 | 5.39 |
| Kansas State Wildcats | 76-52-3 | 4.55 | 51-83-1 | -5.70 | 5.13 |
| Wyoming Cowboys | 70-53-1 | 3.14 | 47-82-0 | -6.95 | 5.05 |
| Rice Owls | 66-69-0 | -0.34 | 43-95-0 | -10.41 | 5.04 |
| Utah Utes | 78-49-1 | 7.59 | 59-66-1 | -2.02 | 4.81 |
| California Golden Bears | 67-75-3 | 0.41 | 41-102-2 | -8.96 | 4.69 |
| Toledo Rockets | 78-20-2 | 11.54 | 58-45-1 | 2.60 | 4.47 |
| Missouri Tigers | 64-63-2 | 1.72 | 47-83-1 | -7.15 | 4.44 |
| Nebraska Cornhuskers | 111-23-0 | 20.39 | 92-36-1 | 11.73 | 4.33 |
| Kansas Jayhawks | 49-81-0 | -8.24 | 27-102-4 | -16.88 | 4.32 |
| Florida State Seminoles | 120-19-0 | 23.17 | 85-29-1 | 14.55 | 4.31 |
| Texas Tech Red Raiders | 76-57-2 | 4.49 | 56-78-1 | -4.08 | 4.29 |
| Clemson Tigers | 101-34-2 | 11.17 | 72-55-0 | 2.78 | 4.20 |
| Indiana Hoosiers | 52-88-1 | -5.97 | 29-113-0 | -14.11 | 4.07 |
| Arkansas Razorbacks | 76-56-1 | 5.11 | 58-75-2 | -2.96 | 4.04 |
| Arizona State Sun Devils | 86-55-2 | 6.58 | 62-73-2 | -1.49 | 4.04 |
| Penn State Nittany Lions | 102-37-0 | 11.47 | 75-47-1 | 3.48 | 4.00 |
| Wisconsin Badgers | 81-57-3 | 6.53 | 63-77-1 | -1.26 | 3.90 |
| New Mexico Lobos | 48-74-1 | -4.15 | 35-90-0 | -11.92 | 3.89 |
| Oklahoma Sooners | 98-26-1 | 17.00 | 86-36-2 | 9.31 | 3.85 |
| Syracuse Orange | 73-55-1 | 4.07 | 56-69-0 | -3.56 | 3.82 |
| Oklahoma State Cowboys | 66-63-5 | 2.77 | 57-75-1 | -4.70 | 3.74 |
| Colorado State Rams | 72-53-0 | 3.21 | 55-69-1 | -4.23 | 3.72 |
| Maryland Terrapins | 67-61-0 | 1.17 | 54-77-1 | -6.18 | 3.68 |
| Washington Huskies | 91-49-2 | 6.73 | 71-71-1 | -0.59 | 3.66 |
| Minnesota Golden Gophers | 57-83-2 | -3.83 | 38-105-0 | -11.08 | 3.63 |
| Oregon State Beavers | 55-83-2 | -4.60 | 37-103-3 | -11.73 | 3.57 |
| Ohio Bobcats | 48-52-2 | 1.21 | 40-61-1 | -5.92 | 3.57 |
| UCLA Bruins | 94-48-2 | 6.32 | 70-70-3 | -0.78 | 3.55 |
| Ohio State Buckeyes | 113-28-1 | 16.50 | 99-38-3 | 9.52 | 3.49 |
| Miami Hurricanes | 92-27-0 | 15.55 | 78-35-0 | 8.62 | 3.47 |
| Colorado Buffaloes | 73-60-2 | 1.46 | 57-75-2 | -5.41 | 3.44 |
| Tulane Green Wave | 48-58-0 | -4.71 | 21-78-0 | -11.53 | 3.41 |
| Rutgers Scarlet Knights | 47-70-0 | -5.50 | 33-93-2 | -12.30 | 3.40 |
| Louisville Cardinals | 68-42-0 | 3.02 | 53-62-0 | -3.77 | 3.40 |
| Virginia Tech Hokies | 79-32-1 | 11.43 | 65-45-1 | 4.68 | 3.38 |
| Mississippi Rebels | 51-69-1 | -2.31 | 37-86-0 | -9.05 | 3.37 |
| Southern Methodist Mustangs | 65-60-1 | -1.77 | 43-85-1 | -8.51 | 3.37 |
| Southern California Trojans | 103-35-2 | 13.09 | 89-52-2 | 6.43 | 3.33 |
| Air Force Falcons | 74-43-0 | 7.07 | 60-63-1 | 0.46 | 3.31 |
| North Carolina Tar Heels | 75-57-2 | 3.22 | 57-75-0 | -3.39 | 3.31 |
| Wake Forest Demon Deacons | 43-86-0 | -6.51 | 36-101-0 | -13.12 | 3.31 |
| Brigham Young Cougars | 87-20-0 | 15.67 | 85-31-1 | 9.09 | 3.29 |
| Boston College Eagles | 70-56-1 | 2.57 | 54-70-1 | -3.92 | 3.25 |
| Texas A&M Aggies | 90-46-1 | 8.53 | 77-57-1 | 2.07 | 3.23 |
| Iowa State Cyclones | 44-87-3 | -7.98 | 29-100-4 | -14.42 | 3.22 |
| Iowa Hawkeyes | 88-50-3 | 6.89 | 72-67-2 | 0.49 | 3.20 |
| South Carolina Gamecocks | 60-55-3 | 0.74 | 41-63-1 | -5.63 | 3.19 |
| Texas Christian Horned Frogs | 73-60-0 | 4.57 | 57-75-2 | -1.78 | 3.18 |
| Oregon Ducks | 90-47-2 | 7.77 | 78-66-0 | 1.42 | 3.18 |
| Purdue Boilermakers | 68-71-3 | -0.70 | 46-94-1 | -7.01 | 3.16 |
| Florida Gators | 91-23-1 | 14.98 | 79-36-0 | 8.68 | 3.15 |
| Houston Cougars | 74-53-3 | 4.98 | 58-69-1 | -1.30 | 3.14 |
| Central Michigan Chippewas | 58-43-1 | 3.92 | 45-53-3 | -2.32 | 3.12 |
| Baylor Bears | 64-70-2 | -2.93 | 45-90-1 | -9.13 | 3.10 |
| Mississippi State Bulldogs | 55-65-0 | -3.35 | 32-92-1 | -9.50 | 3.08 |
| Auburn Tigers | 83-40-3 | 6.29 | 67-55-1 | 0.15 | 3.07 |
| Miami Ohio Redhawks | 61-38-1 | 7.76 | 53-47-3 | 1.69 | 3.04 |
| Michigan Wolverines | 111-31-1 | 13.92 | 92-46-3 | 7.96 | 2.98 |
| Bowling Green Falcons | 65-39-4 | 7.75 | 58-47-1 | 1.84 | 2.96 |
| Kent State Golden Flashes | 37-66-0 | -5.29 | 25-75-1 | -11.17 | 2.94 |
| Kentucky Wildcats | 41-89-0 | -8.03 | 25-105-0 | -13.90 | 2.94 |
| Vanderbilt Commodores | 27-101-1 | -10.09 | 22-108-0 | -15.92 | 2.92 |
| Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles | 74-37-0 | 8.72 | 70-48-1 | 2.97 | 2.88 |
| Western Michigan Broncos | 64-39-0 | 5.70 | 48-51-1 | 0.39 | 2.66 |
| Memphis Tigers | 50-59-1 | 0.05 | 37-79-0 | -5.19 | 2.62 |
| Tennessee Volunteers | 85-44-1 | 7.95 | 72-52-3 | 2.72 | 2.62 |
| Washington State Cougars | 55-84-3 | -3.56 | 52-87-1 | -8.71 | 2.58 |
| Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | 80-45-0 | 4.46 | 59-64-2 | -0.53 | 2.50 |
| Temple Owls | 43-67-0 | -5.95 | 37-95-0 | -10.88 | 2.47 |
| North Carolina State Wolfpack | 69-62-1 | -0.21 | 50-80-0 | -5.01 | 2.40 |
| Michigan State Spartans | 82-58-2 | 5.53 | 70-69-2 | 0.75 | 2.39 |
| West Virginia Mountaineers | 86-45-3 | 8.07 | 72-54-0 | 3.41 | 2.33 |
| Duke Blue Devils | 35-95-0 | -8.88 | 32-104-1 | -12.86 | 1.99 |
| Texas Longhorns | 98-32-0 | 12.05 | 87-40-1 | 8.27 | 1.89 |
| Virginia Cavaliers | 79-52-1 | 2.12 | 55-77-2 | -1.61 | 1.87 |
| Pittsburgh Panthers | 75-58-2 | 3.31 | 58-62-3 | -0.29 | 1.80 |
| Northwestern Wildcats | 48-92-0 | -10.12 | 45-99-1 | -13.66 | 1.77 |
| Arizona Wildcats | 76-69-1 | 1.25 | 63-72-5 | -1.88 | 1.57 |
| Illinois Fighting Illini | 66-75-1 | -1.63 | 55-83-4 | -4.58 | 1.48 |
| Georgia Bulldogs | 80-34-0 | 8.82 | 76-35-2 | 6.27 | 1.28 |
| Stanford Cardinal | 77-64-1 | 0.85 | 65-80-1 | -1.66 | 1.26 |
| Ball State Cardinals | 56-44-1 | 1.75 | 55-43-1 | -0.48 | 1.12 |
| Alabama Crimson Tide | 87-39-1 | 10.26 | 87-38-1 | 8.72 | 0.77 |
| Louisiana State Tigers | 80-49-2 | 3.92 | 70-54-3 | 2.85 | 0.54 |
There are a few things to keep in mind when you look at this data. First, obviously there is a lot of turnover for college football teams, so there is going to be some fluctuation from year to year, however, over this length of time there are certainly some patterns that emerge. You will also notice that the teams at the top of this list are mostly bad road teams, which influences how much “better” their numbers look at home.
This table is a must have if you are going to improve your college football handicapping. Study it and use it to set you own lines to compare to the weekly point spreads and find your value. Boyd’s Bets is here to help you improve your win rate this season.