Comments on: Toughest Venues: Recap

By: matt

matt — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 22:03:17 +0000

Great research. I think you have everything right, except of course the tradition statistics that you cite seem to unequivocally place Ohio State above PSU, despite the Lions impressive post-season record.

But come one, 11 national titles for Michigan? I just have a tough time swallowing that one. If they’ve only earned two in the last 60 years, that really drops them low on the tradition scale.

Still, I think the overall shake out got it right; OSU, then PSU, then Wisconsin, and then Michigan as a distant fourth.

By: Steve K

Steve K — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 00:50:45 +0000

So Ohio State has more national titles, more Heismans, more All Americans, more all time wins, and a better win% yet a better Bowl Record gives Penn State an edge in Tradition/History?

And Penn State didn’t even reach capacity three of the five years looked at and it has better fans? Ohio State could probably sell 150,000 tickets a game. Penn State couldn’t say that over the last five years. As Buckeye Commentary points out, apparently everyone wearing White counts for a lot then.

Also, do Crowds at Indiana and Northwestern that are 80% Ohio State fans count for or against those schools Venues?

By: admin

admin — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:40:15 +0000

Or we could have gone with the “culture of rioting” at Ohio State. Direct quote by Former Ohio State president Karen A. Holbrook when referring to Buckeye football games.
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Or should we have awarded the best fans to Penn State and their reputation as a classy bunch. Oh, but wait, what about the incident with 2 Ohio State fans attacked by a Penn State fraternity?
http://www.wjactv.com/news/14471525/detail.html?rss=john&psp=news
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The point being, there are notoriously bad fans and behavior everywhere. Even Northwestern. Yet this category was a judgment call we made and stand by. But just so you know, throwing “urine and batteries” isn’t even the worst of it.

By: Scott K

Scott K — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:53:26 +0000

Thank you MoCeltics33. No way Penn St gets ranked above the Buckeyes in tradition category. And why does Wisconsin have the “best” fans? Because they throw urine and batteries at opposing fans?

By: MoCeltics33

MoCeltics33 — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:22:48 +0000

penn state ranked above ohio state in the tradition category? LAUGHABLE.

By: darren

darren — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:00:56 +0000

Maybe im misinterpreting something, but putting an NL on OSU for student tickets is absolutely absurd. student season tickets were sold out about 5 minutes into the window for freshmen to obtain them last year…

and how does PSU rank about osu in tradition? just because of a better bowl record? come on…thats just silly.

other than my obvious homer gripes, decent composition. good job.

By: stvharding

stvharding — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:42:01 +0000

You did a fantastic job with this poll. The research was top notch and the information was complete. One thing I would argue is the attendance reasoning.

Filling the stadium to less then capacity should count against the institution more than the total number of fans i.e. the ranking of PSU and OSU in the attendance category.

I would switch OSU and UM in tradition, but, your arguments are sound and make your point well.

By: admin

admin — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 22:28:00 +0000

Seems like the general consensus is that we got things wrong with the Tradition/History category in regards to Penn State and Ohio State.
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We reviewed the numbers here at Nittany White Out and had the numbers been switched between the Lions and Buckeyes, the Buckeyes would still be in the top spot with 50 points.
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Interestingly, the Lions would be forced into a 2 way tie for second with Wisconsin at 46 points a piece. That was just an interesting bit we figure we’d like to share. But unfortunately we stand by our numbers and ranking though we do understand where most of you are coming from.
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We made our best attempt to argue ranking Ohio State below Penn State in the Tradition/History category in the Ohio Stadium post.

By: Larry Biittner

Larry Biittner — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:18:23 +0000

Isn’t this a ranking of venues rather than of programs? Minnesota should be dead last in Tradition/History. Or does having Mike Ditka ridicule your stadium count as a positive?

Where are you getting your All-American numbers? As you note, Wisconsin has produced two Heisman winners. Northwestern produced the best offensive back in the history of the conference. Yet both schools get a dash under All-Americans? That’s kind of lame.

Finally, and it pains me to say it because Penn State is a much more likeable program with infinitely more likeable fans, but Ohio State should be ranked second in the Tradition/History table.

By: Massey

Massey — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:39:28 +0000

I do not see how see PSU can have a better fan score than Ohio state in the first graph when they do not even sell out all of their games. That makes no sense. I think Penn State has great fans, but even South Carolina sells out every game. Come on.