By Mark Pszonak
With the EA Sports College Football 26 release less than three weeks away, anticipation continues to grow. Today, it was announced which stadiums are the ‘toughest places to play’ with an SEC school leading the way and two Big Ten programs coming in second and third.
🐅👑 Death Valley reigns supreme! We’ve got your #CFB26 Toughest Places to Play.
— EASPORTSCollege (@EASPORTSCollege) June 24, 2025
See Top 25 List ➡️ https://t.co/aaIN8H84Y7 pic.twitter.com/oWoanjQ3Xv
There are no doubts that Death Valley is a legendarily difficult place to play, especially on a Saturday night, but is it currently tougher than Ohio State, Alabama or Georgia, which happens to possess a 32-game home winning streak? The same question can be said about Penn State at No. 2. Yes, the annual White Out Game is one of the biggest events of the year, but until they can beat Ohio State or Michigan at home, is it really the second toughest place to play in the country?
There should also be some debate regarding No. 7 Florida and No. 8 Oklahoma, considering the two combined for a 6-4 record against P4 opposition at home in 2024. Once again, not necessarily the ‘toughest’.
So, which schools got slighted by not being included in the top ten? Texas and Notre Dame are really the only ones that have any legitimate argument. Over the last two season the Longhorns have only lost to Georgia at home, while the Irish have only fallen to Ohio State and amazingly Northern Illinois in South Bend.
Overall, while lists like this don’t mean anything, it’s a fun topic of conversation in late June. Soon enough the actual games will start and lists like this will be forgotten, but for now it keeps college football in the limelight.
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