I keep hearing from sports commentators and even some posters in here that Autzen Stadium is the most difficult Pac-10 venue for visiting teams to win a game. If that were true, then Oregon would have the best home record in the Pac-10 and that's not the case.
Obviously, the period selected can influence the results. However, no matter which contiguous full seasons ending in 2008 that are selected (eg. 2002-08, 2003-08, 2006-08, etc.), USC is always #1, Cal is always #2, and Oregon is either #3 or #4.
Maybe Autzen was more difficult back in the 1990's but it far from the most difficult venue in the conference nowadays.
The key is for you guys to jump on them early....don't do what Utah and Purdue did, which is let them think they can win. Basically Oregon should be 0-3. The only reason they aren't is because their defense and Special Teams are creating 'free' points for them. As long as Riley plays decent (ie, not throwing pics returned for touchdowns...(wasn't that Longshore's m.o.?)), and your special teams doesn't screw it up, Cal will win big...real big. Oregon's defense is decent, but Best will be a difference maker.
I don't think people understand what a train wreck their offense is right now. I'm listening to sports radio in Portland as I write this, and they're talking about sticking back up Nate Costa in there, how Chip Kelly isn't the answer, and how they may only win a couple more games.....it's bad up here, trust me. If ever Oregon was ripe to get killed at home by a good team, this is it.
I keep hearing from sports commentators and even some posters in here that Autzen Stadium is the most difficult Pac-10 venue for visiting teams to win a game. If that were true, then Oregon would have the best home record in the Pac-10 and that's not the case.
Obviously, the period selected can influence the results. However, no matter which contiguous full seasons ending in 2008 that are selected (eg. 2002-08, 2003-08, 2006-08, etc.), USC is always #1, Cal is always #2, and Oregon is either #3 or #4.
Maybe Autzen was more difficult back in the 1990's but it far from the most difficult venue in the conference nowadays.
What are the home and away splits for those years? There is a distinct different between 'hardest to beat at home' which also requires a good team and 'best home-field advantage' or 'most intimidating venue' which would I guess be defined as the edge given to the home team due to their stadium which would not include the quality of their team (though that itself would be hard to measure from stats because crappy teams would have uninspired fans/empty stadiums). I'm sure a lot of commentators mean the second even though they are not careful of their diction.
I keep hearing from sports commentators and even some posters in here that Autzen Stadium is the most difficult Pac-10 venue for visiting teams to win a game. If that were true, then Oregon would have the best home record in the Pac-10 and that's not the case.
Obviously, the period selected can influence the results. However, no matter which contiguous full seasons ending in 2008 that are selected (eg. 2002-08, 2003-08, 2006-08, etc.), USC is always #1, Cal is always #2, and Oregon is either #3 or #4.
Maybe Autzen was more difficult back in the 1990's but it far from the most difficult venue in the conference nowadays.
What are the away records for the teams.
That is how you will find out how tough it is to play them at home.
USC is not exceptionally harder to beat at home than on the road. The home goobers dont give them a big advantage is how I see it.
---------------------------- I kinda am enjoying the fact that just because you're a Marine doesn't mean you're entitled to everything you ask for.
Mike Zillion
What are the home and away splits for those years? There is a distinct different between 'hardest to beat at home' which also requires a good team and 'best home-field advantage' or 'most intimidating venue' which would I guess be defined as the edge given to the home team due to their stadium which would not include the quality of their team (though that itself would be hard to measure from stats because crappy teams would have uninspired fans/empty stadiums). I'm sure a lot of commentators mean the second even though they are not careful of their diction.
Damn...Took me too long to type.
---------------------------- I kinda am enjoying the fact that just because you're a Marine doesn't mean you're entitled to everything you ask for.
Mike Zillion
@BD thanks for that. I'm encouraged by how insipid their offense is. However, we were told how insipid the Minnysoda offense was and how slow their linebackers were -- yet we were in a dogfight for 3+ quarters. Oregon is faster and Autzen is more hostile. So I'm hoping that we completely shut down Masoli and the Duckies but I'm not so sure it's going to be an easy game. On that note, we can't stand playing you in Berkeley. What is it with you guys on our turf?
"SC is not exceptionally harder to beat at home than on the road."
That's not true at all. USC has lost 10 games since 2002. 9 of the 10 losses were on the road. Only 1 of the losses was at home (Stanford). More so, I think Cal alone hands USC at least 2 more losses (2002 and 2004) if the games were played in Berkeley.
"SC is not exceptionally harder to beat at home than on the road."
That's not true at all. USC has lost 10 games since 2002. 9 of the 10 losses were on the road. Only 1 of the losses was at home (Stanford). More so, I think Cal alone hands USC at least 2 more losses (2002 and 2004) if the games were played in Berkeley.
You can claim that.
Cal hands USC one more loss in 2002 if the Ref does not count a bounce pass as a touchdown. Furd was one of the biggest upsets of the decade, maybe century, and it happened in LA.
Selective reasoning does not make them better at home.
---------------------------- I kinda am enjoying the fact that just because you're a Marine doesn't mean you're entitled to everything you ask for.
Mike Zillion
The key is for you guys to jump on them early....don't do what Utah and Purdue did, which is let them think they can win. Basically Oregon should be 0-3. The only reason they aren't is because their defense and Special Teams are creating 'free' points for them. As long as Riley plays decent (ie, not throwing pics returned for touchdowns...(wasn't that Longshore's m.o.?)), and your special teams doesn't screw it up, Cal will win big...real big. Oregon's defense is decent, but Best will be a difference maker.
Just as a side note: Longshore was the Oregon Killer. If there was one team Longshore dominated, it was the Ducks. 3-0 against them with 6 TDs to just 1 interception.
I originally thought about ranking the teams by the % change from their road record to their home record. Trouble with that approach is that 2 out of the 3 leaders in that metric would still have losing records at home.
Cal hands USC one more loss in 2002 if the Ref does not count a bounce pass as a touchdown. Furd was one of the biggest upsets of the decade, maybe century, and it happened in LA.
Selective reasoning does not make them better at home.
I don't think that is a claim. It is a fact that USC has a ridiculously good home record, and it is substantially better than their (also excellent) record away from the Coliseum.
Most stadia only give their teams an extra 3 points...Autzen is worth 3.5!
It would be cool if someone like sagarin tried to develop a method to rank the home field advantage by team. I know he has an average homefield avg....
Actually, I think the real measure for home-field advantage would be how much better a team's record is at home than their overall record.
I also suspect that Oregon doesn't do very well here either. Actually, by this measure, Cal probably has the best home-field advantage. Even in our mediocre seasons, we've been nigh-unbeatable at home. Among Pac-10 teams, Memorial Stadium is underrated as a tough venue, while Autzen is overrated.
EDIT: Also, I suspect the difference is even more stark from 2004-onward, when we actually started filling Memorial on a regular basis.
Oregon's reputation as a tough place to play -
09-21-2009, 04:10 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by RealBear65
I keep hearing from sports commentators and even some posters in here that Autzen Stadium is the most difficult Pac-10 venue for visiting teams to win a game. If that were true, then Oregon would have the best home record in the Pac-10 and that's not the case.
Obviously, the period selected can influence the results. However, no matter which contiguous full seasons ending in 2008 that are selected (eg. 2002-08, 2003-08, 2006-08, etc.), USC is always #1, Cal is always #2, and Oregon is either #3 or #4.
Maybe Autzen was more difficult back in the 1990's but it far from the most difficult venue in the conference nowadays.
was built in the four or five years ending in 2001, when they lost only one game at home, IIRC. Over the last five years Cal has been a tougher place to play than Oregon, and USC has been the toughest of all... USC based largely on the fact that they don't lose often, anywhere, and Cal based on a very good home record (4 losses to USC's 1, and Oregon's 8 or 9) and the spread between home and road records.
I've been banned from educk for pointing this out to them. They like to think that, because they show up at 104% capacity and yell a lot, Autzen is still the toughest place to play.
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