In an ongoing effort to bolster the effects of homefield advantage in the College Football video game, which was revived after more than a decade last summer, EA Sports is putting an extra emphasis on "Stadium Pulse" for the upcoming College Football 26 title, which is scheduled to be released on Thursday, July 10.
On Wednesday, EA Sports revealed its rankings of the top 25 venues in college football, a list dubbed the "Top 25 Toughest Places To Play", and Beaver Stadium made a significant jump up the order from last year.
The home of the Penn State Nittany Lions, which is the second-largest college football stadium in the country from a capacity standpoint (106,572 seats), was ranked No. 6 last year. This year, it comes in at No. 2, and it is the top-ranked venue in the Big Ten.
Penn State edged out by just one other NCAA stadium
The only stadium listed higher is Tiger Stadium, the home of the SEC's LSU Tigers. The 102,321-seat venue, commonly known as "Death Valley", was listed at No. 3 last year and was able to edge out Beaver Stadium for this year's coveted top spot.
Let's take a closer look at the stadiums Beaver Stadium did manage to jump ahead of in this year's rankings.
Last year's No. 1 spot went to Texas A&M's Kyle Field, which took a tumble all the way down to No. 11 after the Aggies lost two home games in 2024. The formerly No. 2-ranked Bryant-Denny Stadium, home of the Alabama Crimson Tide, also dropped, but only to No. 5.
Ohio Stadium, the home of the Ohio State Buckeyes, actually moved up from No. 4 to No. 3, but unlike last year, it is no longer classified as the toughest place to play in the Big Ten. Sanford Stadium, the home of the Georgia Bulldogs, also moved up from No. 5 to No. 4, but that jump wasn't enough to keep it ahead of Beaver Stadium.
Penn State's two most recent losses at home have come to the eventual national champion Ohio State Buckeyes (2024) and Michigan Wolverines (2023).
Speaking of Michigan, Michigan Stadium only came in at No. 10 in this year's rankings, which was still an improvement from its No. 16 ranking from last year. "The Big House", which is the nation's largest NCAA football venue (107,600 seats), is only the fourth-ranked Big Ten venue, with Oregon's Autzen Stadium ranked just ahead of it at No. 9.
The Big Ten placed eight of its 18 stadiums inside the top 25, second only to the SEC's 11. The only non-Big Ten/SEC venue inside the top 10 is Clemson's Memorial Stadium, which is ranked at No. 6, up six spots from last year.
The first of Penn State's seven home games on the 2025 schedule is slated to open up the season on Saturday, August 30. The Nittany Lions are scheduled to take on the Mountain West's Nevada Wolf Pack in the first of four consecutive games at Beaver Stadium to start the year.