On every right-hand team page in the magazine, I list that teams’ current home power ratings. These home ratings go from a low of two points to a high of six points. I have nine sets of power ratings, and this is the adjustment I give to the home team. As I have mentioned in previous blogs the home teams in the FBS win about 64% of their games.
Most of my home field edges are based on performance on the field at home. I also have to factor in what type of environment each team plays in front of. There are three different factors that I put into my computer equation. The first would be size of the stadium that a team plays in. The Big House in Michigan seats 107,601 which can be pretty intimidating for players used to playing in smaller stadiums. The smallest home field belongs to Kennesaw St which has a stadium capacity of 10,200.
The second factor and a little more important is actual attendance. Now, we have all seen games on TV or been to games where the announced attendance seems way off as they could have gone by tickets sold rather than actual people in the seats. Last year eight teams played in front of an announced average attendance of 100,000 or more and the top 2 were all in the Big Ten with Michigan, Penn State. Texas A&M jumped past Ohio St for the #3 spot. The next four on the list were Texas, Tennessee, LSU and Alabama. At the bottom of the list in 2025 was Sam Houston at 4773 as they were going thru a transition year and playing their games in Shell Energy Stadium 90 miles from campus in a soccer stadium. Akron was second at the bottom with a home attendance of just 7729 and UMass #134 with 8789. Naturally all the teams at the bottom of the list are Group of Five Schools. The lowest rated Power 5 team was Northwestern at 15,898 playing their games in a temporary stadium by the lake. while their new stadium is being built. .
The final category that I look at concerning attendance is percentage of capacity. Before I started my College Football magazine, I actually used to follow other sports than football! I would go to a Cleveland Indians game in Cleveland Stadium. I was there the night they filmed the scenes for Major League and the 80,000-seat stadium was almost full as it was a Marathon Oil giveaway night where you received free tickets with every fill up. I also went to the old Cleveland Stadium when there was an announced crowd of 8,000 but you could count by hand the roughly 978 people on hand in the cavernous stadium. A large full stadium is a huge plus but when a stadium is over half empty it does not generate anywhere near the home field edge.
Twenty two teams in ‘23 played in front of average crowds that met or exceeded capacity and they were Oregon, Kennesaw St, SMU, Texas Tech, Ole Miss, Kansas St, Texas A&M, Michigan South Carolina Texas, Florida, Arizona St, Ohio St, Auburn, Colorado, Utah, Penn St, BYU, Iowa, Tennessee, Notre Dame, NCSt, and Florida St . Temple playing in the Philadelphia Eagles Lincoln Financial Field had just 25.9% capacity which was an improvement over the 19.5% of the previous year. Sam Houston was at the bottom with 23.1%. In 2023 twenty teams exceeded capacity in Oregon, Ole Miss, Colorado, Purdue, Kansas St, Utah, Michigan, South Carolina, Texas, SMU, Boise St, Arkansas, Florida, Penn St, Ohio St, James Madison, Oregon ST, Auburn, Georgia and Texas A&M. Temple (20.6%) and Akron (21.2%) were at the bottom.
Here are the attendance numbers for each team and I have ranked them by actual attendance.
This years magazine is 376 pages and the biggest and best ever. Here are the different ways you can order the magazine.
Option #1 – Pick one up at your local Barnes and Noble or Books-a-Million store. When you go into a Barnes and Noble you get two different cover choices in each store! The official on sale date is July 4th but it is hitting some stores sooner. It is also available at Books-a-Million which all have the national cover. These two distributors are our exclusive vendors of the magazine, and they are not available at Walmart’s, Walgreens, Grocery Stores, other bookstores or drug stores so save your gas. The only two brick and mortar store they are available are Barnes and Noble and Books-A-Million.
Option #2 – Buy the Hard copy of the magazine at philsteele.com or call 1-866-918-7711. The total cost depends on where you live and which of the four types of shipping you choose. It will cost you in the ballpark of $10 for shipping and tax. The biggest advantage of buying online is that When you buy the Hard copy you GET the DIGITAL version of the magazine ($19.99) for FREE and it is updated thru September. Your digital access begins immediately when you purchase. You also get your choice of covers (National, SEC, Midwest, Southwest, West or East Coast) as these are generally mailed out the same or next business day as the order. Order Here!
Option #3 – Buy the digital magazine. The best thing about the digital magazine is that it is updated all the way thru the month of September. If a coach gets fired (that has happened the last couple of years) we update it. If a player is injured and out for the year we CIRCLE him in the magazine. If a player is added late (very rare) we put him in. Any changes to the team from the start of June thru the month of September is updated in the digital version. When you go to the philsteele.com store you will not see a picture there, you need to click on Digital Editions and order it there. It will be activated immediately giving you instant access. Order the Digital Here!
Option #4 – Order the VIP Bundle – The price of the VIP bundle is $44.95. With the VIP bundle you get the National Cover of the magazine. All VIP’s received EXCLUSIVE ACCESS to the digital version of the magazine for one week, but that bonus is gone as the digital is now available for everyone. You receive two magazines PLUS the Digital Magazine. You also receive FOUR Free issues of my Inside the Pressbox Newsletter ($20 per issue – $80 value) which gives you my Forecast and my computers forecast on EVERY FBS game each week. You also receive access to Phil Steele Plus ($25 per month) for the months of June, July, August and September! The VIP Bundle also includes SHIPPING so it is basically just $10 more than ordering the magazine by itself! Order the Reg VIP Bundle Here!!
Option #5 – THE BEST BUY – Order the Super VIP Bundle – The price of the SUPER VIP bundle is $74.95. With the Super VIP Bundle you receive
TWO magazines INCLUDING SHIPPING ($69 value!), EXCLUSIVE ACCESS to the digital version for one week (that happened already), order shipped next business day. Use the 2nd magazine when your first one gets dogeared or sell/give it to a friend.
Digital magazine ($19.95 value) FREE – The digital magazine is updated thru September (see option 3) and you get immediate access to the digital version upon purchase.
Four Issues of my Inside the Pressbox newsletter ($80 value) which gives you my forecast and my COMPUTERs forecast on EVERY FBS games each week (including FBS vs FCS) the same bonuses that the VIP’s get. You also receive…
FCS Digital Magazine ($25) FREE – Two full pages on Every FCS team laid out the same way the pages are for the FBS magazine. There are 128 FCS teams so over 250 pages!
NFL Digital Magazine ($15) FREE – Four full pages on Every NFL team and a Fantasy Football section!
Phil Steele Plus ($99 value) ENTIRE SEASON FREE – This is a tremendous addition. If you purchase the full year access to Phil Steele Plus it is $99 but you get it included in the Super VIP Bundle Purchase the Super VIP Bundle now and get the entire year of Phil Steele Plus FREE!! Here is a link to all the great info available on Phil Steele Plus including the schedule predictor! Order the Super VIP Bundle Here!!
