Abstract
This study examines home advantage in American college football games from a multilevel perspective. It quantifies the extent and significance of that home advantage and examines how it varies between BCS and non-BCS teams as well as analyzing the relationship between home advantage and team parity. Our results indicate that home advantage exists for most teams and conferences. It equates to a 6 point advantage for home teams and a 3-point disadvantage for away teams when controlling for team strength and other predictors. It concludes that after controlling for team ability, non-BCS teams possess a stronger home advantage than BCS teams. Such a result is likely related to the greater parity among BCS teams which leads to a “choking under pressure” effect for them in closely played games.
| Translated title of the contribution | Home advantage in American College Football games: a multilevel modelling approach |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Pages (from-to) | 1 - 23 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| Journal | Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports |
| Volume | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 2011 |