EA Sports’ stadium rankings list for its upcoming College Football ’26 video game had the sports world chirping in all directions last week.
While some fanbases were pleased with their ranking, others were making noise about just how awful theirs was – sounds like every other conversation topic around the sport, no?
Unsurprisingly, Tennessee’s fan base wasn’t too happy with theirs. After being ranked at No. 13 in the initial release of the game in 2024, Neyland Stadium only bumped up one spot to No. 12 in terms of the nation’s toughest stadiums to play at in this year’s game. Not to be too dramatic, but 12th should be grounds for a criminal investigation with nearly 102,000 fans filling the stands for home games in Knoxville.
Just ask Josh Pate.
Pate, the host of The Josh Pate Show on CBS Sports, made his thoughts public on the matter. In addition to releasing his own stadium rankings online, the well-known college football personality also put out a quick clip from his show on – spoiler alert – why he ranked Neyland Stadium as his pick for the toughest place to play in all of college football.
“Not only is Tennessee top 10, Neyland Stadium is the toughest place to play in all of college football,” Pate said in the clip. “Don’t start with me! You can go argue with this wall over here. I’ve been there for the best of it.”
Neyland Stadium is the toughest place to play in College Football. Thank you for your attention on this matter. pic.twitter.com/naN1TlhPeb
— Josh Pate (@JoshPateCFB) June 27, 2025
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Unlike the folks over at EA, Pate has Tennessee at the top of his list. The rest of his top rankings are as follows:
- Tennessee
- LSU
- Penn State
- Oregon
- Florida
- Washington
- Auburn
- Alabama
- Clemson
- Ohio State
- Texas A&M
- Georgia
As future CFB Commissioner it is imperative I release these facts annually pic.twitter.com/2ILHeRvFOK
— Josh Pate (@JoshPateCFB) June 27, 2025
Tennessee didn’t lack its own response to the video game’s ranking controversy, though. After the rankings were published last week, the Vols’ social media didn’t hesitate to throw a little shade on things, providing a hype video of their own in the process.
“Send this to someone who needs to know,” Tennessee wrote in its Instagram post, along with a yawning emoji.
🥱 https://t.co/EEjVciuhTE pic.twitter.com/pilhisYF25
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) June 24, 2025
EA Sports College Football 26 is scheduled to release on July 10, 2025, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles.
EA COLLEGE FOOTBALL 26 COVERS ARE HERE 🔥 @EASPORTSCollege pic.twitter.com/Va1YDJ2wzl
— ESPN (@espn) May 27, 2025
