Long before Wind River was Wind River, the Cougar contingent was split between two schools, Morton and Pavillion.

Separately, the Broncs in Morton and the Panthers in Pavillion established a trend that the conjoined Cougars continued after the separate schools became one — success at home.

In fact, the old Pavillion squad has the largest difference between success at home and success on the road of all squads in the state, past or present. Morton and Wind River, meanwhile, are both in the top seven all-time, and Wind River is second among active programs in that difference.

In 11 seasons, Pavillion won 52.5 percent of its games at home but only 27.8 percent of its games on the road — a difference of 24.7 percent. Wind River and Morton, meanwhile, have both won 17.6 percent more games at home than on the road. (Wind River matched Pavillion in home winning percentage at 52.5 but has won 34.9 percent of road games; Morton won 52.3 of home games and 34.7 percent of road games.)

Of active programs, Sheridan has the biggest difference between home and road success, as the Broncs win nearly 20 percent more games at home than on the road. The Broncs have won less than half their road games but win close to 70 percent of their home games.

Where Wind River and Sheridan love the home games, other schools don’t mind hitting the road.

In particular, Riverside shows a particular indifference to game locations. The Rebels have won 50.9 percent of their road games and 54.3 percent of their home games — a difference of just 3.4 percent, the smallest difference of active programs with at least 50 games played.

Of all Wyoming high schools with at least 50 games played, only one — Arvada-Clearmont — won a higher percentage of games on the road than at home. The Panthers, who last played in 1971, won 46.3 percent of road games but only 45.1 percent of home games.

Home teams win Wyoming high school football games about 56 percent of the time. That means, on average, the usual difference between home and road victories is about 12 percent. Some teams, like Wind River and Sheridan, tend to win a heck of a lot more at home; some teams, like Riverside, don’t really show much of a difference between home and road success.

Here are all Wyoming’s past and present football programs, ranked from lowest difference to highest difference, of schools with at least 50 games played (defunct programs in italics):

Team Road Win % Home Win % Difference
Arvada-Clearmont 0.463 0.451 -0.012
Riverside 0.509 0.543 0.034
Wyoming Indian 0.186 0.223 0.037
Manderson 0.307 0.357 0.050
University Prep 0.232 0.283 0.051
Mountain View 0.534 0.587 0.053
Pinedale 0.418 0.479 0.061
Evanston 0.441 0.512 0.071
Kelly Walsh 0.450 0.521 0.071
Snake River 0.471 0.542 0.071
Basin 0.494 0.573 0.079
Rawlins 0.342 0.423 0.081
Powell 0.503 0.585 0.082
Big Horn 0.543 0.626 0.083
Byron 0.766 0.851 0.085
Bow-Basin 0.229 0.314 0.085
Albin 0.352 0.438 0.086
Lovell 0.493 0.580 0.087
Upton 0.467 0.558 0.091
Reliance 0.627 0.719 0.092
Southeast 0.609 0.703 0.094
Wright 0.405 0.500 0.095
Pine Bluffs 0.463 0.558 0.095
Thermopolis 0.421 0.521 0.100
Douglas 0.472 0.574 0.102
Greybull 0.380 0.483 0.103
Dubois 0.400 0.506 0.106
Midwest 0.425 0.531 0.106
St. Mary’s 0.337 0.445 0.108
Worland 0.491 0.599 0.108
Lyman 0.396 0.506 0.110
Moorcroft 0.389 0.500 0.111
Tongue River 0.493 0.606 0.113
Lingle 0.472 0.586 0.114
Meeteetse 0.353 0.467 0.114
Cheyenne East 0.394 0.510 0.116
Saratoga 0.353 0.469 0.116
Buffalo 0.503 0.620 0.117
Newcastle 0.383 0.501 0.118
St. Stephens 0.500 0.618 0.118
Hulett 0.306 0.426 0.120
Superior 0.326 0.446 0.120
Cokeville 0.659 0.780 0.121
Glendo 0.318 0.439 0.121
Rocky Mountain 0.508 0.630 0.122
Deaver-Frannie 0.483 0.606 0.123
Guernsey-Sunrise 0.470 0.596 0.126
Cody 0.489 0.616 0.127
Dayton 0.517 0.645 0.128
Huntley 0.277 0.409 0.132
Wheatland 0.346 0.478 0.132
Torrington 0.495 0.629 0.134
Big Piney 0.495 0.630 0.135
Glenrock 0.546 0.683 0.137
Normative Services 0.267 0.404 0.137
Lander 0.385 0.525 0.140
Laramie 0.495 0.636 0.141
Sundance 0.380 0.523 0.143
Green River 0.456 0.601 0.145
Burlington 0.346 0.492 0.146
Farson 0.204 0.353 0.149
Shoshoni 0.415 0.566 0.151
Rock Springs 0.456 0.608 0.152
Natrona 0.580 0.734 0.154
Ten Sleep 0.355 0.512 0.157
Jackson 0.337 0.495 0.158
Burns 0.345 0.503 0.158
Kemmerer 0.404 0.566 0.162
Star Valley 0.542 0.707 0.165
Riverton 0.422 0.588 0.166
Goshen Hole 0.408 0.575 0.167
Cheyenne Central 0.516 0.683 0.167
Hanna 0.328 0.496 0.168
Lusk 0.528 0.700 0.172
Gillette 0.457 0.629 0.172
Guernsey 0.257 0.432 0.175
Morton 0.347 0.523 0.176
Wind River 0.349 0.525 0.176
Sunrise 0.421 0.602 0.181
Sheridan 0.495 0.694 0.199
Cowley 0.434 0.633 0.199
Manville 0.091 0.304 0.213
Pavillion 0.278 0.525 0.247

Generally, the further down this list you go, the better that team’s home-field advantage… or, pessimistically, the worse that team plays on the road. The higher up you go, the more consistent that team is… or, pessimistically, the worse that team’s home-field advantage is.

The question I can’t really answer: Why are the schools at the top of this list at the top? Why are the schools at the bottom of this list at the bottom? Feel free to chime in with your thoughts below.

–patrick

3 Thoughts on “Wyoming football home-field advantage: Where it means the most (and the least)

  1. Dahl Erickson on April 7, 2014 at 4:24 pm said:

    I’m a little late to this party Patrick but this is a fantastic chart for anybody who broadcasts or writes about Wyoming high school football. I can give people our own numbers, but to be able to have a chart like this is amazing. It’s like a nerd feast.

  2. Patrick on April 9, 2014 at 6:45 am said:

    Thanks for this, Dahl. I appreciate it.

    –patrick

  3. Pingback: Week 1 picks: Series where home field means the most — and the least | WHSFB HQ — The Wyoming high school football blog

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