If buildings could talk, Jordan-Hare Stadium would have a few choice words for EA Sports. The geek squad responsible for the video game College Football 26 just spit on the Heisman statues outside and wiped their feet all over Pat Dye Field inside.

They ranked the toughest places to play in the country, and they slotted the sandbox of Pat Sullivan, Bo Jackson and Cam Newton at No. 17. They humbled the home of the Kick Six and the Prayer in Jordan-Hare even further by low-balling it at 10th in the SEC – 10th! – one spot behind Williams-Brice Stadium at South Carolina.

Since when is the piped-in sound of a crowing rooster more majestic and electric than the pregame flight of a living, breathing, soaring eagle?

Pity the fools.

Don’t they know that Nick Saban called Auburn’s home on the Plains “haunted” and that Kirby Smart labeled it “one of the toughest places to play in the world”? Saban retired with a losing record there at 5-7 if you count his time at LSU (0-3) and Alabama (5-4). If not for Bryce Young or Gravedigger, the GOAT would’ve lost more games than he won there with two different programs.

That’s the power of the place at its best. And there’s the rub.

If recency bias matters, let’s be honest. Jordan-Hare Stadium has seen much better days because it’s seen much better Auburn teams. You don’t string together four straight losing seasons without tripping on your own turf so often it hurts.

Hard to believe if you were there when Patrick Nix came off the bench to hit Frank Sanders in the 1993 Iron Bowl, but Auburn has not posted a winning home record against power conference visitors in a single season since 2020.

Bryan Harsin went 2-6 against big-boy visitors in his brief stay, 2-5 against the SEC and 0-1 against Penn State. After Harsin’s dismissal, interim coach Carnell Williams did manage to protect the house in 2022 against Texas A&M with a considerable lift from an emotional home crowd. No doubt many of them remembered the night Cadillac went crazy from 80 yards out to ignite the 2003 Iron Bowl.

Jordan-Hare has yet to regain its rep under Hugh Freeze. He is 2-7 against power conference teams in Jordan-Hare, his only non-pastry victories over Mississippi State in 2023 and Texas A&M last year.

Think of that empty feeling this way. Diego Pavia has as many SEC wins in Auburn the last two years as Auburn does, one with New Mexico State in 2023 and another last season with Vanderbilt.

They say charity begins at home, but Auburn has been far too hospitable for visiting football teams the last four years. Say what you will about Gus Malzahn, but Auburn owned a true home-field advantage during his tenure. In his eight years as head coach, the Tigers went 45-11 overall in Jordan-Hare, 23-11 against power conference visitors and 23-10 against the SEC.

Jacksonville State 2015 was an alarming near-miss, but Malzahn’s only non-conference home defeat came against the 2016 Clemson team that went on to win the national championship.

In the four years since Malzahn was asked to leave, Auburn is 16-14 overall at home, 5-13 against power conference visitors and 5-11 in the conference. Besides 2023 New Mexico State, the non-conference home defeats were administered by 2022 Penn State, a very good team, and 2024 Cal, a decidedly mediocre bunch.

So if you’re ranking the toughest places to play in college football two months out from the start of the 2025 season, the trend says Saban and Smart are wrong and EA Sports is right. Jordan-Hare shouldn’t be insulted that it came in at No. 17 in the country and No. 10 in the SEC on an interesting but ultimately meaningless list. It should feel flattered that someone believes the magic has faded but not vanished completely.

Unless something goes horribly awry in September against Ball State or South Alabama, the first true test of Jordan-Hare’s current degree of difficulty will come Oct. 11 against Georgia. The final exam will be Nov. 29 against Alabama.

Of the six Crimson Tide coaches that have taken a team to the Plains, only Dennis Franchione prevailed on his first visit. Will Kalen DeBoer join that short list? Alabama has yet to win three straight in the house that haunted Saban, but the Tide will ride a two-game win streak to kickoff there.

Will they find this proud old house inviting or intimidating? Jordan-Hare will have the last word.