# Homecoming football game **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 21, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homecoming-football-game/557946 "2010-10-21T22:10:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homecoming-football-game/557946/1 "2010-10-21T22:10:02Z")
Is the Homecoming game traditionally the 1st or last home game? Wikipedia didn’t specify, though had cool info otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homecoming-football-game/557946/2 "2010-10-21T22:37:21Z")
Neither. It’s usually some arbitrarily defined game in the middle of the season. Typically High Schools and Colleges tend to elect games that are more winnable than others when convenient. Some schools dictate their homecoming based on the calendar or some historical date of relevance, perhaps a school founding date or simply the 3rd weekend in October. There’s no universal definition though. The collegiate concept was [founded](http://admin.illinois.edu/homecoming/)at Illinois as nothing more than a alumni reunion event. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homecoming-football-game/557946/3 "2010-10-22T02:50:37Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Neither. It’s usually some arbitrarily defined game in the middle of the season. Typically High Schools and Colleges tend to elect games that are more winnable than others when convenient. Some schools dictate their homecoming based on the calendar or some historical date of relevance, perhaps a school founding date or simply the 3rd weekend in October. There’s no universal definition though. > > The collegiate concept was [founded](http://admin.illinois.edu/homecoming/)at Illinois as nothing more than a alumni reunion event. The alumni are coming home. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homecoming-football-game/557946/4 "2010-10-22T03:49:30Z")
IME, in college, Homecoming games are usually in mid to late October, perhaps the first weekend in November. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homecoming-football-game/557946/5 "2010-10-22T14:10:20Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > Is the Homecoming game traditionally the 1st or last home game? Wikipedia didn’t specify, though had cool info otherwise. My basic reaction to the idea of homecoming, independent of school, is: 1. mid-season 2. weak opponent 3. focused on alumni activities 4. much non-football hoopla That said, you can get a feel for the overall idea in the SEC at: [http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/2010/homecoming-football-games/](http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/2010/homecoming-football-games/) I don’t associate homecoming with first or last home game of the season. If you pinned me down to one phrase to associate most with homecoming I would say “easy win.” How often that comes true is a variable by individual school. The weaker the individual home team the less likely it is to be the case. Schedules are made far enough in advance that by the time the year arrives the “weak” team may have gotten much stronger and/or the home team may be too weak (or unlucky enough) for the desire for an “easy win” to happen. In that event you have a greater number of pissed off alumni – than usual. 🙂 Although it was not a homecoming game [2007 Appalachian State vs. Michigan football game - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Appalachian_State_vs._Michigan_football_game) is a good example of what can happen when the “easy win” backfires. It might be a fun project for readers in this thread to bring an example of their school’s worst homecoming performance. There must be hundreds! ---
**Author:** ![steadierfooting](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@steadierfooting](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steadierfooting)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homecoming-football-game/557946/6 "2010-10-25T19:57:51Z")
You could look at it as alumni homecoming, or team homecoming, IE they need to play an away game the previous game. Not sure if that’s across the board for every school. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homecoming-football-game/557946/7 "2010-10-26T14:37:37Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > [snip] > The collegiate concept was [founded](http://admin.illinois.edu/homecoming/)at Illinois as nothing more than a alumni reunion event. Really? Somebody forgot to tell the NCAA, Trivial Pursuit, Jeopardy, and Wikipedia! Or maybe they figured out that it really started at MIZZOU. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homecoming-football-game/557946/8 "2010-10-26T15:14:21Z")
My alma mater is Kent State, which traditionally has a weak football team. As a result, it has always seemed to me that Kent State has been the visiting team in an inordinate amount of opponent’s Homecoming Games. “When shall we schedule homecoming? It’s got to be a against a team we can beat.” “When does Kent State come to town?” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homecoming-football-game/557946/9 "2010-10-26T15:38:56Z")
> [@steadierfooting](#): > > You could look at it as alumni homecoming, or team homecoming, IE they need to play an away game the previous game. Not sure if that’s across the board for every school. I’ve always thought it should follow an away game. HomeCOMING implies you’ve BEEN somewhere. But generally it’s who is the weak opponent somewhere in midseason. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homecoming-football-game/557946/10 "2010-10-26T18:13:37Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I’ve always thought it should follow an away game. HomeCOMING implies you’ve BEEN somewhere. But generally it’s who is the weak opponent somewhere in midseason. But it’s not the students who are coming home, it’s the alumni. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homecoming-football-game/557946/11 "2010-10-26T18:23:44Z")
It should be both, in my view. Team returning victorious after a conquering tour, alumni returning home to their school. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homecoming-football-game/557946/12 "2010-10-28T00:39:27Z")
In my home town, it has always followed an away game. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homecoming-football-game/557946/13 "2010-10-28T01:29:19Z")
If everyone in the trailer park brought their mobile homes to the game … ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homecoming-football-game/557946/14 "2010-10-28T15:09:15Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > If everyone in the trailer park brought their mobile homes to the game … Tailgating happens every game. I’d vote for Dwellingcoming as a better name for the event you describe. If you called Homecoming a game played at home after an away game, there would/could be multiple homecomings per season. Does anybody have more than one “Homecoming” per year? Why not have “Awaygoing,” too? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2010, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homecoming-football-game/557946/15 "2010-10-30T10:35:24Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Tailgating happens every game. I’d vote for Dwellingcoming as a better name for the event you describe. > > If you called Homecoming a game played at home after an away game, there would/could be multiple homecomings per season. Does anybody have more than one “Homecoming” per year? Why not have “Awaygoing,” too? Actually, I was told it was only the first game after two away games, but I found out that was a lie. But there always is an away game before homecoming, so that the football players can be welcomed “back home,” along with the class of 25 years ago. Any other game in the season will not qualify. And, yes, it is always against a really cruddy team, usually in a division or two below. Heck, the players on the other team know they won’t win. I’ve seen third stringers thrown in. And, of course, the occasional team that actually wants to win against a homecoming team… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homecoming-football-game/557946/16 "2010-10-31T00:40:10Z")
Don’t home and away games usually alternate, anyway? So any given home game is likely to be right after an away game. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homecoming-football-game/557946/17 "2010-10-31T09:24:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Don’t home and away games usually alternate, anyway? So any given home game is likely to be right after an away game. That’s why I at first bought the explanation: two away games in a row is not that common. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/homecoming-football-game/557946/18 "2010-10-31T19:50:34Z")
The mix of home and away games varies by team and by year. This year Auburn (for example) has away games at Thu, Sep 9 at Mississippi State W 17-14 – Sat, Oct 9 at Kentucky W 37-34 – Sat, Oct 30 at Mississippi W 51-31 – Fri, Nov 26 at (6) Alabama The other eight games are at home. See [http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/teams/aar](http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/teams/aar) for more details. Also, see [http://auburntigers.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/sched/aub-m-footbl-sched.html](http://auburntigers.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/sched/aub-m-footbl-sched.html) to see that the Chattanooga game (this next weekend) is HC = Homecoming,