Costly upkeep, less-than-ideal weather lead most college football stadiums to use artificial turf

When a new football stadium was built at South Alabama, located in one of America's rainiest cities, the decision was made to go with an artificial turf playing surface.

At San Diego State, where the weather seems almost always perfect, going with a grass field was an easy choice — but not the usual one in major college football.

Of the 133 schools that currently compete in the top-tier of NCAA Division I, 94 have artificial surface football fields (71%) and 39 have grass (29%), most of those at Power Five schools that can afford the upkeep and maintenance. A half-century ago, there were 74 such schools playing on natural grass and the number actually peaked at 75 around 20 years ago.

It has plummeted since, even with more money flowing into Power Five school coffers from billion-dollar TV contracts.

The topic is a complicated one with some schools (Arkansas and Mississippi, for example) switching four times in the past century and others such as Michigan and Ohio State changing surfaces three times.

Many schools find turf is cheaper to maintain, particularly for concerts or other non-athletic events, even though there are concerns about athlete injuries.

When Aaron Rodgers went down with an injury just a few plays into his first season with the New York Jets, it reignited calls from NFL players for natural grass fields for their safety (about half of the 30 NFL stadiums use grass).

In major college football, the players don't have a union behind them to voice concerns. Some do have a preference.

“I would much rather (play) on grass,” said Wisconsin quarterback Tanner Mordecai, who has played on turf for the Badgers and at SMU and on grass for Oklahoma. “I don't know all the studies and all that, but I do know that it feels better. Just feels better on your joints...