SwampButt Underwear declares summer’s end

LAKE JACKSON, Texas, October 16, 2026 — Summer is giving way to autumn across college football country, but could August’s heat and humidity still influence who wins in October? SwampButt Underwear is exploring that question through its Scale of Sultry, a weather-based system that measures combinations of heat and humidity. The author of the study and inventor of SwampButt Underwear, Harold Nicoll, has a theory about heat, humidity, solar exposure and conditioning.

The hypothesis is straightforward: Teams accustomed to hotter, more humid summer conditions may have a conditioning advantage. The experiment asks how frequently the team from the sultrier preseason geography wins—and whether that relationship changes as game-day weather becomes cooler. “My fervent belief is that since it is ‘harder’ work out in the heat, the athletes who do so are in better condition and that conditioning is a competitive advantage,” Nicoll said. “The challenge is proving it.”

Fine Tuning the System

For the first 6 weeks of the college football season the SwampButt Underwear Scale of Sultry (SOS) used a weather based, numeric system to score the SOS for the opposing teams and the location of the game.

During those weeks, the SOS picked more winners (51%) than losers. But Nicoll noticed that the difference predicting outcomes between week 1 and week 6 went from remarkable to practically non-existent, so it was back to the drawing board. “We are in the process of re-crunching weather data from several hundred stadium locations while aware that how we measure these must be consistent and reproducible,” Nicoll said. “This is going to take some time.”

Week Seven College Football Games

For this weekend’s college football games, the company is comparing National Weather Service temperature and humidity records from August 15 at each school’s home location with weather conditions at the stadium near kickoff. The Scale of Sultry study does not claim that heat conditioning determines football outcomes. Team strength, home-field advantage, preparation and many other factors also influence results.

Instead, the company is investigating whether preseason geography helps explain some outcomes—and whether that relationship changes with stadium conditions.

Week Seven College Football Games

The Big 12 offers particularly interesting comparisons.

Oklahoma State visits Houston, Arizona State travels to Texas Tech, Notre Dame plays at BYU, and Utah heads to Colorado. Kansas and Kansas State provide a geographically close comparison that could help evaluate the importance of relatively small differences in summer weather.

The SEC provides another range of conditions.

Alabama visits Tennessee, Auburn plays Georgia, Missouri travels to Ole Miss, and Mississippi State meets LSU. Florida at Texas and Kentucky at Oklahoma offer additional opportunities to compare teams from different preseason environments.

Houston provides a striking illustration of the difference between August and October. A National Weather Service station recorded a high of 99°F on August 15. Cooler conditions are forecast for Saturday’s game against Oklahoma State.

For spectators, the Scale of Sultry continues to serve its original purpose: helping football fans understand the heat and humidity they may experience at games.

Because the only thing worse than watching your team lose is spending four quarters with a sweaty backside.

Three games worth highlighting

Oklahoma State at Houston

Saturday, Oct. 17 · 6:30 p.m. CT

Houston’s August 15 NWS station recorded a high of 99°F and a daily minimum relative humidity of 43%. Cooler, drier conditions are expected Saturday evening, creating a compelling contrast between summer conditioning and game-day weather. The Houston–Oklahoma State matchup is confirmed.

 

Ohio State at Indiana

Saturday, Oct. 17 · 11 a.m. CT

Our NWS archive shows both locations reaching 85°F on August 15, but their reported daily minimum humidity differed: Columbus 65%, Bloomington 74%. That raises an interesting question about the importance of humidity rather than temperature alone.

 

Florida at Texas

Saturday, Oct. 17 · 11 a.m. CT

Gainesville and Austin offer another useful comparison of different summer environments. Rather than assuming the hotter location has the advantage, we’ll test the weather-based hypothesis against the actual outcome.

 

About SwampButt Underwear

SwampButt Underwear is a Lake Jackson, Texas-based men’s underwear brand designed to help manage moisture and improve comfort in hot, humid conditions.

SwampButt Underwear™ is a real company with a product that helps solve a problem, that being visible sweat on a man’s backside. SwampButt Underwear is for people who experience excessive perspiration, uncomfortable dampness and visible butt sweat. The company’s performance underwear is designed to move moisture away from the skin, dry faster than traditional cotton underwear and reduce the discomfort associated with heat, humidity and physical activity.

SwampButt Underwear™ is based in Lake Jackson, Texas. SwampButt Underwear™ is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries. We paid a lot for it so only use it with permission.

Learn more at SwampButt Underwear.