[yvonne]

Who's smart and good at football? Well, No. 1's not too hard to figure out, but after that, it's a little surprising.

http://deadspin.com/5841096/

[yvonne]

Who's smart and good at football? Well, No. 1's not too hard to figure out, but after that, it's a little surprising.

http://deadspin.com/5841096/

[JeffInCorvallis]

Scary thought:  In another month it's entirely conceivable that our AP football ranking could be higher than our U.S. News and World report academic rating.  A lot of things have to fall correctly for that to happen, but it's not out of the question.

[JeffInCorvallis]

Scary thought:  In another month it's entirely conceivable that our AP football ranking could be higher than our U.S. News and World report academic rating.  A lot of things have to fall correctly for that to happen, but it's not out of the question.

[gtrplyr1]

Scary thought:  In another month it's entirely conceivable that our AP football ranking could be higher than our U.S. News and World report academic rating.  A lot of things have to fall correctly for that to happen, but it's not out of the question.

I think that was the case at the end of last year, after the Orange Bowl.

[gtrplyr1]

Scary thought:  In another month it's entirely conceivable that our AP football ranking could be higher than our U.S. News and World report academic rating.  A lot of things have to fall correctly for that to happen, but it's not out of the question.

I think that was the case at the end of last year, after the Orange Bowl.

[Pastor]

But that's only if you accept the methodology of US News rankings, which I don't.  No matter how high we rise in the football polls, we will never reach the stellar ranking of Stanford as an academic institution around the world.  Other universities may have strengths but none have the heft in all areas as does Stanford.  Yes, we have some weaknesses, not so strong in fine arts for example, but we are the preeminent university in the world.  Harvard, for example, has its strengths but no engineering and many departments low in their top tens.  Harvard lives off its past and much longer history but Stanford is the future.  Not just because of Silicon Valley either.

You have a right to be proud of Stanford and a silly survey that considers things like how much each student donates back to the university (hardly a measure of academic prowess) should make no difference.

[Pastor]

But that's only if you accept the methodology of US News rankings, which I don't.  No matter how high we rise in the football polls, we will never reach the stellar ranking of Stanford as an academic institution around the world.  Other universities may have strengths but none have the heft in all areas as does Stanford.  Yes, we have some weaknesses, not so strong in fine arts for example, but we are the preeminent university in the world.  Harvard, for example, has its strengths but no engineering and many departments low in their top tens.  Harvard lives off its past and much longer history but Stanford is the future.  Not just because of Silicon Valley either.

You have a right to be proud of Stanford and a silly survey that considers things like how much each student donates back to the university (hardly a measure of academic prowess) should make no difference.

[george]

What's interesting is if you use this same rinky-dink methodology to re-rank the US News top 25, Stanford would jump to number one as well (and none of these other 24 schools would be anywhere to be found.)

[george]

What's interesting is if you use this same rinky-dink methodology to re-rank the US News top 25, Stanford would jump to number one as well (and none of these other 24 schools would be anywhere to be found.)