UW-Madison takes 25th in best 100 schools for sports lovers
U Rah Rah Wisconsin
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is ranked 25th in the 100 Best Colleges for Sports Lovers, a list compiled by MONEY and Sports Illustrated. This list began with the Best Colleges ranking, ‘which scores schools on affordability, academic excellence, and career outcomes’. They then added 15 sports factors into the mix, and focused on athletic opportunities and fan experience.
UW-Madison received a rank of 84 for athletic opportunities, and a fan experience of 60. With 35 conference championships in the last 10 years, and 27 Olympians in the last four Games, we are a true sport university. Camp Randall seats over 80,000 fans, synching our title to ultimate fandom. Our football team has gained three Big Ten titles in the last six years, and men’s basketball made Final Four trips in ’14 and ’15. With numbers like these, it’s easy to root for the Badgers.
When looking at the break-down, athlete opportunities allotted for 40 percent of the overall grade. This category looked at factors like the number of conference championships won in the past 10 seasons.
Fan experience also made up for 40 percent of the grade. Schools with high numbers of intramural sports offered and a high game attendance per capita soared in ranking. This category also focused on the number of sports-related majors offered and donations to athletics.
This year, UW-Madison ranked 63rd on the Best Colleges list, but our sports propelled us to the top 25 percent. With four other Big Ten teams in top 25, our sports stay competitive and rowdy, just as they should.