UP: STACK’s Elite 50 for Academic & Athletic Excellence

The University of Portland received a strong endorsement for its commitment to academic and intercollegiate athletics excellence in being named among STACK magazine’s annual list of ‘Elite 50’ institutions.

The University ranked 37th out of more than 325 schools that compete at the NCAA Division I level, and was the lone West Coast Conference member to be listed. Stanford University received the top ranking, followed by Texas, North Carolina, Michigan and Florida. Portland is one of only seven ranked institutions that are not members of a power conference (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, SEC).

According to STACK, the rankings are unique in that they’re a stand-alone ranking of the country’s leading college sports programs based on academics, athletic opportunity and overall performance. The Elite 50 methodology combines academic and athletic data with internal research.

Schools were ranked using key measures of academic and athletic performance, including overall academic rankings via U.S. News & World Report, athlete graduation rates using the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate (APR), national sport-specific rankings, championship history, professional successes, atmosphere and coaching staff tenures. Twenty-one collegiate sports were included in the criteria.

UP benefited from its women’s soccer team, ranked fifth overall, and a No. 12 ranking for the men’s cross country team.

A complete listing of criteria used for the rankings can be found at: http://elite50.stack.com/intro.aspx.

STACK is a multimedia high school sports brand whose goal is to educate, inspire and entertain athletes. The November/December issue of STACK containing the ‘Elite 50’ rankings has been distributed to more than 5,500 high schools across the country.

The complete list, published in the November/December issue of STACK and available online at http://elite50.stack.com/top50.aspx, includes:

1.) Stanford University
2.) University of Texas
3.) University of North Carolina
4.) University of Michigan
5.) University of Florida
6.) University of California, Los Angeles
7.) University of Southern California
8.) Duke University
9.) University of Georgia
10.) University of Wisconsin
11.) Texas A&M
12.) Arizona State University
13.) Ohio State University
14.) Louisiana State University
15.) University of Notre Dame
16.) University of California at Berkeley
17.) University of Tennessee
18.) University of Virginia
19.) Florida State University
20.) Penn State University
21.) University of Maryland
22.) University of Connecticut
23.) Northwestern University
24.) Rice University
25.) University of Kansas
26.) University of Minnesota
27.) Georgetown University
28.) Boston College
29.) Miami University
30.) Wake Forest University
31.) Memphis University
31.) University of Washington
33.) Vanderbilt University
34.) Rutgers University
34.) Auburn University
36.) Alabama University
37.) University of Portland
38.) University of Arizona
39.) Davidson University
39.) University of Nebraska
39.) University of West Virginia
42.) Indiana University
43.) Southern Methodist University
44.) Oklahoma State University
45.) Cornell
46.) Virginia Tech University
47.) University of Illinois
48.) George Washington University
49.) Princeton University
50.) Michigan State University

Copyright University of Portland Athletics

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:No, Duke is on there....

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:I was leaning toward #15, but (1) they are bowl eligible this year, and (2) I don't want to take a drum stick to the face next game.

As they were leaving the practice facility Wednesday, the morning of their final shootaround together, [Bonzi] Wells and [Rasheed] Wallace saw Ruben Boumtje Boumtje shooting jump shots some 100 feet away with his back turned to them.

Wallace slapped Wells on the back and said, "Watch this." Then he picked up a ball, reared back and fired a 100-foot, baseball-style strike that left Boumtje Boumtje writhing the floor. Trainers were summoned. After a few scary minutes, Boumtje Boumtje walked off, OK.
Wells and Wallace?
They giggled like schoolchildren and ran away the moment their teammate hit the canvas."

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:
Speaking of UW, I noted that UP is the second ranked school in the Pacific NW! With more success in 2008-09 already, prehaps next year we'll be #1.