Athletic Conference Breakdown: Big East

By U.S. News Staff

March 3, 2009 RSS Feed Print

In honor of the NCAA basketball tournament, U.S. News has taken a look at the major Division I conferences. How do the schools in the Big East match up, based on their America's Best Colleges rankings?

	College Name and Location	U.S. News Rank	Team Nickname
1	Villanova University Villanova, PA	1*	Wildcats
2	Providence College Providence, RI	3*	Friars
3	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	18	Fighting Irish
4	Georgetown University Washington, DC	23	Hoyas
5	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY	53	Orange
6	University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA	58	Panthers
7	Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey–New Brunswick Piscataway, NJ	64	Scarlet Knights
8	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	66	Huskies
9	Marquette University Milwaukee, WI	77	Golden Eagles
10	DePaul University Chicago, IL	Tier 3	Blue Demons
11	Seton Hall University South Orange, NJ	Tier 3	Pirates
12	St. John's University Queens, NY	Tier 3	Red Storm
13	University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH	Tier 3	Bearcats
14	University of Louisville Louisville, KY	Tier 3	Cardinals
15	University of South Florida Tampa, FL	Tier 3	Bulls
16	West Virginia University Morgantown, WV	Tier 3	Mountaineers
All school rankings listed are within the National Universities ranking category utilized in America's Best Colleges unless otherwise noted. * Universities—Master's (North)

Tags:: college athletics,; NCAA

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Size doesn't necessarily equate to quality.
And saying USF is one of the top three research institutions in Florida is a little like saying you're one of the three tallest players on the tennis team - it's nice, but not real impressive.

adam of MI 5:39PM March 18, 2009

I would say that these rankings really aren't that far off. Obviously Georgetown and Notre Dame should be ranked #1 and #2 respectively, but I would then place 'Nova and Providence as #3 and #4 and leave the rest of the list as-is. Looking at undergraduate education only (since 'Nova and Providence have much more limited resources being smaller, private, Catholic schools versus the larger state and private "research universities"), I think GU, ND, 'Nova, and Providence is the appropriate ranking. As for the comment claiming Rutgers as one of the most prestigious institutions in the country, UConn is a more prestigious school and Rutgers generally is regarded as a good, but not great, school.
Based on undergraduate admissions selectivity of schools in the Big East (best score being one hundred) it is: Georgetown (98), Notre Dame (98), Villanova (95), Providence (93), Syracuse (92), UConn (89), Pitt (89), Rutgers (87), Marquette (84), Depaul (82), Seton Hall (81),... and so on. The Big East was started by smaller, private, Catholic, academically respected schools including Georgetown, 'Nova, Providence, and Boston College, and expanded eventually to include other schools with good sports programs, but less rigorous academic standards.

Matthew of PA 5:21PM March 12, 2009

These rankings are obviously flawed in that they value a school's rank in the "Universities-Master's (North)" over a school's "National Universities" ranking. What sane person would say Villanova and Providence are better schools than Notre Dame and Georgetown? One could argue that it doesn't matter what school a person goes to undergrad (just the degree and gpa), but honestly, this should discredit this publication. I suppose this is what happens when you allow a private publication to lazily produce rankings like these just to generate web traffic. It is clear to this reader that absolutely no thought was put into this.

ElDude of TX 9:18PM March 11, 2009