Dec. 11, 2008

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame is ranked 14th (tied with two other institutions) in STACK magazine’s second annual survey of the colleges and universities with the best combination of academic and athletic excellence.

Published in the magazine’s November/December issue, the STACK Elite 50 College Rankings survey the country’s 50 leading college sports programs based on academics, athletic opportunity and overall performance. The survey also includes specific rankings for 21 sports.

The survey’s methodology included overall academic rankings based upon 2008 U.S. News & World Report’s annual “America’s Best Colleges” survey, athlete graduation rates (the current NCAA Academic Progress Rate figures), national sport-specific rankings (from ’06, ’07 and ’08, based on recognized polls), win-loss records over the last three seasons — and the STACK factor (strength of athletic community in terms of support and prowess through the 21 sports rated).

The top 15 universities are: Stanford, Texas, North Carolina, Michigan, Florida, UCLA, USC, Duke, Georgia, Wisconsin, Texas A&M, Arizona State, Ohio State, followed by Notre Dame, LSU and California (those three tied for 14th).

The STACK assessment of the Notre Dame program said, “Kicks and sticks propelled the Irish into the Top 15. Women’s soccer (#1), men’s soccer (#2), lacrosse (#3) and hockey (#3) anchored a solid nine-sport finish, which also included showings from the women’s (#6) and men’s (#9) tennis programs.”

STACK provides information and entertainment to high school athletes through its magazine, a Web site and other media.

Nine Notre Dame varsity sports programs rank among the top 15 in the country within their respective sports in the STACK survey.

The Irish women’s soccer program ranked number one overall (for the second straight year) in competition with the other women’s soccer programs around the country. Men’s soccer stood second, hockey and men’s lacrosse finished third, women’s tennis and men’s cross country were sixth, men’s tennis was eighth – and football and men’s basketball stood 15th.

Here are the various tables in which Notre Dame rates mention (individual sports charts included only the top 15 schools):

Top 15 universities overall (with total points listed) — 1. Stanford 100, 2. Texas 72, 3. North Carolina 72, 4. Michigan 68, 5. Florida 67, 6. UCLA 59, 7. USC 55, 8. Duke 53, 9. Georgia 44, 10. Wisconsin 42, 11. Texas A&M 40, 12. Arizona State 35, 13. Ohio State 34, 14. (tie) Notre Dame, LSU and California 32.

Women’s Soccer – 1. Notre Dame, 2. North Carolina, 3. UCLA, 4. Penn State, 5. Portland, 6. Florida State, 7. Texas A&M, 8. Stanford, 9. USC, 10. Virginia, 11. Texas, 12. California, 13. Florida, 14. Duke, 15. Boston College.

Men’s Soccer – 1. Wake Forest, 2. Notre Dame, 3. Duke, 4. Maryland, 5. California, 6. SMU, 7. Connecticut, 8. Indiana, 9. Virginia, 10. UC-Santa Barbara, 11. Northwestern, 12. Brown, 13. UCLA, 14. North Carolina, 15. Ohio State.

Hockey – 1. Michigan, 2. Boston College, 3. Notre Dame, 4. Michigan State, 5. Miami (Ohio), 6. Minnesota, 7. Colorado College, 8. Wisconsin, 9. North Dakota, 10. New Hampshire, 11. Denver, 12. Cornell, 13. Princeton, 14. Boston University, 15. Harvard.

Men’s Lacrosse – 1. Virginia, 2. Duke, 3. Notre Dame, 4. Cornell, 5. Johns Hopkins, 6. Georgetown, 7. Navy, 8. Maryland, 9. Princeton, 10. Colgate, 11. Syracuse, 12. North Carolina, 13. Ohio State, 14. Delaware, 15. UMBC.

Women’s Tennis – 1. Stanford, 2. Florida, 3. Northwestern, 4. California, 5. UCLA, 6. Notre Dame, 7. USC, 8. Duke, 9. Michigan, 10. Georgia, 11. North Carolina, 12. Georgia Tech, 13. Texas, 14. Vanderbilt, 15. Miami (Fla.).

Men’s Cross Country – 1. Wisconsin, 2. Stanford, 3. Iona, 4. Texas, 5. Colorado, 6. Notre Dame, 7. Oklahoma State, 8. Virginia, 9. William & Mary, 10. Oregon, 11. Georgetown, 12. Portland, 13. Minnesota, 14. Michigan, 15. Kansas.

Men’s Tennis – 1. Georgia, 2. Virginia, 3. UCLA, 4. Ohio State, 5. North Carolina, 6. Texas, 7. Florida, 8. Notre Dame, 9. USC, 10. Michigan, 11. Stanford, 12. Duke, 13. Illinois, 14. Florida State, 15. Pepperdine.

Football – 1. USC, 2. Ohio State, 3. Texas, 4. Florida, 5. Georgia, 6. LSU, 7. Wisconsin, 8. Michigan, 9. Boston College, 10. West Virginia, 11. Virginia Tech, 12. Auburn, 13. Penn State, 14. California, 15. Notre Dame.

Men’s Basketball – 1. UCLA, 2. North Carolina, 3. Kansas, 4. Texas, 5. Florida, 6. Duke, 7. Memphis, 8. Georgetown, 9. Wisconsin, 10. not listed, 11. Stanford, 12. Ohio State, 13. Pittsburgh, 14. Tennessee, 15. Notre Dame.

— ND —