In case anyone doesn’t know me personally, I’m in the process of getting into graduate school. I’m of the opinion that I’ll be lucky to get into one of the schools I applied to, and then I’ll end up going there, happy as a clam. But in the unlikely event that I get into more than one school, I’m going to be faced with the tough choice of deciding between a them. For me, naturally, the criteria is A) interesting sports and B) educational opportunities. So let’s take a look at the 5 schools I applied to, bottom to top, to see which ones I would be best off attending.
NORTHERN COLORADO – Northern Colorado, located in Greeley, isn’t even a Division 1A football school, which is a huge hit. However, it IS the only school with a hockey team, and the only school in which I will be able to finally see the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks live and in person. Needless to say, I’m not enthusiastic about a football schedule, which features home games versus UC-Davis, Western Illinois, Idaho State, Eastern Washington, Montana State and Northern Arizona. At least Greeley is close to Denver, meaning a full helping of all 4 professional sports leagues.
HAWAII – I’m not really all that into a school whose nickname used to be the “Rainbow Warriors” but it is, after all, a school in Honolulu. Their basketball team leaves a lot to be desired, and the pro scene isn’t all that inviting, aside from the NFL Pro Bowl. Football games from the mainland start at 6 or 7 in the morning on Hawaii, thanks to it’s location. Hawaii does score points, however, because they are a D-1 school that teams want to play in football. Not only that, Coach June Jones employs an exciting spread offense that generally leads to high scoring shootouts. The home football schedule (because I definitely wouldnt be going to any road games) features a non-conference game versus my Purdue Boilermakers, the icing on the cake. Also, during basketball season, basketball’s best come to the Maui invitational, which is at least in the same state, if not on the same island.
RUTGERS – Rutgers gets a healthy bump because they play, albeit poorly, in the Big East. The Scarlet Knights just have West Virginia in their way as they compete for a BCS bowl next year. They play a challenging non-conference schedule, and have the media’s attention, being located halfway between New York City and Philadelphia. This could be an exciting season in Piscataway. The big advantage is during basketball season, when the Scarlet Knights get to be blown out by Connecticut and Syracuse. Seeing those teams in person could be a boon to my tournament pools. Also, being in northern New Jersey, I’ll be inundated, for better or worse, with news of the Phillies, Yankees, Mets, Jets, Giants, Eagles, 76ers, Nets, Knicks, Rangers, Islanders, Devils, and Flyers. I might be come a Mets/Jets/Nets fan so all my teams rhyme. Rutgers loses points for being flat out awful in 95% of their seasons in all sports.
TEXAS TECH – The Red Raiders are always an interesting team, and my favorite type of team to cheer for. In all sports, they are competitive, but rarely are they elite. Reminiscent of the Twins and Minnesota sports, really. They’re always there in the Big 12 hunt, but can never get past the Oklahoma Sooners or the Texas Longhorns in football, but they play a cupcake non-conference schedule and put 77 points on Baylor and end up in a Bowl game every year. They run a similar offense to Hawaii’s but are, if anything, more effective at it. And then they always play one really good game against a really good Big 12 opponent. Very exciting stuff. The same can be said for their basketball team, coached by the ever entertaining Bobby Knight. The Red Raiders play in a conference with teams that are a little more accomplished than they are, so they struggle, but always make a postseason tournament. Texas Tech loses for being in Lubbock, as far away from other civilization as you can get, but it doesn’t lose too many, because Texas is all about football. The city shuts down on sunday to watch the game.
MIAMI – The Hurricanes (great nickname too, considering my major) feature the one of the top 5 football programs in the country, and a basketball team that plays competitively in the best basketball conference in the country, the ACC. You can always count on Larry Coker leading the ‘Canes to a feature bowl matchup, as well as having numerous liscivious stories hitting the press. The basketball team is also improving. Last year, a very young team turned some heads, reaching the NIT despite playing in such a challenging conference. They can only get better, and they will get experience playing Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Maryland and others every year. Professionally, Miami has it’s host of professional teams in all sports, from the storied Dolphins to the emerging Panthers. Don’t forget about the Heat and Marlins, who have won a combined 3 championships over the past decade. Miami looks like the school for me. – Ryan
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