U.S. News & World Report loves ranking stuff. If you’ve finished with college and graduate school, there’s little need to head back to the rankings until you have children, or unless you’re me. I have little interest in ranking the conventional. Ranking teams, players, cities and majors no longer have any importance to me. But what about ranking the top colleges for soccer fans? U.S. News & World Report, you’ve got my attention.
Here are the rankings:
1. Indiana University
2. University of Virginia
3. Messiah College
4. Seattle University
5. UCLA
6. University of Notre Dame
7. University of North Carolina
8. Stanford University
9. University of Maryland, College Park
And there you go. Not too many surprises when you consider the success that these institutions have had on the soccer field over the years.
Hopefully, next we can get rankings for the best study abroad programs for watching soccer. I mean why stop now?
You should make it 10: drop UCLA; add UC Santa Barbara and UConn. UCLA may have a top tier team, but the fan experience is underwhelming (look at attendance and how soccer is invisible next to American football at UCLA). UCSB and UConn are perennially strong and have great fans (and turnout) which make for exciting soccer spectator experiences.
Craig — I’ve never seen the UCSB experience first hand, but have heard about it. I’ll second you, however, on UConn. I also agree that performance on the field doesn’t always translate to fan experience, especially in situations where the soccer experience is consistently overwhelmed by the other football.
Not quite sure how you can omit the Univeristy of Portland
The Pilots led the nation in average attendance after bringing in 3,771 fans per match in 2007. The average established a new school record and is the second most in NCAA women’s soccer history for a single season. Only North Carolina’s 2001 average of 3,983 was higher.
It is the third consecutive year that Portland has been the average attendance leader and third straight record-breaking number for the school. Portland was the first program to ever eclipse 40,000 fans in a season during its run to the 2005 NCAA Championship. The Pilots averaged 3,403 fans at 12 home matches for a total of 40,841.
The following season saw that average go up even more. At nine home matches, Portland averaged 3,408 fans in 2006.
The 2007 campaign took the numbers to unprecedented levels as Portland had a total of 37,710 fans come through the gates for 10 home matches.
The Clive Charles Soccer Complex was filled to capacity (4,892) for two matches in 2007: a season-opening 2-1 overtime victory over Florida State on September 1 and a 2-0 win over arch rival Santa Clara on October 28. Attendance also eclipsed the 4,000 mark for matches versus Gonzaga (4,817) and a third round NCAA matchup with Tennessee (4,841).
PLease compare that data to the schools that you mentioned and tell me why UP does not belong on that list.
Hey Miriam — Well aware of Portland’s tradition. However, the rankings aren’t ours. If you click on the link in the article, it’ll take you to the U.S. News & World Report slideshow. Sadly, they don’t include criteria for their selections which makes the rankings somewhat suspect — like most rankings. I could see Portland certainly being on the list.