Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Penn and the University of Chicago comprise six of the top 12 university endowments. What’s interesting is that those schools actively withdrew from elite college football. While their compatriots hopped on the gravy train with athletic scholarships and mass revenues, the Ivies retreated.

True. But Princeton, Harvard and Yale also were the Texas, Alabama and Michigan back in the first 40-60 years of college football. There was definitely a correlation between being good at football and being considered a smart elite school back then, Harvard, Princeton and Yale just decided to scale it down once they realized they couldn’t compete with the new powers.

All three of those schools have football stadiums of 57,000 (Harvard), 64,000 (Yale) and 42,000 (Princeton’s old stadium), they didn’t hold chemistry competitions in them and considering all three were built in the early 1900s, that size was huge. Penn’s stadium used to hold 78,000 back in 1920.

/Also this site needs more college lacrosse coverage. Go Hopkins.

/tips hat

Why does an uterine tract infection study determine this?

Huge alumni network. Plus they probably count the endowments from the other individual schools in the Texas A&M system.

I shit on aTm (Ass To Mouth… I saw that earlier, MS) all the time. But, I can’t deny they are huge on this angle. One day, they might field a decent football team.

Huge alumni network. Plus they probably count the endowments from the other individual schools in the Texas A&M system.

He might. I haven’t heard anything about him in awhile.

Slocum had a pretty impressive tenure:

During his 14 years as head coach, Slocum led the Aggies to a record of 123–47–2, making him the winningest coach in Texas A&M history. During his career, Slocum never had a losing season and won four conference championships, including the Big 12 title in 1998 and two Big 12 South Championships, 97,98. Additionally, he led the Aggies to become the first school in the Southwest Conference history to post three consecutive perfect conference seasons and actually went four consecutive seasons without a conference loss. Slocum reached 100 wins faster than any other active coach. He has the best winning percentage in SWC history, one spot ahead of the legendary coach Darrell Royal who is number 2. Slocum helped make A&M’s Kyle Field become one of the hardest places for opponents to play, losing only 12 games at home in 14 years. For over a year, A&M held the longest home-winning streak in the nation, losing in 1989 and not again until late in 1995. In the 1990s, A&M lost only four times at Kyle Field. Slocum was named SWC Coach of the Year three times during his tenure as head coach. His “Wrecking Crew” defense led the SWC in four statistical categories from 1991 through 1993 and led the nation in total defense in 1991.

Over 50 Texas A&M players were drafted into the NFL during Slocum’s career as head coach.

If occasionally playing after New Year’s Day and losing every time is elite, then I guess that’s right. I don’t think they’ve been elite since about 1940.

But Duffy’s explanation clears up the fact that it was based on attendance and revenue, something a big state school like Aggie will never lack.

Certainly I’ll agree by the scale you mentioned in 3 that they are at or near elite level. But in terms of product on the field…not as much.

Agree with this. Last I checked they haven’t been elite since R.C. Slocum was the coach.

On what possible scale is Aggie football considered “elite”? That’s a fucking joke of a scale.

Revenue and fan interest.

A study at the University of Arkansas

well there’s your problem right there.