Sports Illustrated Rankings Favor Half States vs. Whole States

I was surprised to find today, upon flipping through the pages of Sports Illustrated's college basketball preview, that potential March sleeper, University of Northern Iowa, is listed as the 17th best team in the country. My initial shock was only magnified by the turn of the page that revealed the 18th best team is Iowa. In true TMQ style, I have to wonder how a small school like UNI, home to approximately 14,000 students, can put together a better squad than Big Ten powerhouse, Iowa. More than 28,000 students enroll at Iowa each year, twice the size of UNI, but more notably some 64 percent come from the great state of Iowa. That means that University of Iowa has more students from Iowa than UNI has total students! And somehow they are ranked below them.

Which bring me to the ultimate question: How can half a state be better at anything than an entire state? Maybe Iowa would have a better chance at athletic prominence if it didn't waste its time operating "one of the nation's most advanced and comprehensive university-owned teaching hospitals. It also has developed the most technically advanced driving simulator in the world." Whatever that means...

Oh, and how can Duke be ranked #1 if we all know that Duke Sucks.

Dan