Thanks for posting this site. However, I don't think this is proof the athletic program is Tier IV. What it does show is that Southern Miss is not ranked in the top 100 in overall programs. I think to qualify for points you have to finish in a certain place in the national tournament, meet, etc. If you used this same type of ranking system for academics we probably would have only one program (Poly Sci) that garnered a ranking that qualified for points. For all I know Southern Miss could be ranked number 101 in the directors cup out of the 300+ DI schools.

Unless you can find a ranking system that ranks all schools, I don't buy the statement that USM athletics are Tier IV. Again, thanks for the site.

Okay. So we would not have any programs ranked high enough to get points in academics.

I call for a truce. Let us agree that both athletics and academics have a long way to go to make at least Tier II. Thanks for the information you provided. I also would like to mention that I agree less emphasis should be placed on athletics. However, I think athletics are in integral part in having a "world class university".

Birdman wrote:

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However, I think athletics are in (sic) integral part in having a "world class university".

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And who in their right mind dreams that USM has a snowball's chance in hell of ever becoming a "world class university"?

Please check out the link below that lists the top universities in this country. (God knows where one would find a listing of the top universities in the world -  hence, "world class.")    Nonetheless, you will note that there are many universities that have somehow struggled to some academic prominence without noteworthy athletics.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/natudoc/tier1/t1natudoc_brief.php

Birdman wrote:

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Okay. So we would not have any programs ranked high enough to get points in academics.

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Birdman, a department is judged nationally through faculty scholarship. Not on the basis of popularity surveys, not on the basis of a large student enrollment, and not on the basis of whether the school has a football team. No accrediting team visiting our academic departments gives a royal rip if we have a football team. Scholarship is the sine qua non upon which our peers judge us. USM has taken a gigantic hit in that category during the past three years. I frankly don't know the extent to which some of our otherwise stellar departments have been hit by the mass faculty exodus, but I do know that USM is not nearly what it used to be academically.

Birdman, you stated that athletics is an integral part of a world class university. LVN answered your question in a clever, subtle, tongue-in-cheek, but totally accurate manner when she spoke of rooting for the University of Chicago's "Phighting Pharaohs." She could just as easily root for the MIT "Mauling Minimoochers," or Carnegie-Mellon University's "Klondike Klinkerdinkers"  because none of those schools is known for its athletics. Yet, all of them are world class by any standard.  

Birdman, ram said that nobody in their right mind thinks that USM has a snowball's chance of becoming a world class university. I'd like to modify ram's statement a bit by suggesting that it'll probably be a cold day when USM even regains third tier status in the USNews academic ratings. And, by the way, those that do the USNews academic ratings couldn't care less about USM's athletic prowness. They probably don't know whether we play football or water polo.

 

 

 

Warden wrote:
Birdman, a department is judged nationally through faculty scholarship. Not on the basis of popularity surveys, not on the basis of a large student enrollment, and not on the basis of whether the school has a football team. No accrediting team visiting our academic departments gives a royal rip if we have a football team. Scholarship is the sine qua non upon which our peers judge us. USM has taken a gigantic hit in that category during the past three years. I frankly don't know the extent to which some of our otherwise stellar departments have been hit by the mass faculty exodus, but I do know that USM is not nearly what it used to be academically. Birdman, you stated that athletics is an integral part of a world class university. LVN answered your question in a clever, subtle, tongue-in-cheek, but totally accurate manner when she spoke of rooting for the University of Chicago's "Phighting Pharaohs." She could just as easily root for the MIT "Mauling Minimoochers," or Carnegie-Mellon University's "Klondike Klinkerdinkers"  because none of those schools is known for its athletics. Yet, all of them are world class by any standard.   Birdman, ram said that nobody in their right mind thinks that USM has a snowball's chance of becoming a world class university. I'd like to modify ram's statement a bit by suggesting that it'll probably be a cold day when USM even regains third tier status in the USNews academic ratings. And, by the way, those that do the USNews academic ratings couldn't care less about USM's athletic prowness. They probably don't know whether we play football or water polo.      

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Way to go, Warden. Don't let the birdman escape.

LVN wrote:

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This could be fun -- get with it guys.

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When in Detroit, try to watch Wayne State's "PT Cruisers."