Top 25 most well known/popular FCS schools? [Archive] - Page 2

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Catsfan90

March 22nd, 2016, 02:20 PM

To do a similar analysis for FCS, you first have to remove schools with state names in them (because if someone can't figure out that Montana is in Montana, there's no hope for them).
Where it gets confusing (AGS voters can attest) is when a team uses a name that appears in multiple states. IE Jacksonville St, or Jacksonville etc. In these cases an outsider being asked may believe with confidence that Jacksonville State was in Florida.

(Disclaimer. I looked further into this and this appears to be the only case of this)

iowastatebison

March 22nd, 2016, 02:32 PM

Sporcle has a quiz for FCS nicknames. Here is the percentage of each correct nickname. It looks like about 16% of people quit before they start based on the fact that 16% of people get between 1 and 4 right. The results and notoriety is probably also from basketball, thus Georgetown and Butler being the most recognizable.

Also North Dakota has a large percentage because for a while it was automatically given to you.

SCHOOL
NICKNAME
% CORRECT

Georgetown
Hoyas (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Hoyas)

72.4%

Butler
Bulldogs (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Bulldogs)

69.6%

Richmond
Spiders (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Spiders)

67.9%

Harvard
Crimson (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Crimson)

67.4%

Princeton
Tigers (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Tigers)

65.4%

Dayton
Flyers (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Flyers)

64.1%

Delaware
Fightin' Blue Hens (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Fightin%27+Blue+Hens)

62.8%

Brown
Bears (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Bears)

59.9%

Villanova
Wildcats (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Wildcats)

59.7%

Cornell
Big Red (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Big+Red)

58%

Pennsylvania
Quakers (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Quakers)

57.4%

Yale
Bulldogs (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Bulldogs)

56.7%

North Dakota
Fighting Hawks (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Fighting+Hawks)

53.8%

Rhode Island
Rams (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Rams)

51.5%

Bucknell
Bison (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Bison)

51.1%

Davidson
Wildcats (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Wildcats)

50.9%

Maine
Black Bears (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Black+Bears)

50.8%

Indiana State
Sycamores (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Sycamores)

50.8%

Montana
Grizzlies (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Grizzlies)

49.5%

Youngstown State
Penguins (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Penguins)

47.5%

Dartmouth
Big Green (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Big+Green)

46.9%

Southern Illinois
Salukis (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Salukis)

45.7%

Florida A&M
Rattlers (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Rattlers)

45.4%

Columbia
Lions (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Lions)

45.3%

Holy Cross
Crusaders (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Crusaders)

42.9%

Drake
Bulldogs (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Bulldogs)

42.3%

Murray State
Racers (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Racers)

40.8%

Fordham
Rams (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Rams)

40.4%

Albany
Great Danes (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Great+Danes)

39.8%

Mercer
Bears (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Bears)

39.8%

Duquesne
Dukes (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Dukes)

37.9%

The Citadel
Bulldogs (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Bulldogs)

37.6%

Northern Iowa
Panthers (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Panthers)

36.6%

William & Mary
Tribe (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Tribe)

36.6%

Eastern Washington
Eagles (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Eagles)

36.5%

Illinois State
Redbirds (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Redbirds)

36.5%

Chattanooga
Mocs (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Mocs)

35.4%

Hampton
Pirates (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Pirates)

35.2%

Grambling State
Tigers (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Tigers)

34.6%

James Madison
Dukes (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Dukes)

34.4%

Missouri State
Bears (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Bears)

33.7%

Towson
Tigers (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Tigers)

33.6%

SCHOOL
NICKNAME
% CORRECT

Stetson
Hatters (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Hatters)

33.1%

Coastal Carolina
Chanticleers (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Chanticleers)

33%

Delaware State
Hornets (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Hornets)

33%

Northern Arizona
Lumberjacks (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Lumberjacks)

32.9%

Jacksonville
Dolphins (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Dolphins)

32.7%

Liberty
Flames (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Flames)

32.6%

North Dakota State
Bison (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Bison)

32.6%

Alabama State
Hornets (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Hornets)

32.4%

Furman
Paladins (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Paladins)

32.3%

Elon
Phoenix (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Phoenix)

31.8%

Samford
Bulldogs (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Bulldogs)

31.2%

Mississippi Valley State
Delta Devils (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Delta+Devils)

30.1%

New Hampshire
Wildcats (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Wildcats)

30.1%

Howard
Bison (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Bison)

29.9%

South Dakota State
Jackrabbits (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Jackrabbits)

29.1%

Austin Peay
Governors (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Governors)

29%

Cal Poly
Mustangs (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Mustangs)

28.5%

Morgan State
Bears (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Bears)

28.2%

Central Connecticut State
Blue Devils (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Blue+Devils)

27.7%

Campbell
Fighting Camels (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Fighting+Camels)

27.4%

Portland State
Vikings (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Vikings)

27.2%

Idaho State
Bengals (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Bengals)

27.1%

Bethune-Cookman
Wildcats (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Wildcats)

27%

East Tennessee State
Buccaneers (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Buccaneers)

26.6%

Alabama A&M
Bulldogs (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Bulldogs)

26.4%

Abilene Christian
Wildcats (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Wildcats)

26.4%

Marist
Red Foxes (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Red+Foxes)

26.2%

Jackson State
Tigers (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Tigers)

26%

Weber State
Wildcats (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Wildcats)

26%

McNeese State
Cowboys (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Cowboys)

25.9%

VMI
Keydets (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Keydets)

25.5%

Eastern Illinois
Panthers (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Panthers)

25.4%

Montana State
Bobcats (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Bobcats)

25.4%

Southern
Jaguars (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Jaguars)

25.3%

Wofford
Terriers (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Terriers)

24.7%

Eastern Kentucky
Colonels (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Colonels)

24.7%

Presbyterian
Blue Hose (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Blue+Hose)

24.5%

Lehigh
Mountain Hawks (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Mountain+Hawks)

24.1%

Morehead State
Eagles (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Eagles)

23.9%

Lafayette
Leopards (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Leopards)

23.8%

Sacramento State
Hornets (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Hornets)

23.6%

Jacksonville State
Gamecocks (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Gamecocks)

23.3%

SCHOOL
NICKNAME
% CORRECT

South Carolina State
Bulldogs (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Bulldogs)

23.1%

San Diego
Toreros (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Toreros)

23%

Bryant
Bulldogs (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Bulldogs)

22.9%

Western Illinois
Leathernecks (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Leathernecks)

22.4%

Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Golden Lions (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Golden+Lions)

22.4%

Western Carolina
Catamounts (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Catamounts)

22.4%

Valparaiso
Crusaders (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Crusaders)

22.1%

Alcorn State
Braves (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Braves)

21.7%

Robert Morris
Colonials (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Colonials)

21.6%

Tennessee State
Tigers (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Tigers)

21.6%

Incarnate Word
Cardinals (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Cardinals)

20.7%

Colgate
Raiders (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Raiders)

20.6%

North Carolina A&T
Aggies (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Aggies)

20.6%

Prairie View A&M
Panthers (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Panthers)

20.6%

UT Martin
Skyhawks (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Skyhawks)

20.3%

Kennesaw State
Owls (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Owls)

20.3%

Stony Brook
Seawolves (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Seawolves)

20.2%

Norfolk State
Spartans (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Spartans)

19.9%

Stephen F. Austin
Lumberjacks (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Lumberjacks)

19.8%

Northern Colorado
Bears (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Bears)

19.6%

Sam Houston State
Bearkats (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Bearkats)

19.4%

Savannah State
Tigers (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Tigers)

18.1%

Central Arkansas
Bears (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Bears)

17.9%

Northwestern State
Demons (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Demons)

17%

Houston Baptist
Huskies (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Huskies)

16.7%

Monmouth
Hawks (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Hawks)

16.5%

Texas Southern
Tigers (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Tigers)

16.4%

Gardner-Webb
Runnin' Bulldogs (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Runnin%27+Bulldogs)

15.4%

UC Davis
Aggies (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Aggies)

15.3%

South Dakota
Coyotes (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Coyotes)

15.1%

Southern Utah
Thunderbirds (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Thunderbirds)

14.7%

Southeastern Louisiana
Lions (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Lions)

14.5%

Lamar
Cardinals (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Cardinals)

14.4%

Charleston Southern
Buccaneers (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Buccaneers)

14.3%

Wagner
Seahawks (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Seahawks)

13.7%

Saint Francis
Red Flash (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Red+Flash)

12.8%

North Carolina Central
Eagles (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Eagles)

12.2%

Nicholls State
Colonels (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Colonels)

12.2%

Sacred Heart
Pioneers (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Pioneers)

11.6%

Tennessee Tech
Golden Eagles (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Golden+Eagles)

10.8%

Southeast Missouri
Redhawks (http://www.sporcle.com/search/?p=1&s=Redhawks)

10.5%

JSUSoutherner

March 22nd, 2016, 02:35 PM

Where it gets confusing (AGS voters can attest) is when a team uses a name that appears in multiple states. IE Jacksonville St, or Jacksonville etc. In these cases an outsider being asked may believe with confidence that Jacksonville State was in Florida.

(Disclaimer. I looked further into this and this appears to be the only case of this)I don't think most people even know that Alabama has a Jacksonville.

Lehigh Football Nation

March 22nd, 2016, 04:18 PM

Catatonic

March 22nd, 2016, 04:27 PM

I was just thinking, if you traveled back to Post 2 of this thread and wrote that Donald Trump in 2016 would be on the brink of wrapping up the Republican Presidential nomination, would you have been laughed off the board, or simply banned?

Probably banned

And if you had traveled back in time prior to Reagan's election, you would have had the same experience. A B grade actor running for president? John Wayne, maybe. But Ronald Reagan?

Lehigh Football Nation

March 22nd, 2016, 04:29 PM

And if you had traveled back in time prior to Reagan's election, you would have had the same experience. A B grade actor running for president? John Wayne, maybe. But Ronald Reagan?

Ralph would have never allowed it

JSUSoutherner

March 22nd, 2016, 04:57 PM

I was just thinking, if you traveled back to Post 2 of this thread and wrote that Donald Trump in 2016 would be on the brink of wrapping up the Republican Presidential nomination, would you have been laughed off the board, or simply banned?

Probably banned

I'm predicting it now. Kanye West will be a nominee in 2020.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/31/politics/kanye-west-2020-running-for-president-vma/

KPSUL

March 22nd, 2016, 05:52 PM

FormerPokeCenter

March 22nd, 2016, 06:16 PM

I'm predicting it now. Kanye West will be a nominee in 2020.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/31/politics/kanye-west-2020-running-for-president-vma/

He could easily be the Jackass Party....I mean "The Democratic Party" nominee! ;)

Catatonic

March 22nd, 2016, 06:44 PM

These are the top 25 schools, with FCS Football Programs, from the 2016 US News and World Report list of Best National Universities:

1. Princeton
2. Harvard
3. Yale
4. Columbia
5. Penn
6. Dartmouth
7. Brown
8. Cornell
9. Georgetown
10. William and Mary
11. UC Davis
12. Lehigh
13. Delaware
14. Stony Brook
15. Univ. of San Diego
16. New Hampshire
17. Dayton
18. Duquesne
19. U of Albany
20. Howard
21 Illinois State
22. So. Illinois
23. Rhode Island
24. Maine
25. North Dakota

A national university is defined by USNWR as an institution that grants a variety of doctoral degrees. The rankings don't reflect the quality of undergraduate education, and doesn't begin to measure how well known an institution might be based on its athletic program. Who is to say whether a top tier regional university or liberal arts college (both rated separately by USNWR) are equal to or better than schools on the national university list, particularly those near the bottom.

paward

March 22nd, 2016, 07:44 PM

Richmond Spiders just plain unique.

KPSUL

March 22nd, 2016, 09:08 PM

A national university is defined by USNWR as an institution that grants a variety of doctoral degrees. The rankings don't reflect the quality of undergraduate education, and doesn't begin to measure how well known an institution might be based on its athletic program. Who is to say whether a top tier regional university or liberal arts college (both rated separately by USNWR) are equal to or better than schools on the national university list, particularly those near the bottom.

I provided the list because it provides some level of objectivity and legitimacy, something that is missing from virtually any of the other posts on this thread. To be more inclusive you'd have to find a way to integrate the top programs from the National Liberal Arts Colleges into rankings. There are relatively few FCS programs in that list: The 6 Patriot League teams not on the National University list, a couple of Pioneer schools, Richmond, several SoCon teams like Furman, Wofford and VMI.

If you want to redefine the criteria for this thread to be "best undergraduate education" you will come up with a totally different list. But the challenge here was to identify the most well known and popular schools (somewhat different things), Logically that means starting with the schools on a national list. If you were focused on being "popular" and "well known", wouldn't you want to be on the same list as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Notre Dame, Duke, UVA, U of Texas, and Vanderbilt?

And making it to the National University List is dependent on a lot more factors than the number of Doctoral Programs. They look at the number and diversity of undergraduate majors offered as well as masters and doctoral programs. How high a school is rated on any of the lists is determine by a large variety of factors that collectively impact on the quality of education. Competing on the National lists is the major league, the Regional lists are the minors.

In many cases there seems to be no reason why school A is on a national list and School B is considered regional. In those cases I believe it comes down to USNWR's subjective call on how well known and respected the schools are. i.e. "popular" and "well Known". I also suspect that a school near the top of a regional list would much prefer to stay where they are, rather than ending up 150th on the National list.

Sader87

March 22nd, 2016, 10:16 PM

Biased obviously, but I think Holy Cross is fairly well known around the country (particularly on the coasts and in major metropolitan areas throughout the rest of the country). Have had alumni very much known to the public from Clarence Thomas on the U.S. Supreme Court to Bill Simmons all ovah the internet, amongst many other famous alums from politics, business, medicine, athletics et. al.

I think if your polling cohort was aged higher too (say people only ovah 60 or so), Holy Cross would be one of the better known schools at the FCS-level.

Catatonic

March 23rd, 2016, 03:44 AM

I provided the list because it provides some level of objectivity and legitimacy, something that is missing from virtually any of the other posts on this thread. To be more inclusive you'd have to find a way to integrate the top programs from the National Liberal Arts Colleges into rankings. There are relatively few FCS programs in that list: The 6 Patriot League teams not on the National University list, a couple of Pioneer schools, Richmond, several SoCon teams like Furman, Wofford and VMI.

If you want to redefine the criteria for this thread to be "best undergraduate education" you will come up with a totally different list. But the challenge here was to identify the most well known and popular schools (somewhat different things), Logically that means starting with the schools on a national list. If you were focused on being "popular" and "well known", wouldn't you want to be on the same list as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Notre Dame, Duke, UVA, U of Texas, and Vanderbilt?

And making it to the National University List is dependent on a lot more factors than the number of Doctoral Programs. They look at the number and diversity of undergraduate majors offered as well as masters and doctoral programs. How high a school is rated on any of the lists is determine by a large variety of factors that collectively impact on the quality of education. Competing on the National lists is the major league, the Regional lists are the minors.

In many cases there seems to be no reason why school A is on a national list and School B is considered regional. In those cases I believe it comes down to USNWR's subjective call on how well known and respected the schools are. i.e. "popular" and "well Known". I also suspect that a school near the top of a regional list would much prefer to stay where they are, rather than ending up 150th on the National list.

On the contrary. There's a very good reason why School A is on a national list and Schools B is considered regional. The reason is provided by USNWR in the fine print discussion of methodology. Schools are assigned to a category based on Carnegie Commission categories. The terms national vs regional are misnomers used by USNWR to describe institutions based on educational mission as defined by level of degrees offered and commitment to research. Here's a link to a description of the Carnegie system, which uses degrees conferred rather than the misleading "regional" and "national" categorization.
http://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/classification_descriptions/basic.php

Schools on the national list are those that confer a variety doctoral degrees. Those at the top are research intensive institutions. Regional universities offer a wide range of undergrad and master's degrees and may offer one or two specialized doctorates (education, for example) but don't offer a doctorate in a wide range of disciplines. Liberal Arts schools offer primarily undergraduate degrees. Schools within each group are then ranked using a variety of criteria, but these criteria are not used in the initial assignment to a category.

You ask "if you were focused on being popular and well known wouldn't you want to be on the same list as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Notre Dame, Duke, UVA, U of Texas and Vanderbilt?" Not necessarily. You provide a very good rationale for why a school might not want to be on that list. Schools near the top the "regional" list may prefer to remain there rather than being an after thought on the National list. I suspect the Citadel, a highly rated regional university (again, because it doesn't offer a wide variety of doctoral degrees) is as popular and well known as, say, the 25th ranked FCS school from your list, which is 180th on the national list.

Catatonic

March 23rd, 2016, 04:24 AM

On another note, I'd say the most popular school in the SLC right now is SF Austin based on the publicity received for its success on the basketball court. That SFA is a lower tier "regional" university in the USNWR academic rankings doesn't mean nearly as much in terms of familiarity with the institution.

KPSUL

March 23rd, 2016, 08:01 AM

Hopefully our tiresome analysis of the US News and World Report Best Colleges listings has finally killed this zombie like thread.

MR. CHICKEN

March 23rd, 2016, 09:28 AM

Hopefully our tiresome analysis of the US News and World Report Best Colleges listings has finally killed this zombie like t.hread

....YEAH......STICK UH DULL SPOON....IN IT..........WHAT'S CHANGED....SINCE 9/30/2007.....OR......POST 210 PAGE 21.......xdontknowx........BRAWK!

walliver

March 23rd, 2016, 03:25 PM

Hopefully our tiresome analysis of the US News and World Report Best Colleges listings has finally killed this zombie like thread.

It will reappear in another 9 years.

Twentysix

March 23rd, 2016, 04:33 PM

It will reappear in another 9 years.

These things come in cycles.

Lehigh Football Nation

March 23rd, 2016, 05:17 PM

Hopefully our tiresome analysis of the US News and World Report Best Colleges listings has finally killed this zombie like thread.

You are so wrong... this will make us Patriot League folk jump in with both feet

Bill

March 24th, 2016, 01:19 PM

http://i3.cdnds.net/15/23/618x681/towie-dan-lewis-diags-marbella-pool.jpg