<p>The rankings season has commenced and with only a month to go before the USNews stirs things up, Forbes Magazinne has stepped in to supply us with a few preliminary giggles. No, I'm not talking about the actual ranking which can be read here: America's</a> Top Colleges</p>
<p>I mean, the ranking <em>within</em> the ranking. The what? Let me explain: as you well know, every poll, no matter how much you may disagree with the nominal results, contains some collateral tidbit gleaned from either the school's IPEDS, or common data set or somewhere else, that is pretty elemental, basic information that normally doesn't get a lot of attention, until someone makes a chart out of it. Here in descending order are the NESCAC colleges listed by per cent of varsity athletes:</p>
<p>2- Williams (40%)
14 - Bowdoin (35%)
25 - Colby (35%)
76 - Bates (35%)
13 - Amherst (31%)
64 - Hamilton (30%)
42 - Middlebury (29%)
89 - Trinity (29%)
21 - Wesleyan (22%)
32 - Tufts (15%)
70 - Connecticut (13%)</p>
<p>The biggest surprise? Swarthmore. No, it isn't a NESCAC college (but, some people think it should be.) By way of comparison, even without football, Swat (ranked 10th overall in the poll) still edges Wesleyan in the percentage of varsity athletes among its student body at 25%</p>