<p>Cal will always be the flagship UC. Flaghip I don't know though...</p>
<p>You are very unaware if you think for one moment that a school's sports teams don't affect the way it is viewed/ranked dude.</p>
<p>I'm sure it affects how it might be viewed by the laymen but general rankings don't factor in athletics, no?</p>
<p>Are you kidding? Sports bring in revenues in the millions for many colleges. That's not only money for the sports program, thats for the entire college. Besides, if you were a professor which name do you think carries more weight, berkeley or sd?</p>
<p>Professors don't go to Berkeley because they like the sports program better, it's because in most departments they are higher ranked or whatever, it doesn't have anything to do with sports. Now clearly Berkeley has been around for longer and has a MUCH more established sports program but this is not why it is highly ranked. With that argument professors should choose Ohio State over Berkeley since they have a superior athletics department.</p>
<p>There's several variables that are in play, if a professor is sought after and has a choice amongst campus.</p>
<p>Here's an example. If a science-oriented professor has a choice between MIT and Duke, he/she will probably opt for MIT even though Duke is higher-ranked (overal) AND has a much bigger/well-known sports program. Why? Because MIT's science department is more well-known than Duke and to live in the Boston area is a huge draw for faculty. </p>
<p>So while sports programs are very important, they are only one aspect to a camus. To find the big sports-schools, you have to go to the tier 2 campuses</p>
<p>While many profs might follow your model, some would rather go to Duke for various reasons. And you're assuming the available position is the same, and the possible futures appear the same, right? All things equal other than the factors you mention- location/university?</p>
<p>Ya since Cal and UCLA are tier 2 campuses. Pshhhh.</p>
<p>Yeah, but can UCLA or Cal (or UCSD for that matter) claim they have a Survivor winner as an alumni?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor12/%5B/url%5D">http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor12/</a> </p>
<p>Survivor, sounds like you are a little hard up for good sports teams dude. I will definately not be spending my college years in my room watching tv.</p>
<p>Gosh...sports sports sports. You are so one-track minded.</p>
<p>Voiceofreason--</p>
<p>Not to hate on Davis (because I don't come on these boards to hate on other schools...) but it's not like they have the most amazing sports program. They do have D1AA football which is cool and all but it's not like you'll see them on national television or filling a stadium with 50,000+ fans which is typical for D1A football. Yes, I know that Davis got a fluke win against Stanford last year. Kudos. The rest of UCD sports are either on par with UCI or worse. In fact, Davis in two years is joining the Big West Conference (except for football), which is the same conference as UCI, CSU Northridge, UCR etc. I'm all for people having pride in their schools and I'm sure you'll have a great time being part of the aggie pack cheering on your aggies...but let's be realistic here.</p>
<p>While i agree with Yakityack more than Voiceofreason, on this isuue, Voiceofreason does have a point. If a school has competitive sports teams, they will probably attract MORE aplicants, maybe some higher quality applicants, their yield rate will be higher, and the donations that they recieve from their alumni will be greater (which constitutes a large amount of any University's budget). It will attract more applicants because it will seem more appealing and the social scene will seem more vibrant with a good sports program (also brings school spirit). The donations of alumni from schools with good sports programs are always MUCH higher than those schools that dont. The alumni feel more school spirit is there is a good sports program and thus donate more. All these factors will then lead to better professors and thus higher rankings.</p>
<p>Although it is not a very large factor, it still is an important aspect that undoubtedly affects a school's quality and ranking.</p>
<p>We will just see how well the Aggie Pack fills the new stadium when it is completed. Go ahead and deny the importance of sports, especially football. Watch and see what happens. ;)
Go Aggies!</p>
<p>I didn't deny that sports play a roll in students wanting to go there. Certainly there is something to be said for the role of college athletics in such matters. My argument is that UCD does not have a significantly better sports program than UCI. They're still in the transition stage to Division 1...It's not like UCD is a rockin' sports school (which is where voiceofreason is going) so it doesn't make very much sense to put down UCI in this context. Now, I will give the obvious upperhand to Cal for athletics, especially with their D1A PAC-10 football.</p>
<p>btw..UCI basketball did beat Stanford this year when they were ranked in the top 25 ;).</p>
<p>^^UCD did too, and so did Montana. Stanford had a bad season at basketball this year.</p>
<p>UC Davis Athletics=Sleeping Giant! The college town with over 30,000 students, immense Aggie Pride in Division 2 that's only going to grow in D1.</p>
<p>Sorry, UCI and UCSB, as of right now our sports programs are equals, but in the very near future the Aggies will dominate. Remember this, right now the Davis sports teams our TRANSITIONAL. That means our current senior and junior student-athletes were recruited as Division II Athletes. There is a huge difference between D-II and D-1 Athletes, especially in Basketball. UC Davis dominated D-II, we won 6 Sears Cup for being the best D-II sports program in the nation. The Athletic Department expects and demands this success in D1. Our basketball team will win the Big West in no time and our football team will dominate D1aa for five or so years and than make the jump to 1A in the future. </p>
<p>UC Davis also offers the widest variety of academic choices among any UC Campus. It has the most room for growth...an immense choice of grad programs...a new football stadium (AND FOOTBALL IN GENERAL)...a GROWING Aggie Pack....new buildings being built everywhere on campus and finally the small town college atmosphere is an alternative to the Urban atmospheres of Berkeley and UCLA. Hmmm, Flagship campus potential...I think so!</p>
<p>Gooooo Aggies!</p>
<p>Sports are, without a doubt, one of the big factors in a good reputation. A big sports school has popularity amongst the general population (UCLA and USC for example). People recognize this popularity, which brings about the notion that these schools are great academically, and the number of applicants increases. Other good schools, like UCSD, which do not have football teams, are often overshadowed in this process, and are therefore not recognized as much. I'm not a cali resident, so I know that other OOS people know instantly what USC is and how good of a school it is, but don't really know what UCSD is (usually mistaking it for "that one school at the top of the hill"). But seriously, given the popularity of UCSD already, with a d1 sports team, it will definitely be the next flagship school.</p>
<p>...otherwise, my vote goes to Merced</p>