Mindful that you’re a student-athlete—and not just a student—we offer you the 4th Annual STACK Elite 50 Colleges, a ranking of the best schools for academically-minded athletes. After months of crunching numbers [wins, losses, championships, school rankings, academic progress and more], we improved on our prior years’ compilations to help you choose a school with the right balance of academics and athletics.

Breaking into our Top 10 at #9 is The Ohio State University.
Rank: 9
Total Points: 44.24
Top-15 Ranked Sports: 8
U.S. News Rank: 56
WHY THEY’RE ON TOP
Brutus went buck wild as OSU achieved Elite 50 sport-specific rankings in wrestling [2], men’s tennis [4], women’s basketball [4] and football [3].

Ranked Sports: Wrestling [2], Football [3], Men’s Tennis [4], Women’s Basketball [4], Men’s Swimming [7], Men’s Soccer [11], Lacrosse [13] and Softball [14]

GENERAL INFORMATION
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Enrollment: 40,212
Year founded: 1870
Percentage of freshmen in top 10% of their graduating class: 53
Application fee: $40
Acceptance rate: 62%
Average GPA of incoming freshmen: N/A
Male/female ratio: 53/47
Student/faculty ratio: 13/1
Percentage of students from out of state: 15
Tuition: $8,706 for residents; $22,278 out of state
Admissions contact:
Dr. Mabel G. Freeman, Assistant Vice President for Undergraduate Admissions and First Year Experience
The Ohio State University
Enarson Hall, 154 West 12th Avenue
Columbus, OH 43210
Phone: 614-247-6281

ATHLETIC INFORMATION
Nickname: Buckeyes
Conference: Big Ten [Exception:  hockey; the men’s team competes in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, and the women’s team competes in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association] National championships: 22 (20 men, 2 women)
Longest coaching tenure: Jim Brown, Men’s Golf, 36 years
Nearest professional team: Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL) and Columbus Crew (MLS), 2 miles

FUN FACTS
Notable alumni: Track and field legend Jesse Owens, Olympic basketball coach Bobby Knight, two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin, University of Florida football coach Urban Meyer, NFLers Antoine Winfield, A.J. Hawk and Orlando Pace
Band Rotation: Who knew that playing the sousaphone conveyed so much clout? The Ohio State Marching Band’s signature formation, performed during half time of home games, is “Script Ohio.” Each time they do it, a different fourth- or fifth-year sousaphone player has the privilege of high-stepping toward the middle of the field and standing as the dot in the “i” of “Ohio.”
LINKS
University Website: osu.edu
Wikipedia: The Ohio State University
Go to elite50.stack.com to read more on OSU and the rest of the STACK Elite 50 Colleges.
Previously posted:
#10 – USC
Photos:  osu.edu