By Mark La Monica
Growing up a North Carolina fan, there's never been much suspense when it comes to Selection Sunday. The Tar Heels were always among the top 4 seeds and arguing over bracket selection is just plain dumb. The years the Tar Heels didn't make the tournament, you already knew they had no shot.
But this year, my alma mater - the mighty Big Red of Cornell University -- qualified for their first March Madness since 1988 (five years before I even got there). So, watching Selection Sunday this year was quite exciting.
Myself and Lawyer friends Tim and Steve figured Cornell would earn a 13, 14 or 15 seed. Basically, anything but the play-in game and I'd be happy. With each announcement of the 2, 3 and 4 seeds, I edged a bit closer on my stool. With each announcement of the 13, 14 and 15 seeds that wasn't Cornell, I edged a bit back on my stool.
Then came the South region and Stanford with the No. 3 seed. As soon as we saw that, we all said, "Yep, Cornell is going to play Stanford."
Sure enough, the GPA Game was born. Some might think Cornell has no shot against Stanford. But in this tale of the tape, you'll see that the smartest first-round NCAA matchup in history is a dead heat. Each school has the advantage in 18 categories (marked in red).
|
|
Category |
|
| 26-7 (.788) |
Overall Record |
22-5 (.818) |
|
15-6 (Pac-10) |
Conference Record |
14-0 (Ivy) |
|
16 |
RPI |
64 |
|
3 |
NCAA Seed |
14 |
|
10 |
AP Rank |
Yeah, OK |
|
4 |
U.S News & World Report Ranking |
12 |
|
1885 |
Year Founded |
1865 |
|
A tree (unofficial) |
Mascot |
A bear |
|
7 |
Med School Rank |
15 |
|
2 |
|
13 |
|
2 |
|
10 |
|
Sunny |
Weather |
Awful |
|
6,422 |
Undergraduate Enrollment |
13,562 |
|
$45,608 |
Tuition & Room/Board |
$45,971 |
|
$14 billion |
Endowment |
$4 billion |
|
$75 |
Admission Application Fee |
$65 |
|
Tiger Woods, John Elway |
Notable Athletic Alums |
Ed Marinaro, Ken Dryden |
|
23 |
Nobel Laureates |
40 |
|
11 |
Libraries on Campus |
16 |
|
12% |
Acceptance Rate |
27% |
|
6/1 |
Student/Faculty Ratio |
10/1 |
|
1360-1550 |
SAT Score (25-75 percentile) |
1290-1480 |
|
|
Factors in Admission |
|
|
Important |
Talent/Ability |
Very important |
|
Very important |
Character/Personal qualities |
Considered |
|
97% |
First-year students who submitted SAT scores |
98% |
|
23% |
First-year students who submitted ACT scores |
18% |
|
|
Financial Aid |
|
|
52% |
Undergraduate applicants |
51% |
|
45% |
Determined to have need |
46% |
|
86% |
Need fully met |
100% |
|
|
Graduation Rates |
|
|
76% |
4 years |
84% |
|
90% |
5 years |
91% |
|
94% |
6 years |
92% |
|
640 |
Student Organizations |
864 |
|
100% |
College-owned housing wired for high-speed Internet |
94% |
|
68 |
Countries represented by Interational students |
128 |
|
98% |
Freshman retention rate |
96% |
* Numbers based on U.S. News & World Report's annual college publication for 2007 and 2008.