Want to major in party time? Then you can't get much better than Florida State University in 2013. Playboy magazine released this year's top party school ranking Wednesday, and there it is -- FSU pretty as you please, sitting at No. 5.
"What? Only No. 5? We was robbed!" FSU sophomore Kyle Germain told Sunshine State News. "Playboy should have called me -- I could have shown them a thing or two I bet they don't know and can't find on any other campus, only FSU."
The University of Florida, No. 4 last year, sobered up a little over the past year ... uh, maybe. The Gators fell off this year's list.
The University of Virginia, last year's winner, didn't make the new list either. West Virginia University took over the top spot, making that school one of the most consistently ranked among all party school lists.
All but one school on the list is a large state university, and each has a major football program.
The top 10 party schools on this year's Playboy list: 10. University of Maryland; 9. Arizona State; 8. University of Georgia; 7. Louisiana State; 6. University of Texas; 5. Florida State; 4. University of Southern California; 3. University of Colorado; 2. Wisconsin University; 1. West Virginia University.
Playboy planned to release their ranking last week, ahead of the October issue where it will be printed. But according to HuffPost, anti-rape activist group FORCE "threw a wrench in those plans by posting a fake Playboy website, tricking people into thinking the magazine replaced the party school ranking with a guide to practicing consensual sex." The group also announced a new contest for college students to encourage activism around the topic on campuses nationwide.
The ranking was done by Playboy editors, using data from the National Center for Education Statistics, the NCAA and the Census, as well as feedback from social media, according to a news release.
Playboy historically is a little erratic with its party schools list. It published one in 1987, 2002, 2006, and every year since 2009. The 1987 list included 40 schools, with 16 honorable mentions; California State University, Chico ranked first, a distinction that, according to the magazine, some students considered a burden. In 2002, the list featured 25 schools and 10 honorable mentions and was topped by Arizona State University. The University of WisconsinMadison placed first among 10 schools in 2006.
But in 2009, Florida turned in a big party performance when the University of Miami gained the top spot out of 25, ranking highest in the "brains" category, as well as the "bikini" category. The University of Texas at Austin took the top ranking in 2010. In 2012, the University of Virginia, as mentioned above, was No. 1.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 282-2423.
