Dec. 6, 2007

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The University of Notre Dame is ranked 12th in STACK magazine's inaugural survey of the colleges and universities with the best combination of academic and athletic excellence.

Published in the magazine's November/December issue, the survey is the first ranking of the country's 50 leading college sports programs based on academics, athletic opportunity and overall performance. The survey, which also includes specific rankings for 14 sports, is available online by clicking here.

The survey's methodology included overall academic rankings based upon U.S. News & World Report's annual "America's Best Colleges" survey, athlete graduation rates, national sport-specific rankings, championship history, professional successes, atmosphere, and coaching staff tenure.

In addition to the overall and sport-specific rankings, the magazine's survey also enables athletes and parents to evaluate schools in side-by-side comparisons.

The top 15 universities are: North Carolina, Stanford, Texas, UCLA, Duke, Florida, Michigan, USC, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Virginia, Notre Dame, Georgia, Cal, and Tennessee.

STACK provides information and entertainment to high school athletes through its 500,000 circulation magazine, a Web site and other media.