Dan Orlovsky names top five college athletic institutions
ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky knows a thing or two about college football and college athletics having played and broadcasted the sport.
He named his top five athletic institutions around the country over the course of the last 12 to 18 months on performance across all sports. The former UConn quarterback definitely raised some eyebrows regarding his list.
That’s because he included his alma mater on the list with three SEC schools and one Big Ten institution.
“Based on present day performance (last 12-18 months), who are, in totality (not just 1 sport but majority of them), the top 5 athletic institutions in (the) country?,” Orlovsky wrote on Twitter. “LSU, Bama, UConn, Michigan, Florida. That’s my top 5.”
A curious list indeed. Let’s break it down.
LSU
The Tigers make sense over the last year-plus. The women’s basketball team won its first ever national championship and it took head coach Kim Mulkey just two seasons of development and transfer portal additions to make it happen.
Don’t rule out the Tigers for back-to-back either. The football team won the SEC West in Year 1 under Brian Kelly and is a College Football Playoff contender this fall.
Baseball meanwhile just won the College World Series over SEC foe Florida. Jay Johnson’s impact cannot be understated. Two national titles in three of the big sports across the seasons? Yeah, LSU belongs here. This is definitely a smart pick by Orlovsky.
Alabama
The Crimson Tide should make the list, of course, based on football dominance alone. A Sugar Bowl victory this past season was a down year for the program.
Basketball produced No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller, won the SEC and made it to the NCAA Sweet 16.
And even the baseball team nearly made it to the College World Series. Alabama was represented in the NCAA Super Regional.
Michigan
The Wolverines had tremendous success in football again. Michigan won the Big Ten, beat Ohio State and made it to the College Football Playoff for the second straight year.
While basketball didn’t make it to NCAAs, the Wolverines advanced to the second round of the NIT. The women’s basketball team made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
On the wrestling mat, Michigan was one of the best dual teams in the country and saw heavyweight Mason Parris capture a national title in March.
The baseball team went 28-28 but qualified for the Big Ten Tournament.
Florida
On the football field, it started out great for Billy Napier and company. Although Florida sputtered to a 6-7 finish.
On the court, the men’s team made it to the NIT Tournament while the women’s team went 3-1 in the women’s NIT.
On the baseball diamond, Florida made it to the College World Series finals, losing in three games to champion LSU. The softball team qualified for the NCAA Regionals. Spring was kind to Florida, and so is Orlovsky.
UConn
Now, we get to the hot take from Orlovsky. The football team has been disastrous for quite some time, so the recent performance there is hard to come by.
The men’s basketball team won the national title, so this has to be where Orlovsky thinks the entire department had tremendous success. The usual dominant women’s team fell in the Sweet 16 this year, but basically the school rode the backs of the women’s team for a long time, one of the most dominant programs in any sport.
The baseball team went 44-17 but failed to get out of the NCAA Regional stage.
In conclusion, is his take a little far fetched? Perhaps. UConn had some success no doubt, but weighing one national title across the entire athletic department is pushing it compared to the others on the list.