The Eyes of Everyone

One Texas university towers to top spot on USA Today Best Colleges for Sports list

Longhorns have another reason to be proud.

At no time is school spirit more apparent on college campuses than football season. And although Texas has some pretty great universities, just one made the grade in the latest list for sports lovers.

For its annual 10 Best competition, USA Today named the 10 Best Colleges for Sports and, unsurprisingly to Longhorns fans, the University of Texas at Austin took the No. 1 spot. In fact, it was the only Texas school to make the coveted list.

"For athletes and non-athletes alike, the college experience — with its mascots, marching bands, and longstanding traditions — often breeds lifelong loyalty in fans," says the newspaper of the importance of athletics during the university experience.

In order to determine the rankings, USA Today sports editor Steve Henson nominated the top 20 schools in the country. Fans then had the chance to vote once a day for their top picks.

"The University of Texas in Austin [sic] enjoys sporting success across its programs, but on Saturdays in fall, football is king," says USA Today. "Regardless of the team's success, hordes of burnt orange-wearing fans turn up in their cowboy boots to cheer on the team. Another bonus: Texas weather is ideal for tailgating."

Coming in second is Pennsylvania State University (2) followed by the University of Maryland — College Park (3). University of Florida (4) and Ohio State University (5) rounded out the top five spots. And while UT was the only Texas or Big 12 school to make the list, college football's reigning champs, University of Alabama, came in at No. 10.

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This week's hot headlines

DFW's dismal ranking among best places to live leads this week's 5 most-read headlines

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Editor's note: A lot happened this week, so here's your chance to get caught up. Read on for the week's most popular headlines. Looking for the best things to do this weekend? Find that list here.

1. Dallas-Fort Worth no longer a top 100 place to live, declares U.S. News & World Report. Dallas-Fort Worth has fallen from grace in a closely watched annual report of the best places to live in the U.S. The Metroplex appears at a dismal No. 113 (out of 150) in U.S. News & World Report's Best Places to Live ranking for 2023-2024. Last year, DFW landed at No. 32; it was No. 37 in 2021. Here's (sort of) why it plummeted in the rankings.

2. Sliders restaurant from Detroit shimmies onto Dallas' Greenville Ave. A slider concept from the Great Lakes State is expanding to Texas, and that includes a high-profile location in Dallas: Called Savvy Sliders, it's a young fast-casual concept founded in Flint, Michigan, and it will open its first Dallas restaurant at 4818 Greenville Ave., in the space recently vacated by vegan chicken restaurant Project Pollo.

3. New lagoon-waterpark with lazy river dives into Dallas-Fort Worth. A long-awaited waterpark in Cedar Hill is debuting Memorial Day weekend with two of Texas' favorite splashy attractions: a lagoon and lazy river. The Lagoon at Virginia Weaver Park will open Saturday, May 27 after more than a year in development.

4. Happy Hippie Brewing to bring peace, love, and beer to new HQ in Richardson. A craft beer brewery is opening a splendid new facility in Richardson: Happy Hippie Brewing Company, a small brewery specializing in Belgian-style beers, is opening an an 11,000-square-foot brewery and taproom at 500 Lockwood Dr., in the Lockwood area within the city's evolving CORE District.

5. Asian restaurant Howard Wang's shutters location in Uptown Dallas. A Chinese restaurant in Uptown Dallas closed: Howard Wang's Uptown Grill, one in a family-owned chain, closed its location at 3223 Lemmon Ave. #103, with the final day of service on May 21. The restaurant had been at that location for 12 years.