Thanks to our on-line survey of the readership (some 450 votes) from September 8-16, and the magic of Condrocet, we now know the truth:
| 1. Yale University (Condorcet winner: wins contests with all other choices) |
| 2. Harvard University loses to Yale University by 233–142 |
| 3. Stanford University loses to Yale University by 318–66, loses to Harvard University by 291–81 |
| 4. University of Chicago loses to Yale University by 345–42, loses to Stanford University by 254–114 |
| 5. Columbia University loses to Yale University by 351–37, loses to University of Chicago by 205–174 |
| 6. New York University loses to Yale University by 355–33, loses to Columbia University by 235–126 |
| 7. University of California, Berkeley loses to Yale University by 373–18, loses to New York University by 291–73 |
| 8. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor loses to Yale University by 372–17, loses to University of California, Berkeley by 196–152 |
| 9. University of Pennsylvania loses to Yale University by 379–11, loses to University of Michigan, Ann Arbor by 190–152 |
| 10. University of Virginia loses to Yale University by 380–10, loses to University of Pennsylvania by 193–151 |
| 11. Duke University loses to Yale University by 375–15, loses to University of Virginia by 258–97 |
| 12. Northwestern University loses to Yale University by 376–12, loses to Duke University by 187–153 |
| 13. Cornell University loses to Yale University by 376–13, loses to Northwestern University by 180–159 |
| 14. Georgetown University loses to Yale University by 373–17, loses to Cornell University by 168–167 |
| 15. University of Texas, Austin loses to Yale University by 380–9, loses to Georgetown University by 219–123 |
| 16. University of California, Los Angeles loses to Yale University by 376–13, loses to University of Texas, Austin by 197–135 |
| 17. Vanderbilt University loses to Yale University by 375–7, loses to University of California, Los Angeles by 222–100 |
| 18. University of Southern California loses to Yale University by 379–7, loses to Vanderbilt University by 177–123 |
| 19. George Washington University loses to Yale University by 371–11, loses to University of Southern California by 186–126 |
| 20. Washington University, St. Louis loses to Yale University by 374–7, loses to George Washington University by 172–137 |
| 21. Boston University loses to Yale University by 372–8, loses to Washington University, St. Louis by 173–134 |
| 22. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul loses to Yale University by 373–7, loses to Boston University by 157–140 |
| 23. Tied: Emory University loses to Yale University by 372–8, loses to University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul by 156–140 University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign loses to Yale University by 372–6, loses to University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul by 152–123 |
| 25. Fordham University loses to Yale University by 366–12, loses to Emory University by 153–128 |
| 26. Boston College loses to Yale University by 371–7, loses to Fordham University by 155–137 |
| 27. Tied: College of William & Mary loses to Yale University by 370–6, loses to Boston College by 168–116 University of Iowa loses to Yale University by 370–6, loses to Boston College by 160–126 |
| 29. University of Notre Dame loses to Yale University by 373–9, loses to University of Iowa by 139–136 |
| 30. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill loses to Yale University by 369–8, loses to University of Notre Dame by 142–128 |
| 31. University of Wisconsin, Madison loses to Yale University by 370–6, loses to University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill by 139–128 |
| 32. Indiana University, Bloomington loses to Yale University by 370–6, loses to University of Wisconsin, Madison by 143–133 |
| 33. University of California, Davis loses to Yale University by 369–8, loses to Indiana University, Bloomington by 147–122 |
| 34. University of California, Irvine loses to Yale University by 368–9, loses to University of California, Davis by 139–131 |
| 35. Ohio State University loses to Yale University by 367–8, loses to University of California, Irvine by 142–133 |
| 36. University of California, Hastings loses to Yale University by 368–8, loses to Ohio State University by 146–112 |
| 37. Washington & Lee University loses to Yale University by 364–8, loses to University of California, Hastings by 132–123 |
| 38. Cardozo Law School/Yeshiva University loses to Yale University by 364–15, loses to Washington & Lee University by 156–118 |
| 39. Florida State University loses to Yale University by 360–9, loses to Cardozo Law School/Yeshiva University by 142–132 |
| 40. George Mason University loses to Yale University by 371–8, loses to Florida State University by 143–119 |
| 41. University of Arizona loses to Yale University by 356–8, loses to George Mason University by 135–119 |
| 42. University of Colorado, Boulder loses to Yale University by 359–8, loses to University of Arizona by 129–106 |
| 43. American University loses to Yale University by 365–8, loses to University of Colorado, Boulder by 132–127 |
| 44. University of Washington, Seattle loses to Yale University by 358–9, loses to American University by 130–125 |
| 45. University of Georgia loses to Yale University by 364–7, loses to University of Washington, Seattle by 121–107 |
| 46. Arizona State University loses to Yale University by 359–8, loses to University of Georgia by 135–113 |
| 47. Wake Forest University loses to Yale University by 360–6, loses to Arizona State University by 132–112 |
| 48. University of San Diego loses to Yale University by 365–6, loses to Arizona State University by 134–121 |
| 49. Brigham Young University loses to Yale University by 365–7, loses to University of San Diego by 128–124 |
| 50. Brooklyn Law School loses to Yale University by 359–8, loses to Brigham Young University by 125–112 |
|
And the runners-up: University of Alabama loses to to Brooklyn Law School by 123–116; |
| University of Florida, Gainesville loses to University of Alabama by 116–99 |
| Chicago-Kent College of Law loses to University of Florida, Gainesville by 126–107 |
| Tulane University loses to Chicago-Kent College of Law by 115–111 |
So the most obvious thing about these results is the powerful evidence they supply of how much the U.S. News rankings influence perceptions, even among intelligent people like those who read this blog. There are exceptions, to be sure, indicative of the fact that this readership is better-informed: look at UC Irvine, Cardozo, Florida State, San Diego. But this should, perhaps, explain why law schools are so attentive to the U.S. News rankings: even academics, who know that NYU has a better faculty than Columbia, that Alabama has a better faculty than American, that Harvard has a better faculty than Yale, that the Colorado and Arizona faculties are as good as most of those ranked ten or more places higher, are still hugely influenced by the U.S. News ordering. To be sure, I didn't ask just about "faculty quality," and it is probably still quite right from the standpoint of law firms and judges, for example, to rank Columbia ahead of NYU, even if many academics now think NYU has a slight edge on faculty quality. The U.S. News-induced weirdness gets more serious the farther down the list one goes, of course. The damage U.S. news has done to UC Hastings (quite generally recognized as a top 20 law school back in the 1980s) is a case in point. And how did schools like Miami, Utah, Maryland, and up-and-comers like Denver, Penn State and Villanova not make the runners-up to the top 50? (I could pick others–if we didn't try to rank all law schools on the Harvard model, then there should be 100 schools, at least, in the 'top 50.') 'Tis a strange world of acadmic reputation we live in.
With regard to the paper, it should not be much of a surprise that my views have substantially evolved over…