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<p>The problem with the third tier is that after the rank of 110 or 120 or whatever they just stop ranking, so you don’t know what 121 is or which ones are closer to 200. </p>
<p>Also the underlying problem with the USNWR rankings is that the school you mention, OU, has been known in the past to fudge the data they give USNWR a little bit. In fact almost every school in the 2nd Tier has fudged their data a little bit. USC, Clemson, OU, and the list goes on and on, with schools that got caught lying about their data.</p>
<p>OSU doesn’t even provide all of the data that USNWR asks for. OSU’s mentality is to hell with that. OSU is the larger of the two main flagships and overall is a slightly better undergraduate school. But you’re right, OU is also pretty well-respected. Mostly for football however. A lot of the hicks who are diehard OU fans don’t even realize it’s a school.</p>