What happened in '88?

<p>[U.S&lt;/a&gt;. News Rankings Through the Years](<a href=“http://web.archive.org/web/20070908142457/http://chronicle.com/stats/usnews/]U.S”>http://web.archive.org/web/20070908142457/http://chronicle.com/stats/usnews/)</p>

<p>Why did Michigan drop from number 8 to number 25 from '88 to '89?</p>

<p>USNWR changed it’s methodology. They found that high public school rankings weren’t selling enough issues on the east coast, so they switched the variables to boost up the privates. It’s been messed up every since.</p>

<p>Some schools clearly game their admissions to boost their ranking in USNWR. Michigan is not one of them.</p>

<p>That is why the USNWR rankings are lies. Universities don’t change that much in one year.</p>

<p>Notre Dame won the national championship, thats what happened :)</p>