I work at a small selective liberal arts university with a pretty good football and basketball team. There is a feeling and maybe it is backed up by some resear

I work at a small selective liberal arts university with a pretty good football and basketball team. There is a feeling and maybe it is backed up by some research, I just don't know, that competitive sports teams attract more applicants. If you have a larger applicant pool you are considered more selective. Being more selective, overtime, helps the school's 3rd party rankings. I don't know if it really works out that way but that is the prevailing view. For us the sad part is that football games and basketball games attract very few students in the stands. My wife and I enjoy going to some games and we are always surprised at how small the student crowd is.