seem to forget that they are a school first and a football/sports program second.

my oldest son toured UF, VT, GT, LSU, A&M, Rice, FSU, Ole Miss, Embry-Riddle, UVA, Bama, Drexel, RPI, and Auburn.

He said that LSU, A&M, Bama, Ole Miss, and Auburn all kept harping on their athletics. UF did a stopover at the football stadium but not like UF and VT. The athletic first schools did a cursory stopover about his major. UF, VT, GT, Rice, Embry, Drexel, RPI, and Bama (a little surprising) all had him meet with someone from the engineering department to discuss what he wanted to study, why he was interested in that, what the curriculum would be like, etc...

He did get offers to all but GT (wait listed) and Rice (was never going to happen even with his grades and scores). He got full scholarship offers from Bama, RPI, Drexel, and UF with partials for VT. He chose UF because it was a full offer and they had what he wanted to study (VT was his dream school but they didn't have a full biomedical engineering thing when he was starting).

The thing with sports at most of the schools he was interested in were the ancillary part...the part of being a Gator or a Hokie. The culture of the school. My son grew up as...the son of a Hokie. Athletics are a part of it but he liked the culture of what it meant to be a Gator or a Hokie. He has been around the world with me and has met so many of us in the weirdest of places. A 'Go Hokies' or a 'Go Gators' means a lot. He's a Gator first but a Hokie second now.

At a school like LSU the culture appears to be sports and partying. Honestly I never even think about LSU academics. They might have some good programs but you never see or hear about it. They had that issue with their library a few years ago and it just seemed to get worse while the school focused on football facilities. Has UF had some problems too? Yes they have. I am not here to say they are perfect either but, I have been impressed with their academic side too. It was a pleasant surprise.

Yes but, to me the rotten culture goes beyond the athletic department. The school could exercise more control if they wanted to but they seem to let the tail wag them.