conference in the West this year:

WCC schools in the National Universities category:

#50 Pepperdine
#54 Santa Clara
#64 LMU
#77 BYU
#79 Gonzaga
#91 San Diego
#97 San Francisco
#125 Pacific
*Portland and SMC are ranked in the Western Regional University Rankings

Average WCC National University Ranking (8 schools): 79.6

Pac-12 schools in the National Universities category:

#6 Stanford
#20 UCLA
#22 Cal (tie)
#22 USC
#62 Washington
#104 Colorado (tie)
#104 Oregon
#104 Utah
#117 Arizona (tie)
#117 Arizona State
#139 Oregon State
#166 Washington State

Average Pac-12 National University Ranking (12 schools): 81.9

The PAC-12 basically has two tiers; the Top 5 of Stanford, UCLA, Cal, USC and Washington, and the seven sub-100 schools.

*Two WCC schools are ranked in the Western Region University Rankings. Schools are placed in the National University section according to the number of graduate programs they offer. Westminster, for example, which is a fine University but has few graduate programs, is ranked #12 in the Western Region University rankings. Xavier, Providence, and Butler of the Big East are all ranked as Regional Universities. Being a regional university is not a downgrade, it merely reflects number of graduate degree granting programs.

WCC schools in the Western Regional University Rankings:
#2 Portland
#5 SMC

For those wondering, here are the Mountain West schools in the national university rankings (the rankings only go to #292):

#147 San Diego State
#166 Colorado State (tie)
#166 Hawaii
#211 Fresno State
#218 New Mexico
#228 Wyoming
#240 Nevada
#254 Utah State
Unranked Boise State
Unranked UNLV

Average MWC National University Ranking (10 schools): 221.6

Western Regional Universities in the MWC:
#24 San Jose State

National Liberal Arts Colleges in the MWC:
#39 Air Force

Note: Posted as a basketball post because the schools are categorized according to athletic conference association.

Also of note: Athletic success does not, in any measurable way, correlate to academic ranking. SEC Powerhouses Alabama and LSU are both tied in the National University Ranking category at #153. The Ivy League are all ranked in the Top 15 of National Universities.

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities