Who has the best college campus? Ranking the top 25 FBS schools
Niche.com has released its Best College Campuses for 2027 rankings. The rankings are based on statistics and student reviews using data from the U.S. Department of Education. "Top-ranked colleges offer outstanding campus resources across classrooms, labs, performance venues, housing, food, and recreational facilities."
Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat
The Big Ten is winning National Championships and making more TV money than the SEC. But there is a growing problem...
— Ben Koo (@bkoo) October 1, 2026
The widening gap in TV ratings and the quality of the TV product itself, compared to the SEC, has many hitting the panic button.https://t.co/QybDxLb8wF pic.twitter.com/Mt38lrpFsk
Current college football total 📺 viewership leaders after Week 4:
— Danny Neckel (@DNeckel19) October 1, 2026
Texas: 26.0M
Ole Miss: 24.1M
LSU: 22.4M
Ohio St: 22.0M
Alabama: 21.0M
Michigan: 18.3M
Texas A&M: 15.2M
Florida St: 13.2M
Kentucky: 13.0M
Notre Dame: 12.3M
NEW: College Football television ratings are down 11% from the first month of the 2025 season, per FOS📉
— On3 (@On3) October 2, 2026
But a source with knowledge of Disney’s viewership data tells @AndyStaples that SEC minutes watched are up 41% year-over-year.
Story: https://t.co/l50VluAJde pic.twitter.com/B3QZNrn5GK
Here's what's happening:
— Orchrd (@OrchrdSports) September 24, 2026
The CFP has a set revenue-sharing program.
They're paying out HUGE amounts to SEC and BIG10.
Why?
They get the most viewers.
Why would ESPN want more SEC schools in the playoffs?
More views. More money.
It's not about football. pic.twitter.com/MXiBWEtWsu
Florida State University and Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH) have finalized core agreements establishing the long-term framework for @FSU_Health, an integrated academic health system focused on improving health and expanding access to advanced care and research across North… pic.twitter.com/7fDeCVu0f0
— Florida State University (@FloridaState) September 30, 2026
Florida State University and Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH) have finalized core agreements establishing the long-term framework for FSU Health, an integrated academic health system focused on improving health and expanding access to advanced care and research across North Florida and beyond.
These agreements include lease and operating agreements and other definitive legal documents, including an academic and clinical framework supporting the partnership at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital and the future FSU Health hospital in Panama City Beach.
“Today marks a defining step forward in our shared vision to build an academic health system that will serve our community and our state for generations to come,” FSU President Richard McCullough said. “Through FSU Health, with Tallahassee Memorial Hospital as its clinical anchor, Florida State University is bringing together the people, expertise and resources needed to improve lives, expand access to advanced care and create new opportunities for medical education and research across North Florida and beyond.”
Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Inc. will serve as a cornerstone of FSU Health, bringing trusted expertise in community-based care, an extensive network of physicians and advanced practice providers, and leading specialty and advanced-care services.
“For nearly 80 years, TMH has grown alongside this community, always looking for new ways to bring better care closer to home,” said Mark O’Bryant, chief executive officer of Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare. “Our work with FSU, including the academic medical center strategy we developed together in 2021, has created an opportunity to build on that legacy in ways we could not achieve alone. Our patients, physicians, advanced practice providers and colleagues can expect the same commitment to exceptional, compassionate care, strengthened by new opportunities to advance medicine, educate future healthcare professionals and bring more specialized care and innovation closer to home.”
Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Inc. will continue managing day-to-day operations under the FSU Health brand at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, the future Panama City Beach hospital, TMH’s other clinical care locations and its employed physician network, TMH Physician Partners. Patients will continue receiving care from their established physicians, advanced practice providers, nurses and team members, while benefiting from the added strengths and capabilities of a Top 25 public research university.
The agreements build on an academic health center strategic alignment plan that started in 2021 and the transfer of city-owned hospital assets to FSU earlier this year and establish the long-term governance, operational and academic framework supporting the continued growth of FSU Health across North Florida and the Panhandle. They also preserve TMH’s existing charity care policy at both hospitals and establish a new governance structure that gives FSU the ability to nominate candidates for boards in Tallahassee and Panama City Beach.
As the region’s only academic health system, FSU Health will connect patients with leading physicians, advanced treatments, clinical research and specialized services while training the next generation of healthcare professionals. Future plans for FSU Health in Tallahassee include developing new graduate medical education programs in high-demand specialties such as trauma surgery, minimally invasive and bariatric surgery and pulmonary and critical care medicine.
Patients and the community can learn more about the partnership at TMH.ORG/FSUHealth
Current 📺 viewership among ACC schools after Week 4:
— Danny Neckel (@DNeckel19) September 30, 2026
FSU: 13.19M
Clemson: 10.78M
UNC: 8.64M
Louisville: 7.14M
GT: 6.56M
SMU: 5.49M
Miami: 5.02M
NC St: 4.00M
Wake: 3.79M
UVA: 3.50M
Stanford: 3.24M
Cal: 2.68M
Pitt: 2.55M
BC: 1.99M
Syracuse: 1.50M
VT: 0.99M
Duke: 0.87M
Alabama vs South Carolina got 2.9 million views. FSU vs Alabama had 9 million. But yeah it’s all Alabama fans https://t.co/sYUL9hO3He
— Stephen (@rangernole5) September 30, 2026
Current 📺 viewership among ACC schools after Week 3:
— Danny Neckel (@DNeckel19) September 22, 2026
FSU: 13.04M
Clemson: 9.49M
UNC: 8.64M
Louisville: 6.12M
GT: 5.68M
SMU: 5.34M
Miami: 4.47M
NC St: 3.76M
UVA: 3.35M
Wake: 2.77M
Pitt: 2.55M
Stanford: 2.36M
BC: 1.84M
Syracuse: 1.50M
Cal: 1.39M
Duke: 0.87M
VT: 0.84M
Week 3 belonged to @ESPNCFB 🏈
— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) September 22, 2026
✅ Top 5 most-watched games
✅ Won every Saturday window
✅ @LSUfootball-@OleMissFB (10.9M viewers) topped all nets, outperforming the nearest competitor by 237%
✅ 66% of total viewing share pic.twitter.com/OjLG8DFUtK
Current 📺 viewership among ACC schools after Week 2:
— Danny Neckel (@DNeckel19) September 16, 2026
FSU: 6.03M
Clemson: 5.90M
GT: 5.53M
UNC: 5.05M
Louisville: 4.84M
SMU: 4.07M
NC St: 3.36M
UVA: 3.20M
Miami: 2.18M
Stanford: 2.18M
BC: 1.84M
Pitt: 1.35M
Cal: 1.23M
Duke: 0.64M
VT: 0.52M
Wake: 0.43M
Syracuse: 0.30M
Your final Week 1 TV ratings, per Nielsen:
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) September 10, 2026
ND-Wis. (NBC): 8.1M
LSU-Clemson (ABC): 5.8M
Wash-Wash St (NBC): 5.1M
Oregon-Boise St (CBS): 4.8M
Lou-Ole Miss (ABC): 4.7M
Baylor-Auburn (ABC): 4.2M
Mich-WMU (NBC): 4.1M
FSU-SMU (ESPN): 4.1M
Sunday doubleheader paid off big for NBC.
*Remember that FSU was the only one of this bunch that was on ESPN cable/streaming only… and the game was on a return to work night and 1 hour 1/2 late. The game went to 1:00am-ish. All the others were on OTA networks.
Your final Week 1 TV ratings, per Nielsen:
ND-Wis. (NBC): 8.1M
LSU-Clemson (ABC): 5.8M
Wash-Wash St (NBC): 5.1M
Oregon-Boise St (CBS): 4.8M
Lou-Ole Miss (ABC): 4.7M
Baylor-Auburn (ABC): 4.2M
Mich-WMU (NBC): 4.1M
FSU-SMU (ESPN): 4.1M
📈📈📈 pic.twitter.com/UkMeYI7upu
— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) September 2, 2026
Florida State’s season-opening win over New Mexico State did more than put the Seminoles at 1-0, it also delivered a record audience for The CW.
The Week 0 matchup averaged 1.96 million viewers in primetime, making it the most-watched sports broadcast in The CW’s history, according to Nielsen Panel + Big Data figures released by Nexstar Media Group on Wednesday.
Viewership peaked at 2.4 million between 9:15 and 9:30 p.m. ET as Florida State pulled away for a 34-17 victory at Doak Campbell Stadium. The broadcast also drew 718,000 viewers in the Adults 25-54 demographic, another network record for a sports event.
The game’s performance extended beyond The CW’s own benchmarks. According to Nexstar, Florida State-New Mexico State was the second-strongest primetime broadcast of the night among Adults 25-54, outperforming every primetime program on ABC, CBS and NBC in that demographic.
Updated Week 0/1 CFB TV Viewers in West
— SuperWest Sports (@SuperWestSports) September 11, 2026
5.50M—WSU-Washington (NBC)
4.83M—Boise St-Oregon (CBS)
3.73M—Colorado-Ga Tech (ESPN)
1.98M—Miami-Stanford (ESPN)
1.96M—NMSU at FSU (CW)
1.86M—SJSU at USC (NBC)
1.69M—Ore St-Houston (ESPN)
1.65M—Memphis-UNLV (FOX)
1.32M—Fresno St-USC (FOX)…
Nielsen measured viewership for the B12 & ACC during the 2025 season
/A necessary sacrifice: Saying goodbye to FSU campus residence halls
Rejoice, parking spot chasers! A new parking garage is coming to the FSU campus in Summer 2027 through the Northwest Campus project.
The Northwest Housing & Dining project refers to FSU's plans to modernize the Northwest side of campus by replacing Rogers, McCollum, and Salley halls and, in their place, building a 10-story, 1,200-bed residence hall, a 765-seat dining hall, and a 930-space parking garage.
The new housing and dining facilities are estimated to open in Summer 2028, and the new parking garage is set to open in Summer 2027. That means next Fall semester, hopefully, there won't be as much trouble finding parking on campus.
Rejoice, parking spot chasers! A new parking garage is coming to the FSU campus in Summer 2027 through the Northwest Campus project.
The Northwest Housing & Dining project refers to FSU's plans to modernize the Northwest side of campus by replacing Rogers, McCollum, and Salley halls and, in their place, building a 10-story, 1,200-bed residence hall, a 765-seat dining hall, and a 930-space parking garage.
The new housing and dining facilities are estimated to open in Summer 2028, and the new parking garage is set to open in Summer 2027. That means next Fall semester, hopefully, there won't be as much trouble finding parking on campus.
During the FSU Board of Trustees meeting on Aug. 28, FSU announced that it has “the funding secured” for the estimated $365 million project. This makes the Northwest Expansion the most expensive ongoing project FSU has undertaken since the Doak Campbell Stadium renovations in 2025, which totaled $265 million. It also overshadows the 2026 construction of the Herbert Wertheim Center for Business Excellence, which cost $65 million and was received as a donation.
The last time FSU opened a newly constructed housing facility and dining hall was in 2017 with the opening of 1851 and Azalea & Magnolia Halls. The last parking complex constructed and opened was Pensacola Street Garage in 2012, and every FSU student with a car knows just how evident that lack of new parking projects is.
Over the years, these dorms have been monumental institutions of FSU’s campus and have housed tens of thousands of students since their creation.
The destruction and closure of these buildings will mean saying goodbye to a large part of FSU’s history. Roger’s Hall was first opened in 1965, originally to house married students, and was later opened to undergraduates.
McCollum Hall was originally known as "Hall X" when it was first built in 1975 and has received renovations from 2005 to 2011.
The infamous Salley Hall was constructed in 1964 and originally housed the football team. It was also the first dorm to become co-ed, and its latest renovation was completed in 2000. Today, Salley is known for not necessarily being the top choice for dorms, but those who stay there freshman year tend to leave with interesting stories and the title “Salley Survivor."
It is certainly sad to see these notable pieces of FSU go, and some would say renovating these dorms would be the best step to continue the legacy of these complexes instead of building a new housing facility.
This new construction is set to offer roughly 250 more beds than the 950 beds offered by McCullom, Rogers, and Salley combined. This increase in housing will allow more students to live on campus in brand-new facilities. Not to mention, the inclusion of a new dining hall and parking garage is undoubtedly great for students.
