Best campus, Ole Miss or Miss St (Starkville, Oxford: 2013, city hall)

[Back In Orange]

I have always heard Ole Miss was better and Miss St is a dump but I think that I prefer Miss St based on Google street view.

[viverlibre]

I'm a MSU alum and been to both many times. Take the building names off and drop someone in the middle of each campus and they would probably say the two are pretty much even.

Ole Miss recently put red tin roofs on some buildings and (in my opinion) it made the buildings like cheap. There is a building on the north east side of the MSU campus that has looks like it escaped from Space Mountain (can't think of the name of it). All in all, I would give a slight edge to MSU.

Both have good points and bad points, but one thing is for certain, tons of money are being spent on both campus's. The poorest state in the nation has two 60k seat football stadiums less than 100 miles apart. I'm not sure if priorities are in the right place.

The best campus I have been on is UNC Chappell Hill, it is hard to tell where the town ends and campus begins. I understand the University if the South is regularly ranked as one of the most beautiful campus's in the country.

[Back In Orange]

Originally Posted by viverlibre

I'm a MSU alum and been to both many times. Take the building names off and drop someone in the middle of each campus and they would probably say the two are pretty much even.

Ole Miss recently put red tin roofs on some buildings and (in my opinion) it made the buildings like cheap. There is a building on the north east side of the MSU campus that has looks like it escaped from Space Mountain (can't think of the name of it). All in all, I would give a slight edge to MSU.

Both have good points and bad points, but one thing is for certain, tons of money are being spent on both campus's. The poorest state in the nation has two 60k seat football stadiums less than 100 miles apart. I'm not sure if priorities are in the right place.

The best campus I have been on is UNC Chappell Hill, it is hard to tell where the town ends and campus begins. I understand the University if the South is regularly ranked as one of the most beautiful campus's in the country.

I agree with you on the red roofs. I aslo think the Greek columns are kind of overdone. Maybe 1 building like that is ok.

UNC's is pretty nice, especially the side near Franklin street, but they have lot of overgrowth and kind of an unkept jungle look in some parts of campus/town that I don't care for. And there is a busy hospital on one side of it that kind of kills the college town vibe, I think.

I was kind of surprised Ole Miss and Miss State were both as big as they are given how small MS is. Southern Miss is probably fairly big too. Campuses that I like best are Clemson, Virginia Tech, Elon, William and Mary, and Furman. South Carolina and Mercer and Georgetown are nice urban campuses.

[brickpatio]

Ole Miss is especially beautiful around the Grove and the Circle (in front of the Lyceum). Sorority Row is also beautiful. Adding to the scenery, University Avenue going towards the Square is picturesque and historic. That combination is hard to beat.

Mississippi State has its own lovely qualities. The Drill Field at the center of campus is a beautiful grassy quad. The adjacent brick walkaway next to the new student center, dining hall and business school is also really pretty. And they have a big lake next to an impressive rec center amid rolling terrain. The drive to downtown Starkville isn't as pretty as Oxford, although the Cotton District is wonderful and said to be the original "new urban" development. Starkville has made its downtown much more festive with concerts, farmers markets and family activities. They are also building a new city hall to add distinctiveness to the main street.

The Mississippi State campus master plan is really nice, including a huge, fancy landscaped quad as a new southern entrance to the campus leading up to the stadium. With all the planned landscaping I've wondered if they will indeed match the allure of the Grove at Ole Miss.

[Listener2307]

Originally Posted by viverlibre

............one thing is for certain, tons of money are being spent on both campus's. The poorest state in the nation has two 60k seat football stadiums less than 100 miles apart. I'm not sure if priorities are in the right place...........

No confusion on my part - I am absolutely convinced that the college system has lost its mind. And by doing so has transferred insanity to hundreds of thousands of young impressionable minds who have come to believe that the purpose of going to college is something other than education.

"We're Number One!"........and all is lost.

[An Einnseanair]

Originally Posted by viverlibre

...The poorest state in the nation has two 60k seat football stadiums less than 100 miles apart. I'm not sure if priorities are in the right place.

I may agree with or disagree with this statement depending on what you mean.

If you're complaining that the Universities/State is spending too much money on football, then you are wrong. The stadiums are more than paid for in income from the athletic programs. Just this morning, after a debate where I work, I checked resale ticket prices on StubHub. If you want to get into the EggBowl this year it will cost you somewhere between $350 and $11,800 per seat. Parking is extra. I realize those are "scalper" prices and the money isn't going to the Universities, but the fact is that the University was paid in full for all 60,000++ sold-out seats. This applies to every home game for both schools this football season. Plus licensing fees for symbols and wording on cowbells, shirts, stadium seats, and caps. My trip with my son to see MSState whup on Texas A&M cost me about $200. (2x$45 for seats [direct-buy, not from a scalper], 2 shirts, 1 cowbell, 1 cap, 2 padded stadium seats, parking, snacks and drinks at the game, etc.).

And thanks to their unprecedented double-run at top-ranked football, the free advertising both universities are receiving is incalculable. Every televised game is filled with ads (paid for by the academic side) discussing the benefits of studying there, plus all the talking-head discussions throughout the week. Ole Miss will be on Game Day for the second time this season on Saturday.

If you are complaining that people at large are placing too much priority on a game instead of an education, then I agree with you. The fanaticism some people put into such games is beyond ridiculous. But I do not agree that the universities have caused this. It goes way beyond universities into everything from pee-wee to high school to professional sports. I do NOT blame the University system for tapping into that income stream by constructing an expensive stadium and building an expensive athletic program.

[Listener2307]

Originally Posted by jwkilgore

I may agree with or disagree with this statement depending on what you mean.

If you're complaining that the Universities/State is spending too much money on football, then you are wrong. The stadiums are more than paid for in income from the athletic programs. Just this morning, after a debate where I work, I checked resale ticket prices on StubHub. If you want to get into the EggBowl this year it will cost you somewhere between $350 and $11,800 per seat. Parking is extra. I realize those are "scalper" prices and the money isn't going to the Universities, but the fact is that the University was paid in full for all 60,000++ sold-out seats. This applies to every home game for both schools this football season. Plus licensing fees for symbols and wording on cowbells, shirts, stadium seats, and caps. My trip with my son to see MSState whup on Texas A&M cost me about $200. (2x$45 for seats [direct-buy, not from a scalper], 2 shirts, 1 cowbell, 1 cap, 2 padded stadium seats, parking, snacks and drinks at the game, etc.).

And thanks to their unprecedented double-run at top-ranked football, the free advertising both universities are receiving is incalculable. Every televised game is filled with ads (paid for by the academic side) discussing the benefits of studying there, plus all the talking-head discussions throughout the week. Ole Miss will be on Game Day for the second time this season on Saturday.

If you are complaining that people at large are placing too much priority on a game instead of an education, then I agree with you. The fanaticism some people put into such games is beyond ridiculous. But I do not agree that the universities have caused this. It goes way beyond universities into everything from pee-wee to high school to professional sports. I do NOT blame the University system for tapping into that income stream by constructing an expensive stadium and building an expensive athletic program.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...lions/2814455/

The Knight Commission says Division I schools with football spent $91,936 per athlete in 2010, seven times the spending per student of $13,628. Division I universities without football spent $39,201 per athlete, more than triple the average student spending.

The profit is there for the two colleges in question. Not much doubt about it.
But for most colleges, it is simply an added expense. And the students pay the expense.
On top of that, we all talk about the "publicity", but the discussion remains, "publicity for what"? What kind of student will be attracted to Ole Miss and State because of their football success? And - worse yet - how many young high school boys will forgo studying all together in hopes of playing football and being admired for that, and that alone?
The number is not calculable, of course, but it is huge.
High Schools - already doing poorly and out of money - continue to pour money into their football programs. I blame the gutless leaders of the education department, who lack the courage to put a stop to the insanity.

Just 23 of 228 athletics departments at NCAA Division I public schools generated enough money on their own to cover their expenses in 2012. Of that group, 16 also received some type of subsidy — and 10 of those 16 athletics departments received more subsidy money in 2012 than they did in 2011.

[Desert kid]

I'll just pitch in and say Ole Miss.

Awesome campus, and Oxford is such a cool town too!

[UKWildcat1981]

Miss St comes to Lexington with their number one ranking in football this weekend.. GO CATS.. BLUE BIG NATION.. can't wait to meet all the MS St fans thou.. I like them I root for them when they don't play us. If we don't beat them I hope Miss St goes all the way.. I like their QB Dak Prescott.

[NCurbanNative]

I live in NC and am a native of same. I graduated from Ole Miss. Call me biased, but the Ole Miss campus to me, is hands down more beautiful than State. Starkville is just that. (Think about the name of that town). State looks very institutional. You simply cannot compare historic Oxford and the University to a land grant school like State. It would be like comparing UNC-Chapel Hill to NC State. They are simply socially and historically different. As are Ole Miss and MS State.
Ole Miss: Socially acceptable from Belle Meade to Myers Park to Highland Park to South of Broad