The Upset: Unlikely Sports Success And Its Effect On Incoming Student Quality And Quantity

The role of college athletics in the University system has long been a topic of interest. Previous studies have addressed the effects of general success in athletics on incoming student quantity and quality at a university, finding that there is some positive correlation. This study focuses on a specific type of sports success, an upset, and attempts to explain its effects on the quantity and quality of incoming students. This research suggests a strong positive correlation between upset wins and the quantity of incoming students. This study does not find any statistically significant correlation between an upset and the incoming student quality at a University. These findings suggest that prospective students perceive a University’s athletics program as a form of signal regarding the quality of the institution.