ABC Blog

ABC News On Campus reporter Lindsay Clein blogs:

In the past few years, The University of Florida has taken the title as No.1 in more than just football and basketball.

It was also ranked as the No.1 party school in America by the Princeton Review for the 2008-2009 school year.

This year, however, the formerly ranked third-place Penn State Nittany Lions are climbing to the top to claim the No.1 party school title.

"It's colder at Penn State, so they get stuck inside partying and drinking all day," Evan Locker, a University of Florida senior, said of the results. "Put us in 20-degree weather and make a new list."

And Florida fell to No.2.

"We at Florida aren't used to being in second place," University of Florida senior Scott Garfinkel said. "It must be a mistake in the rankings."

The Princeton Review bases its "top 20 party schools" list from a combination of survey questions concerning the use of alcohol and drugs, hours of study each day, and the popularity of the Greek system.

The most recent school year rankings were based on a survey from about 122,000 students at 366 schools and appears in The Princeton Review's book titled, "The Best 371 Colleges."

Also on the top 20 party list:

University of Mississippi, University of Georgia, Ohio University, West Virginia University, University of Texas, University of Wisconsin, Florida State University, University of California-Santa Barbara, University of Colorado, University of Iowa, Union College, Indiana University, DePauw University, University of Tennessee, Sewanee: The University of the South, University of North Dakota, Tulane University and Arizona State University.

While students may be disappointed that they can no longer call UF the top party school, some faculty and staff are relieved.

“We've been dealing with this for years and we dread this every year because we know we are going to get a lot of attention we don't really want," Steve Orlando, associate director of the University of Florida News Bureau said. "You just have to take it with a grain of salt and a sense of humor because it's not scientific."

Although Penn State may have stolen the thunder on the list, Florida students are still confident that their school is the best.

"Just wait until we win another national championship," UF Senior Lauren Domene said. "Then we'll see who's No.1."