West Lafayette ranked worst Big Ten college town
West Lafayette receives seven last-place votes by BTN, ESPN and other sports analysts; Bloomington ranked fifth.
Purdue University's inferiority complex just got a little bigger.
The website athlonsports.com polled 10 Big Ten Network and ESPN analysts, among other sports experts, to rank the best college towns in the Big Ten.
And Purdue — participating in one of the most competitive college conferences — just can't ever seem to win.
West Lafayette was ranked the worst college town, receiving seven last-place votes.
"It's one of the smallest towns on this list at under 50,000 residents. There isn't a whole lot to do, both indoors or out other than the Lafayette Brewery and the Wabash River," according to the website. "If you like brick and Greek parties, then this is your place. Otherwise, continue down I-65 to Indy or Chi-town."
It's hard to rank West Lafayette, however, without accounting for its counterpart across the river.
The Greater Lafayette area received a more favorable ranking last year in bestcollegereviews.org's list of the 50 best college towns in America. Lafayette was ranked the 33rd best town, three spots ahead of rival Bloomington.
"Lafayette is home to Harrison College and Purdue University, around much of town life and economy revolves," according to the website. "Purdue has the 3rd largest Greek System in the US, meaning there's always a social or outreach event going on."
The rankings
See how the rest of the Big Ten college towns stack up:
1. Madison, Wisconsin (University of Wisconsin)
2. Ann Arbor, Michigan (University of Michigan)
3. State College, Pennsylvania (Penn State University)
4. Columbus, Ohio (Ohio State University)
5. Bloomington, Indiana (Indiana University)
6. Iowa City, Iowa (University of Iowa)
7. Evanston, Illinois (Northwestern University)
8. East Lansing, Michigan (Michigan State University)
9. Minneapolis, Minnesota (University of Minnesota)
10. Lincoln, Nebraska (University of Nebraska)
11. College Park, Maryland (University of Maryland)
12. Champaign, Illinois (University of Illinois)
13. Piscataway, New Jersey (Rutgers University)
14. West Lafayette, Indiana (Purdue University)