Obviously, there is no single best sport at the University of Louisiana Monroe. The word “best” can be defined in various ways, such as athletic achievement, academic success or being the most popular.

The sport with the most athletic success is ULM’s water ski team. They hold 29 national championships, which makes them the most successful water ski team in the history of collegiate water skiing. With little athletic success in ULM’s history in other sports, the water ski team is carrying a lot of weight.

In the academic realm, women’s golf, beach volleyball, and men’s cross-country lead the way in the fall of ‘24. All of ULM’s sports did very well last year on the academic side, with all 404 student-athletes combining for a GPA of 3.461. An interesting fact about college student-athletes is that bowlers are the smartest athletes in every sport.

If we were to go by popularity, the best sport would obviously be football. Right behind them, though, are women’s basketball and soccer. One of the biggest things that drives football to be the most popular sport is its large tailgating atmosphere and dedicated fanbase. Nothing beats waking up on a fall Saturday and knowing you are about to go tailgate with all your friends and watch your favorite football team defend its home turf.

Many factors go into deciding what the best sport is at ULM. If you want to be the best sport, then you need to have all three attributes. In my opinion, football is the best sport that ULM has to offer in terms of what the team means to the student body. Basketball would be a close second when it comes to my own enjoyment.

In terms of which sport meets all three standards, the water ski team is the objectively best sport. With all their athletic success, as well as a 3.891 GPA – which is over 0.4 points higher than the football team—this was an easy decision.