A&M and TCU climb, Baylor and SMU slip in 2018 U.S. News college rankings

Matthew Watkins:

Rice University in Houston is by far the best college in Texas — and the 14th-best school in the nation — according to U.S. News and World Reports’ latest college rankings.

No other Texas universities broke the top 50 of the magazine’s influential rankings.

But five jockeyed for position in spots 50 to 80, including the University of Texas at Austin (second in Texas, 56th overall) and Dallas’ Southern Methodist University (61st overall).

Texas A&M University ranks fourth in the state this year, climbing from 74th in the nation last year to 69th this year. A&M surpassed Baylor University, which fell four spots this year to 75th overall. Texas Christian University climbed from 82nd to 78th in the country this year, and now ranks fifth in Texas.