The Princeton Review released their 2013 list of top 10 party schools this past week. West Virginia University tops the list for the third time in the list’s history and the university never strays far off the top five.

One must ask: what makes a college the biggest party school in the country? How do they even begin to rank these schools? Of course, you could argue that they just look at how much beer is consumed on average and how many alcohol related arrests they have, but what else makes this school above the rest?

In WVU’s case, the students set themselves apart from other universities in several ways but the most important one is their school and team spirit. For example, Sept. 24, 2011, College GameDay in Morgantown, W.Va. Students were lined up two days before the game to be front row for ESPN’s crew and to cheer on their Mountaineers.

By noon on game day, almost 25,000 students were crowded around the TV crews, going absolutely nuts. Even though WVU was expected to lose against the undefeated LSU Tigers, it did not matter and students still went crazy. Pictures of this school “partying” are nothing like being in Morgantown for any home game regardless of the sport–or any day of the week for that matter.

Another question to ask is: will this new title effect the way the athletes perform in the upcoming season? The 2012-13 basketball roster is, as always, stocked fully with fresh faces and incoming freshmen. Bob Huggins, WVU’s head coach, has no problem taking chances on up and coming players from across the country and has nine freshmen on the team.

Can these guys handle being a Big 12 athlete and freshmen at the number one party school in the country?