First Tier New Mexico

God I love rankings season.  It's something of a truism that as the number of rankings with "new" and "better" criteria approaches infinity, the odds of any given school being able to claim top-tier status approaches 100%.

Consider the hot new ATL rankings.  Somehow, the minds at the ATL thinktank came up with a way to take the mostly-bogus numbers provided by law schools and develop a rankings system that places Villanova as the 38th-best law school in America.  I mean, Akron and Tulsa in the top fifty, that's not shabby.  But Villanova - I mean, Villafuckingnova! - in the top forty is icing on a delicious piece of scamcake.

Another key finding is that New Mexico - fyi, that's the state between Arizona and Texas - has the 18th best law school in America.  It's higher than UCLA, Georgetown, Boston U., North Carolina, Georgia, and tons of other schools.

And of course the school knows it:

 “We’re delighted to receive this recognition of our program and to be in the very good company of Northwestern (No. 13), Vanderbilt (No. 15), and Boston College (No. 16),” said Hannah Farrington, UNM School of Law assistant dean, Advancement.

No need to mention the august company of University of Iowa (No. 17), of course.

While only 71st in the U.S. News Rankings, New Mexico's rapid ascension into the top 20 of the ATL rankings shows a first-class school to be reckoned with, or possibly one high on Heisenberg's Blue Sky methamphetamine.  Unlike Blue Sky, though, New Mexico's status as an elite law school is scientifically possible and totally real.

Maybe if graduates can't cut it in Nebraska, they can now head to New Mexico as well.