Philosophical Gourmet Report's Top 10 Philosophy Departments in the U.S.

In order, best first:

1. New York University

2. Rutgers University

3. University of Michigan and Princeton University (tie)

5. University of Pittsburgh

6. Stanford University

7. Harvard, M.I.T. and U.C.L.A. (tie)

10. University of North Carolina and Columbia University

"In 1989, a Ph.D. candidate named Brian Leiter assembled a list of the best graduate programs in philosophy, in his opinion, as a guide for applicants. Now the Philosophical Gourmet Report is an influential biennial ranking of the nation's top 50 programs, based on assessments of their faculty by 300 academics," wrote the New York Times in an item in its Education Life supplement of November 5, 2006.

It's much easier to get big fast in philosophy than in, say, football: the University of Miami jumped from 46 in 2002 to 32 in the soon-to-be-released 2006-2008 standings as a result of hiring away superstar Colin McGinn from Rutgers.

Tell you what: if Miami isn't careful and current trends continue, their philosophy department will be ranked higher than their football team.

Who'd a thunk it?