So. it turns out college students DO drink more during football games

According to a study from the University of Texas at Austin (also known as the flagship), "College students drink larger amounts of alcohol on football game days, comparable to well-known drinking days such as New Year's Eve and Halloween. . . ." What do you know? I am not terribly surprised or impressed. Of course, there is always a catch:

"The researchers found students were especially likely to drink more during high-profile games against conference or national rivals. However, the increased drinking rates only occurred when students were on campus. For instance, drinking levels were high for the 2005 regular-season Ohio State game, but were relatively low for games against rival Texas A&M (played during Thanksgiving break) and both Rose Bowl games, including the national championship (played during the semester break)." (emphasis is mine.)

Sure, drinking is not as high on campus when the students are not there. Really? I wonder why that could be. It might not be because they are drinking someplace else, could it? Or, to be more optimistic, they may be drinking less if they went home for the holidays, and they can't drink at home. Although, they could be drinking at home, but that would not matter to the study since they are not on campus. I cannot help but wonder who paid to have this study done, let alone how much it actually cost.

A hat tip to the Bold Types blog.