fball_MSU_tailgating07_1821

Regent Street in Madison, near Camp Randall Stadium, before a Wisconsin football game.

(Univ. of Wisconsin/Jeff Miller)

I am reflexively skeptical of internet rankings, particularly ones that take a complex issue and distill it to a list using just a few data components. But I have to say, one I ran across this morning holds the ring of truth, at least in my experience gathering anecdotal evidence from tailgate sites around the Big Ten.

The takeaway: Wisconsin folks like their alcohol.

Not huge news, I know. But that's the inescapable conclusion from a data crunch done by the Delaware-based 24/7 Wall St content churner based on stats collected by County Health Rankings and Roadmaps. It is, in turn, a collaborative effort of the Princeton, N.J.-based Robert Wood Johnson Foundation public health initiative and the University of Wisconsin.

Fifteen of the communities listed in the top 20 rated for binge and or heavy drinking are found within the Big Ten footprint, all 15 of them in the West Division states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska. Three of them are Big Ten campus towns - Madison, Iowa City and Lincoln. Two other major-university campus towns are in the top 20 - Corvalis, Ore., and Ames, Iowa.

But Wisconsin burgs lead the way with 12 of the top 20 heavy-drinking metro areas including a sweep of the top 4 led by Appleton, Wisc.

The data is self-reported. So, it's dependent upon the frankness of the respondents and the diligence of survey takers. You might also conclude that Wisconsinites are simply more open and honest about their propensity to drink heavily.

For whatever reason, there also tends to be a slant toward communities in the upper Midwest and away from western Appalachia, which contains some of the poorest communities (Tennessee and Kentucky in particular). They are listed among the driest communities. I don't know if I buy that.

Anyway, here's the list link. Draw your own conclusions.