MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- West Virginia University has crashed another list of the top party schools in the nation.

Playboy magazine has ranked WVU the country's second-best party school, behind only the University of Texas at Austin. The list was released Friday.

Last year, WVU ranked 10th in the Playboy rankings. WVU also regularly ranks among the top party schools on an annual list released by the Princeton Review. The Morgantown school was sixth on that list in 2009, fourth in 2008 and first in 2007.

The editors at Playboy look at different schools across the country and try to find the ones that have the full package: great sports, school pride, beautiful girls, cool bars, and party skills and reputation, said Steve Mazeika, a junior publicist at the magazine.

"Each school on the list was chosen by our editors with input from our campus reps, models, photographers, online voters and student readers," he said. "We try to measure things in a comprehensive manner in order to determine which schools deserve to be honored."

Why did WVU jump eight spots in the Playboy rankings?

"There's not much to do in Morgantown -- except party, study and ignite furniture," according to the magazine. "Seriously. Scott, a freshman, tells us: 'The tailgating at our women's soccer games beats tailgating at most other schools.'

"Another frosh, Jakes, claims, 'We drink two percent of all the world's beer.' We believe you guys, but please put down the lighters and step away from the Barcalounger."

WVU didn't grace the Playboy pages for any of the 'Best in Class' prizes, which include best college sports bar, hottest cheerleaders and best radio station, but that doesn't matter to some students.

Not everyone at WVU is pleased with the Playboy acclaim.

Tom Sloane, senior associate dean for WVU's Office of Student Life, said the list is something the school would rather not be a part of.

"There are so many other qualities and programs where we are ranked in other areas," Sloane said. "We have a wonderful forensics program, our engineering program is top notch. We've got Goldwater and Truman scholars among others, so this is a list we would rather not be on."

Sloane said no one really knows how the lists are determined, and that students shouldn't put stock in a school based on an arbitrary ranking. However, he did say it is a bit troubling that Playboy thought it was necessary to latch on to WVU's infamous reputation of setting couches on fire.

"Our perception can become reality, but this is a perception people have, and it wasn't developed overnight," he said. The university has done much to deter that form of student behavior, including starting events like WVU All Night and FallFest.

"Faculty and staff and the student government have worked so hard to bring out the good parts of this university," he said. "[The Playboy ranking] is not one of those things, in my mind, anyone should be proud of."

Sloane also pointed out that most of the schools on the list, including WVU, the University of Iowa and the University of Miami, are big state schools that have not only top-notch faculty, researchers, programs and academics, but also successful Division I athletics.

Reach Kathryn Gregory at kathr...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5119.