Maybe Sports Illustrated On Campus figured that since it was its first issue, a little office joke was in order.

The On Campus edition of the renowned sporting magazine compiled a report of the “Best of College 2005” in its opening issue, which can be found at the Campus Recreation Center.

The list gives SI’s top choice for everything from best locker room to best stadium party. Maybe the writers felt sorry for MAC schools and decided to give them a nod. Or maybe they’re just ignorant. Maybe they just thought it was funny and no one would notice.

Whatever the reason, SI picked Ball State as the school with the “Best Seats: In the House.”

What? No Michigan? No Ohio State? What about Alabama or Tennessee? No. Ball State beats them all, SI says.

SI’s rationale is that Ball State allows a few “lucky” fans to sit in the Cardinal south end zone in recliners with pizza and soda.

Please. Ball State’s stadium is so small it’s more comparable to high-school bleachers than a Division I football stadium – a recliner can’t make it anything close to having the best seat in the nation.

Even kickin’ back in a recliner, what’s the point of watching a team that went 2-9 last season, anyway?

Perhaps the writers’ logic was that since so many seats were vacant last season, the odds of getting the recliners were pretty high.

The Cardinals are in the process of renovating their stadium to include 25,400 seats in a horseshoe. If they want to fill them, maybe they should have all the seats in the place recline.

If anything, Ball State should have been awarded “Worst Press Box.” The cramped press area is a claustrophobic nightmare: It’s like putting a bunch of journalists in a tight hallway with a few chairs in front of a glass window. To top that off, they don’t even serve food. Only popcorn.

Maybe they use all of it for the duo relaxing in the end zone.

It’s obvious SI didn’t do its research on the article. In fact, they’ve probably never been to Muncie, Ind.

While Huskie Stadium may not be deserving of SI’s award, its atmosphere certainly beats Ball State. In fact, almost any school in the MAC beats Ball State. Perhaps the lure of recliners attracted Ball State’s 17,490 to their home opener against conference rival Bowling Green.

The Cardinals boasted the tenth-best (or third to last, if you’re a pessimist) attendance in the MAC last year, averaging 14,300 fans. The Huskies had the top attendance with 27,052. Some comparison.

Huskie Stadium is louder, has a better atmosphere and easily has better seats than Ball State – even the recliners.

And it even has a better press box.