Just wait until next year. Academics and athletic directors have the same approach to this year’s rankings: There’s always next year.

The Financial Times annually ranks the top 100 business schools worldwide. This year’s rankings came out Tuesday, and Harvard topped the list. Out of the top ten, eight are in the US, one is in the UK (London Business School), and one is in France, with a branch in Singapore (Insead).

UNC’s Kenan– Flagler Business School leads the South at number 17, and Duke was next in line at 18. UVA was 20 and Emory, 27.

In 2003, USC was 45, moving up to 36 last year. This year, USC is ranked 78, a drop in prestige of over 50%, arguably. For a three–year average (2003–4–5), USC sits at 53 out of 100 worldwide.

How does USC’s Moore School of Business go from 36th in the world to 78th in two years? Dean Joel Smith probably hasn’t done a whole lot that is different over the past two years. Ordinarily, that’s the same as saying nothing wrong is being done. It’s just that business schools operate in a hotly contested environment hustling the best students, and change is the norm.