Syracuse students listen to Coldplay, Jack Johnson and Sublime, survey says

Though you may think it easy to spot a Jack Johnson fan via his flip-flops or a Sublime listener via her penchant for Rastafarian colors, one researcher has shown that all you need to do is look at SAT scores. That's his plan, anyway.

According to data pulled in by tech entrepreneur Virgil Griffith, students at Syracuse University enjoy listening to Coldplay, Jack Johnson and Sublime the most -- at least, that's what their test scores would suggest.

Here's how he came to such a conclusion.

Griffith, a former scientist at the California Institute of Technology, looked at the average SAT scores of 1,352 colleges in the United States. He examined which musical artists the students at those schools had "liked" on Facebook and took the top choice from each. Using that kind of scientific precision, Griffith was able to conclude that students at Caltech, who had an average SAT score of 1520, liked Radiohead the most -- thereby making the unscientifically supported leap that those who like Radiohead are actually the smartest.

Students who preferred the pop stylings of Beyoncé or the hip-hop musings of Lil Wayne or Jay-Z, however, tended to score lower on their tests -- a staggering result that's effectively the faux-scientific equivalent of 2deep4u, man.

Griffith also ranked each school's top 10 liked musical artists. For Caltech, Pink Floyd and Coldplay were just behind Radiohead. For Syracuse students, who Griffith found to have an average SAT score of 1225, The Beatles and Billy Joel rounded out the top five. Pink Floyd, John Mayer, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Killers and Radiohead all followed in the top 10.

As tenuous as these results may be, Griffith's research has made one thing abundantly clear: American college kids really like Radiohead. And if you have a problem with that, maybe this guy needs to set you straight.