In the September 2010 edition of U.S. News & World Report, the college rankings for best regional U.S. universities were unveiled.

If you are looking at colleges in the southern region of the U.S., you may be interested to see which colleges rank the best.

While the official rankings list the top 46 universities in the southern region of the United States, I have only included the top 20 universities in the Southern United States.

You will notice that there are some ties, which resulted in multiple universities having the same rank.

Here is the list of the top 20 best national universities in the southern region of the United States, according to U.S. News & World Report:

1. Rollins College
2. Elon University
3. James Madison University
3. Stetson University
5. Belmont University
6. The Citadel
7. Loyola University New Orleans
8. Mercer University
9. Appalachian State University
10. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
11. College of Charleston
12. Bellarmine University
13. University of Mary Washington
13. University of N.C. – Wilmington
15. Converse College
15. Union University
17. Spring Hill College
18. Lipscomb University
18. Queens University of Charlotte
20. Harding University