Kate Upton wasn’t on the cover of the 2014 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue — she was on the back. But, with all due respect to Chrissy Teigen, Nina Agdal, and Lily Aldridge, she could have been, and it would have been great. She graced SI‘s highest selling cover in 2012 and 2013, showing some of the smallest amount of swimsuit in the issue’s five-decade-long history. In fact, for SCIENCE, and definitely not for fun, let’s rank the evolution of the swimsuit covers, minus this year’s, from most to least amount of actual swimsuit.
Again, for science.
#50. 1970
#49. 1972
#48. 1991
#47. 1977
#46. 1965
#45. 1971
#44. 1983
#43. 1998
#42. 1990
#41. 1982
#40. 1979
#39. 1969
#38. 1988
#37. 1984
#36. 1987
#35. 1995
#34. 1964
#33. 1976
#32. 1986
#31. 1967
#30. 1978
#29. 1993
#28. 1974
#27. 1973
#26. 1999
#25. 1968
#24. 1994
#23. 1996
#22. 1989
#21. 1992
#20. 1975
#19. 1980
#18. 2007
#17. 2002
#16. 1966
#15. 2001
#14. 2011
#13. 1985
#12. 1997
#11. 2005
#10. 2009
#9. 2003
#8. 1981
#7. 2010
#6. 2012
#5. 2013
#4. 2000
#3. 2008
#2. 2004
#1. 2006
