<p>O.k. i know this will start alot of debate, but in my opinion the ACC is probably the second best athletic conference academically(behind the Ivy League). It is also, in my opinion, the best athletic conference.</p>
<li>Duke</li>
<li>Uva</li>
<li>Wake</li>
<li>Unc</li>
<li>Gatech</li>
<li>Boston College(next year)</li>
</ol>
<p>All excellent schools academically with highly competitive athletic teams.</p>
<p>You omitted a few other schools and especially Virginia Tech. I am sure omitting Va. Tech was merely an oversight.</p>
<p>As you might guess, I'd argue that the Pac-10 holds that honor. </p>
<ol>
<li>Cal</li>
<li>Stanfurd</li>
<li>UCLA</li>
<li>UCSD</li>
<li>USC</li>
<li>University of Washington</li>
</ol>
<p>If only we could get Caltech to join!</p>
<p>Personally, I think NESCAC wins out.</p>
<ol>
<li>Amherst</li>
<li>Williams</li>
<li>Bowdoin</li>
<li>Middlebury</li>
<li>Wesleyan</li>
<li>Tufts U.</li>
<li>Colby Col.</li>
<li>Hamilton</li>
<li>Bates Col.</li>
<li>Trinity</li>
</ol>
<p>They're all really, really good schools.</p>
<p>the Pac-10 could rival the ACC academically but probably not athletically. The NESCAC is composed of very prestigious LACs, but i don't think they compete 1A.</p>
<p>Pac 10 hands down</p>
<p>Umm... UCSD isn't in the Pac 10...</p>
<p>I'll vote for the ACC. </p>
<p>(I'm going to ignore the D3 - 90% LAC NESCAC conference for simplicity).</p>
<p>
[quote]
the Pac-10 could rival the ACC academically but probably not athletically
[/quote]
Athletically (unless you're talking basketball), the Pac-10 as a whole is the most dominant league in the NCAA. UCLA has won the most national titles by any athletic program, while Stanford holds it's own as well; they have won the past 10 Athletic Director's Cups, which is given to the most successful college athletic program every year. Overall, the Pac-10 is definitely more competitive athletically than the ACC. In my opinion the Pac-10 schools win out academically as well, with schools the caliber of Berkeley, Stanford, and UCLA.</p>
<p>NESCAC is a DIII league, but they still are crazy good at sports too. Williams wins the DIII director's cups most years, and Middlebury and Bowdoin field some of the best hockey teams in the nation every year.</p>
<p>The bottom of the ACC isn't that bad at the bottom (only Florida State isn't that strong).</p>
<p>After the top 6, the ACC still has Maryland, Miami (FL), Va Tech, and NC State to go along with Florida State.</p>
<p>Look at the Pac 10 ... Washington State, the two Oregon schools, and the two Arizona schools are probably behind pretty much the entire ACC except for maybe Florida State. And if you want to go by USNews, the entire ACC is ranked above those 5 schools, with the exception of Florida State being behind U. of Arizona.</p>
<p>Their pretty much even for the top 5, but then the ACC runs away with it.</p>
<p>There is NO way you can make an argument that the pac-10 is better than the ACC athletically, that is absolutely absurd.</p>
<p>Basketball:</p>
<p>UCLA may have been good in the past but the key word is PAST. Even so UCLA is pretty much it, although Stanford occasionally is competitive.</p>
<p>UNC won the NCAA championship this year!
Maryland won a few years back.
Duke won in 1991, 1992, 2001(i think those were the years)
Gatech was in champ game 2 yrs. ago.
Duke- coach K.(3 nat'l champ.)
Carolina- Dean Smith(2 nat'l champ.)
Wake, State, and gatech are all highly competitive year after year </p>
<p>Football:</p>
<p>1.Miami, Florida State, Vatech(All top ranked year after year in football)
2. Maryland, and UVA!!!!!</p>
<p>Note: i am considering the two most watched sports when evaluating.</p>
<p>Pac 10 football isn't very good at all outside of USC and Cal, and Cal could very well be heading back down to normalcy without Rodgers, Arrington, Lyman, MacArthur, and Cross. That's all their top skill players from last year.</p>
<p>Lol, I guess you can make the argument of the ACC being the best athletic league when you pick and choose down to two sports(basketball, it is unquestionably the champ, not the case in football). But if you ever want to acknowledge the presence of the other dozen or so sports that are played in the NCAA, the Pac-10 wins hands down.</p>
<p>The UAA has:</p>
<p>Brandeis
Carnegie Mellon
Case Western
Emory
NYU
U Chicago
U Rochester
WUSTL</p>
<p>ACE, you honestly believe the Pac 10 is better in football? Who is going to be that good outside of USC this year? We're talking league here. Arizona State should be good. That very well could be it. </p>
<p>But anyways, the point of this thread was academically the best conference.</p>
<p>Never said the Pac-10 was better in football. The ACC is obviously not the most competitive football league either(the big XII, sec, AND big ten would have something to say about that). The case for the Pac-10 not being the best overall athletic conference is weak, however(considering the stature of Stanford's and UCLA's athletic programs alone).</p>
<p>not transferrable: we arent considering D-III conferences. None of those places are athletic schools. </p>
<p>I think you guys are overlooking the Pac-10 a little bit. Northwestern and U-Mich are obviously the two best schools academically in it, but Wisconsin is a great school too. Athletically, your in general always going to have an excellent football team out of Michigan, MSU, Penn State, even sometimes Northwestern and Minnesota.
Basketball - Illinois went to the nat'l championship last year, theyll be as good or better this year. I dont think there is a more famous or fabled basketball program than Michigan, although they suck lately. </p>
<p>Obviously the Pac-10 is an amazing athletic conference, so is the ACC. Ranking by academics, I'd have to put the Pac-10 first. </p>
<p>Its interesting how they alligned themselves very similarly, one great private school (northwestern, stanford, duke) and a few great public schools (michigan, wisconsin, cal, UCLA, UVA, wake) and then some not so great schools that still have great athletics (arizona, oregon state, michigan state, florida state, clemson)</p>
<p>come to think of it, the ivies are similar, a few great schools (HYP) some okay ones (penn, columbia, ) and some that are only known about because they are in teh same conference (cornell, brown, dartmouth)</p>
<p>:) ok that was my jab at the brown losers for the day, im done now i swear.</p>
<p>the only difference is that cornell,brown and dartmouth are better than even the most highly rated schools in all the other conferences.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I dont think there is a more famous or fabled basketball program than Michigan
[/quote]
UCLA? Kentucky? UNC-CH? Indiana? Michigan's basketball program is more famous for the Chris Webber incident rather than their competitiveness.</p>
<p>
[quote]
the only difference is that cornell,brown and dartmouth are better than even the most highly rated schools in all the other conferences
[/quote]
Stanford, Duke, Berkeley, Michigan, Northwestern, Virginia, UCLA</p>
<p>
[quote]
Stanford, Duke, Berkeley, Michigan, Northwestern, Virginia, UCLA
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Stanford is the ONLY school from that list that is a consensus "better" school than Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell. As for the rest? I'd take D/B/C any day of the week over any combination of the above (sans Stanford).</p>
<p>Frankly, that list (sans Stanford) is merely a public U "best of" + Ivy wannabe of the South (Duke) and Midwest (Northwestern) - heck you might as well complete the trifecta and throw in the Ivy wannabe of the Southwest (Rice) while you're at it.</p>
<p><em>puts on flame proof suit and awaits the expectant barrage of insults</em></p>