<p>Atlantic 10.</p>
<p>It’s really a tough call between the top three (Big 10, PAC 10, and ACC)… so I’ve devised a new method to evaluate the overall quality of the conference. </p>
<p>Big 10 rankings:
Northwestern- 12
Michigan- 26
Wisconsin- 35
Illinois- 40
Penn State- 47
Ohio State- 56
Minnesota- 61
Purdue- 66
Iowa- 66
Indiana- 71
Michigan State- 71
Average: 50</p>
<p>PAC 10 rankings:
Stanford- 4
Berkeley- 21
UCLA- 25
USC- 27
Washington- 41
Arizona- 96
Oregon- 108
Washington State- 116
Arizona State- 121
Oregon State- Not ranked in top 130, so we’ll say 131
Average: 69</p>
<p>ACC Rankings:
Duke- 8
Virginia- 23
Wake Forest- 28
UNC- 30
BC- 34
GA Tech- 35
Miami- 51
Maryland- 53
Clemson- 61
VA Tech- 71
North Carolina State- 83
Florida State- 102
Average: 48</p>
<p>ACC- 48
Big 10- 50
PAC 10- 69</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m bored.</p>
<p>As far as DIII is concerned, I think this award undoubtedly goes to the UAA aka “Nerdy Nine,” consisting of:</p>
<p>U.S. News rank in ()</p>
<p>UChicago (8)
WUSTL (12)
Emory (18)
Carnegie Mellon (22)
Brandeis (31)
NYU (33)
Rochester (35)
Case Western (41)</p>
<p>(the ninth being Hopkins…not sure why they left, but I’m assuming it’s something with lacrosse).</p>
<p>Good Job, AT9!! Since you are bored, why don’t you do one based on the PA scores?! I don’t have access to usnews; otherwise, I would!!</p>
<p>Also, in terms of Academic, UChicago is still part of Big Ten (CIC), which should bring the ave. down to 47 (46.5). And in the event that Notre Dame joins Big Ten (Big Ten Expansion?), the conference ave. according to your method would also be 47 (47.4).</p>
<p>Notre Dame isn’t joining any conference.</p>
<p>“Notre Dame isn’t joining any conference.”</p>
<p>Perhaps, but its faculties voted otherwise back in '98. :P</p>
<p>Why isn’t the Big East in this conversation? While I agree that the Ivy, the Patriot, and the ACC trump it, it can certainly hold its own against the Big 10 or Pac 10. Look at the rankings of the Big East schools:</p>
<p>Notre Dame (18)
Georgetown (23)
Villanova (1) (Master’s East)
Syracuse (53)
Providence College (3) (Master’s East)
Pitt (58)
Rutgers (64)
UConn (66)
Marquette (77)
And the rest are tier 3’s</p>
<p>That’s more schools in the top 100 than the Pac 10 (With 6) and although the Big 10 has all 11 of its schools in the top 100, previous posts have indicated there’s debate whether its even better than the Pac 10. So, go Big East!</p>
<p>The Big East does have it’s share of good schools, but I don’t think it quite competes with the Big 10… all 11 of the schools are ranked not only in the top 100, but in the top 71. That’s something that not even the ACC can claim. I think the Big East is a great conference, but the fact that it has more than one tier three school brings it down a notch. Remember, we’re talking about the conference as a whole, not the best schools in the conference.</p>
<p>Hopkins plays DI lacrosse</p>
<p>well most of the Big 10 schools with the exception of Michigan are clustered together in the 40s - 70s section of the National University rankings for US News.</p>
<p>for the ACC there are some really good schools like Duke, UVA and UNC, some good schools like Clemson, Miami, and VT and some not as good schools like Florida State.</p>
<p>So in fact the Big 10 and ACC are about the same except the Big 10 schools are more “clustered” in the same ranking area while the ACC is more spread out.</p>
<p>With the exception of Northwestern (private), all of the Big Ten institutions are ranked within TOP 30 Public Universities in the nation by USNews!!</p>
<p>Link: [Best</a> Colleges - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/national-top-public]Best”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/national-top-public)</p>
<p>^ That’s impressive! But between the ACC and Big 10, I’d still give a (very) slight edge to the ACC. However, depending on the rankings that come out next year, there could be a significant shift. FSU (ACC) made a 10 spot jump last time from 112 to 102… but on the other hand, Minnesota (Big 10) also made a 10 point jump from 71 to 61, which is even more impressive. So it will be interesting to see which conference improves the most.</p>
<p>Outside of the Ivy League, the NESCAC is clearly the best academic conference in the country: Williams; Amherst; Bowdoin; Middlebury; Wesleyan; Tufts; Hamilton; Colby; Bates; Trinity; and Connecticut College. Dlll, true, but the academics can’t be beat</p>
<p>This has been already done ad nauseum.</p>
<p>Basically the arguments go:</p>
<p>Big10 - from top to bottom is the strongest overall</p>
<p>Pac10 - has the highest ranked private and public universities in Stanford and UCB</p>
<p>ACC - is the strongest at the top-half (note that the ACC has the most no. of private universities out of the major conferences).</p>
<p>sidperson, they may have some competition from the D3 UAA (according to tall saint)</p>
<p>UChicago
WUSTL
Emory
Carnegie Mellon
Brandeis
NYU
Rochester
Case Western</p>
<p>Not going to rank according to the entire student body, but until recently, the Ivy and Patriot leagues were the only D1 conferences not to award athletic scholarships. This is still the case for the Ivies and for football in the Patriot, so as far as the athletes on the football field, it’s likely that the players in a Patriot league football game are brighter than in any other conference, save the Ivies. John Feinstein wrote a book, The Last Amateurs, about these student-athletes playing basketball in the Patriot league.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Point taken about the Patriot League where most sports still are non-scholarship participation. However, basketball is no longer one of them.</p>
<p>Harvard’s new need-based financial aid policy effectively is giving out athletic scholarhships now for many of their athletes: The “Zero to 10 Percent Standard”: Harvard’s new financial aid policy dramatically reduces the amount families with incomes below $180,000 will be expected to pay. Families with incomes above $120,000 and below $180,000 and with assets typical for these income levels will be asked to pay 10 percent of their incomes. For those with incomes below $120,000, the family contribution percentage will decline steadily from 10 percent, reaching zero for those with incomes at $60,000 and below.</p>
<p>
Haha!</p>
<p>Big Ten gets penalized for too many players on the field. 
So, it’s a tie. </p>
<p><em>I agree though that Big Ten top to bottom is the best</em></p>
<p>Best academics is Ivy in a landslide.</p>
<p>Next up would probably be Pac-10. I mean it has Stanford, Berkeley, and a host of other impressive UCs…</p>