"Smartest" NCAA Division 1-A Conference?

Student Lounge College Life
21

<p>The WCC isn't D-IA. For clarification, the NCAA Division I-A conferences are:</p>

<ul>
<li>Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)</li>
<li>Big East Conference</li>
<li>Big Ten Conference</li>
<li>Big 12 Conference</li>
<li>Conference USA (C-USA)</li>
<li>Mid-American Conference (MAC)</li>
<li>Mountain West Conference (MWC)</li>
<li>Pacific Ten Conference (PAC 10)</li>
<li>Southeastern Conference (SEC)</li>
<li>Sun Belt Conference</li>
<li>Western Athletic Conference (WAC)</li>
</ul>

22

<p>The WCC is Division 1-A for all sports except football.</p>

23

<p>If you look at the total university--ug, grad, research etc. It comes down to Pac 10-Big 10 with Big 10 ahead.</p>

24

<p>The Ivy League is 1-A except for football. To give you some idea, Harvard has forty 1-A sports and only one 1-AA.</p>

25

<p>
[quote]
The WCC is Division 1-A for all sports except football.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>
[quote]
The Ivy League is 1-A except for football. To give you some idea, Harvard has forty 1-A sports and only one 1-AA.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>division 1-a does not exist for any sport that is not football; its just division 1. therefore, neither the wcc nor the ivy league have division 1-a programs.</p>

<p>that said, the original question is an interesting one. as has been mentioned, the pac 10 and big 10 are miles ahead of any other conference in terms of the overall quality of their graduate programs. in fact, both the pac 10 and big 10 have more nrc top 20 graduate programs than the other four major division 1-a conferences... combined. </p>

<p>does this dominance translate to undergraduate supremacy as well? probably not, but thats a debate with no clear answers. my personal opinion? it doesnt; and as such, the acc, with its relatively greater undergraduate focus, deserves consideration as well.</p>