1. Cousin looked at playing lacrosse at Duke. I know (albeit through him) of their facilities. They're not better than VT's. He only considered Duke because they win, not because of their facilities. Cameron Indoor is a pretty awful basketball venue, but the program wins! And viola, it's a cool place to see a game. Again, how nice a facility is a subjective data point. Yes, damp basements aside, at some point, it's the VT logo on the carpet versus the UNC logo. I like the VT logo more.
2. Donor support. This one VT lacks. But not to the point where our facilities are garbage, or even close.
3. Need a definition of "Leadership Alliance".
4. Brand recognition. Based on what? Engineering/math/CS degrees from VT or GT hold quite a bit of water in their industries. If it's just pure societal recognition, I would wager the vast majority recognizes the VT logo.
5. Compliance. What ranked 8? Pretty successful products, and the BBall and FBall programs have avoided major scandals. (This doesn't really matter to recruits though).
6. Football success. Need definition. All time or past 5 to 10 years? VT probably slotted well either way.
7. MBB success. VT slotted fairly. But does not affect FB recruiting. See Oregon, FSU, OSU, Clemson.
8. Non revenue sports - VT's successful track and field, wrestling, and recent soccer teams (men's and women's) compel me to rank higher. Don't think this really moves the needle much on recruiting for football though.
9. QOL. Apparently this was written up by a North Carolinian. And you've agreed this one is bogus.