with the SEC schools as the ACC and B1G schools. I think the SEC schools are all better than Louisville. And I don’t think the majority of ACC or B1G schools should be acting academically superior to a bunch of those SEC schools.

I’ll use USNWR as a measuring stick to compare the SEC and ACC, although I hate giving merit to USNWR because their metrics are easily gamed and have very loose statistical analysis in some of their factors in ranking a university. For example, FSU, Clemson and NCSU were all hovering around 100 or so 10 years ago and have mysteriously skyrocketed in the last few years. FSU is now ranked 55 or 20 points higher than Tech and 4 points higher than Pitt. FSU has tied Miami which is amazing to see FSU jump 50+/- points in that ranking system over one decade while other schools move one or two spots every several years. And NCSU and Clemson have caught Tech and Tech stays stagnant and even loses a spot every few years.

But USNWR seems to be what people gravitate toward in ranking a school, so I’ll reluctantly reference them. Referencing the USNWR “standard” the SEC ranks 107 out of 1,625 4-year universities putting them collectively in the in the top 7% of universities in the U.S. The ACC ranks collectively at 55 or close to the top 3%. To me, 3% and 7% are both fairly elite. Sure, the ACC has some snooty schools that are hard to get into, but overall I think using the academic card for university athletics is a very flimsy wet card. Also, I never want to use the “academics and reputation” excuse that UVa, UNC or Duke fans use if we suck at something.