A ranking of conferences by academics

 
My vote goes to the Ivy league for the best, but the Big 10 certainly upped its ranking with the addition of the California schools.
 
I give a damn as this is COLLEGE football and not representing a state/area football which some areas of the country think it is. When this thing started back in the late 19th century it was an outlet for the boys at elite eastern finishing schools to blow off some steam, eventually in the early part of the 20th century it morphed into the 1st big national team sport that was not baseball with an emphasis on ideals of the college. That is how you get winning programs in the early growth years like the discipline and focus of the service academies, boot strap immigrants of Notre Dame, and the pre-professional "Men" at public Ivies like Michigan. Sometime right after WW II is when it became something of a Regional contest between states, especially for the folks on the West Coast who were gaining population and had no MLB teams and more importantly in the South where they wanted an identity outlet for their apartheid style of life. This thinking stuck with the sport and was manifested by conference affiliation and bowl performance.

Now the above has been thrown out of the window with conference realignment and it maybe time to go back to a more "ideals" based system which is what the B1G is using to sell their money grab. Unlike the other sports it is tough for a teen to jump right into the big league, I believe we should use some sort of academy or minor league system for the NFL as opposed to a fake one based in some of the best academic colleges in the country. Nobody else in the world uses Universities as a farm system for their pro sports teams, maybe they have it right? The free education was always used as a selling point of compensation to the athlete by those that were more aligned with the old school thinking, if that is the case academics should especially be relevant.
 
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Auggie said:
I give a damn as this is COLLEGE football and not representing a state/area football which some areas of the country think it is. When this thing started back in the late 19th century it was an outlet for the boys at elite eastern finishing schools to blow off some steam, eventually in the early part of the 20th century it morphed into the 1st big national team sport that was not baseball with an emphasis on ideals of the college. That is how you get winning programs in the early growth years like the discipline and focus of the service academies, boot strap immigrants of Notre Dame, and the pre-professional "Men" at public Ivies like Michigan. Sometime right after WW II is when it became something of a Regional contest between states, especially for the folks on the West Coast who were gaining population and had no MLB teams and more importantly in the South where they wanted an identity outlet for their apartheid style of life. This thinking stuck with the sport and was manifested by conference affiliation and bowl performance.

Now the above has been thrown out of the window with conference realignment and it maybe time to go back to a more "ideals" based system which is what the B1G is using to sell their money grab. Unlike the other sports it is tough for a teen to jump right into the big league, I believe we should use some sort of academy or minor league system for the NFL as opposed to a fake one based in some of the best academic colleges in the country. Nobody else in the world uses Universities as a farm system for their pro sports teams, maybe they have it right? The free education was always used as a selling point of compensation to the athlete by those that were more aligned with the old school thinking, if that is the case academics should especially be relevant.
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Then very few would watch college football and the tv money would go out the window that's not happening.
 
Omega said:
Yet Cardale did return to TOSU and earned a degree:

www.cbssports.com

LOOK: Cardale Jones, who once said, 'We ain't come here to play SCHOOL,' graduates

The Bills QB and new Ohio State graduate has grown up a lot since his freshman year
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com

I get your point however , the average cfb fan cares little about their favorite teams academic standing.
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Lack of academic integrity almost brought the whole system down. The college footbal fans that matter are the graduates and the donors. That's the thing separating the football model from the baseball model of professional sports, with basektball inventing the new middle ground. Respectfully, I think you're wrong on what the average cfb fan cares about.
 
eastisbest said:
Lack of academic integrity almost brought the whole system down. The college footbal fans that matter are the graduates and the donors. That's the thing separating the football model from the baseball model of professional sports, with basektball inventing the new middle ground. Respectfully, I think you're wrong on what the average cfb fan cares about.
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I still hold to the quaint notion of student athlete and I hope you are correct in your observation. I just have little faith the crowd at the local sports bar on autumnal Saturday afternoons are bragging about team gpa's or their QB's grasp of organic chemistry. I am in the camp if you separate the players from academics and campus life, you have nothing but a professional league.
 
Omega said:
I still hold to the quaint notion of student athlete and I hope you are correct in your observation. I just have little faith the crowd at the local sports bar on autumnal Saturday afternoons are bragging about team gpa's or their QB's grasp of organic chemistry. I am in the camp if you separate the players from academics and campus life, you have nothing but a professional league.
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That crowd isn't generally a CFB crowd, it's a gambling crowd. Semenatics perhaps. Eventually, I htink it's heading the direction that colleges are going to have to decide if they are minor professional leagues, if that even legal for public universities, and how that affects sports on campus.
 
eastisbest said:
That crowd isn't generally a CFB crowd, it's a gambling crowd. Semenatics perhaps. Eventually, I htink it's heading the direction that colleges are going to have to decide if they are minor professional leagues, if that even legal for public universities, and how that affects sports on campus.
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Unfortunately I see student athletes in revenue sports eventually being classified as employees so as to form a players association to bargain for an actual NFL style contract governing pay, rules, etc. That is the only way NIL and the portal can be regulated. Also that possibly could get the schools around Title IX issues.

That would be incredibly sad to see, but if is my best guess of where big time college sports is heading
 
Hammerdrill said:
https://medium.com/run-it-back-with...-have-the-best-academic-rankings-572cd1c9511a
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Just fer sheeeeaaats and giggles, I wonder what the intellectual ranking would be for the SEC, IF Tulane and GA. TECH, had remained in the conference?

You MAAM, are jist a RACIST! WHAT pray tell, is the common denominator to the rate of intellect, or NOT? I WONDER what the percentage of WHITE FOLKS vs NON whites that there are in the SEC, ACC, and BIGGIE TEN? And did I mention that two of my former Yankee coworkers once told me, that only PEONS go to PUBLIC colleges and universities in the NORTH.

Bye the BYE, my lil college where GENTLE BEN allegedly raped one of our coeds while on vacation at a nearby lake, is approx. 95% CAUCASIAN. And is ranked tenth among all small colleges and universities in the South.
 
eastisbest said:
Lack of academic integrity almost brought the whole system down. The college footbal fans that matter are the graduates and the donors. That's the thing separating the football model from the baseball model of professional sports, with basektball inventing the new middle ground. Respectfully, I think you're wrong on what the average cfb fan cares about.
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The Elitist know best. LOL in a way I like what is happening may crown an actual true champion someday when all the top dogs have to play each other during the season instead of being able to schedule cupcakes. But the idea of conferences (as is) is dead, OSU and UCLA in the same conference or UC and Az. in the same conference is a joke.
 
Buffalo would be the most likely MAC school to get to backfill upwards IMO. I could see them in the AAC eventually.
 
Hammerdrill said:
He used the rankings from US News and World Report. For whatever they are worth. Interesting to see Buffalo as the top MAC school
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Miami-Ohio has been dropping for the past couple of decade or so. Back in the day it was one of the Public Ivies with its picturesque campus plus great liberal arts and business schools but the recent trend of flagship state schools & their STEM programs getting most of the out of state academic talent Ohio State just kind of blew by it. OU has some solid majors but it still considered a party school and has trouble shaking that image.
 
Auggie said:
Miami-Ohio has been dropping for the past couple of decade or so. Back in the day it was one of the Public Ivies with its picturesque campus plus great liberal arts and business schools but the recent trend of flagship state schools & their STEM programs getting most of the out of state academic talent Ohio State just kind of blew by it. OU has some solid majors but it still considered a party school and has trouble shaking that image.
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It looks like all kinds of schools are considered public ivies now. The original list I see was developed in 1985. And I have to say, I do not see how Miami got on that list with those other schools. One of these things doesn’t belong with the others comes to mind.
 
Hammerdrill said:
It looks like all kinds of schools are considered public ivies now. The original list I see was developed in 1985. And I have to say, I do not see how Miami got on that list with those other schools. One of these things doesn’t belong with the others comes to mind.
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I would also add Vermont as not being worthy. The original list:
The just outside list:
 
Two cents Thursday: I think the academic ratings are interesting, but in reality the ranking of any university as a whole or of its individual colleges, schools or departments, has miniscule relevance in the context of NCAA football. Academic fraud is pervasive and largely ungoverned and unpunished by the NCAA (tutors writing papers, grade changes, “softball” classes created specifically to keep athletes eligible, etc.). The largest university closest to me is Ohio State; academically, OSU is significantly more selective than it was, let's say, in the 1970s and 1980s. So much so that some local kids with high GPAs (let’s say 3.5 and above) are often not admitted to main campus or to its particular programs (business, computer science, engineering) and are instead referred to their local OSU branch campuses. Ok, good for OSU for transforming itself from what it was in earlier decades (good but not exceptional). However, and I know I'm beating a dead horse here, but that academic selectivity and the assumed academic rigor of its programs has little to no relevance for its football recruits; these athletes by and large are admitted to the university under totally separate and lower standards and criteria. If this weren’t true, “first-tier” universities like OSU and Michigan would have trouble beating Bowling Green, unless someone wants to argue that Maurice Clarrett et al could have been accepted to OSU as a regular student applicant.
 
Any former D-1 athletes (football) out there? I have heard over the years that football players during the season take only 1-2 actual academic classes and the rest of the schedule (to meet full-time status) is filled in with an athletic department course a la "NCAA football" that comprises 10-12 credit hours. Summer sessions are used to catch up. Can that be true? I heard this locally from an OSU athlete in another sport.
 
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Old Fat Eagle said:
Any former D-1 athletes (football) out there? I have heard over the years that football players during the season take only 1-2 actual academic classes and the rest of the schedule (to meet full-time status) is filled in with an athletic department course a la "NCAA football" that comprises 10-12 credit hours. Summer sessions are used to catch up. Can that be true? I heard this locally from an OSU athlete in another sport.
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Daughter was a D I athlete in an Olympic Sport and even she, through an academic advisory panel, was laid out a course schedule that was approved by the coach. Basically a NCAA D I athlete is now required to be on campus for the entire year and the off season is when they need to load up on the academic side so they can throttle back in season. Also athletes are highly encouraged to avoid difficult majors like engineering and pre-med. Bottom line is being a DIv I athlete is a job and the compensation, the academic scholarship, is controlled by the management.
 
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