Quote:
Originally Posted by Tigercat
Lost in many sports discussions amongst people 30 and older is how much SEC schools not Kentucky and Arkansas (both of which have been mostly stagnant) and Miss St (needs work, perhaps has regressed) continue to really improve their academics. 20 - 30 years ago most of the SEC would not have been Tier 1 (top 130 or so schools depending on ranking used). Today all but the Mississippi Schools are Tier 1. I also know that the academic cooperation in the SEC has been drastically on the rise as the institutions have bettered themselves.
Now compared to GT who is still probably academically above every SEC school but Vandy, that isn't much to compare. But I think the idea that the SEC is a blackhole of academics is becoming obsolete in reality.
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Eh = the average SEC school is significantly worse academically than the average PAC 10 School or Big 10 - the fact of the matter is, academics aren't really a big deal at all in consideration down there (or if it is, they do a pretty good job hiding it). Part of this is because state schools in the south simply aren't as good - Mississippi or Alabama or Kentucky or Arkansas aren't in the same universe as their west coast counterparts (Cal / UCLA / Texas) or Big 10 equivalents (Michigan). Overall, The PAC 10 now has USC / UCLA / Texas / / Stanford and Cal - Vandy may be the only school from the SEC that is in the same universe as those, and even that isn't a Stanford or a Cal. The Big 10 has name academic schools like Northwestern / U of I / Michigan at a pretty elite level - again, Vandy aside, no one in the SEC comes close.