[Mick]

On multiple occasions, I've seen people imply that it's unfair to diss the SEC for the education it provides its student athletes.

I would have thought people would already have been familiar with statistics like these, but out of the Power 5 conferences, the SEC ranks dead last in graduation success rate. Out of the 14 schools, only 3 schools graduate at least 60 percent of the freshman class on-time.

http://www.educatedquest.com/smartest-po...onference/

Although, before we get too cocky, the Pac-12 was second-to-last, with only 4 out of 12 schools graduating 60%+ on-time.

For football programs, Stanford was #1 in gsr.  Clemson was #2 while winning the cfp!
http://time.com/4606863/college-football...academics/

Then there is the subject of the quality of the education students are receiving. It's hard to come up with a measure, but I was curious about Nobel prize affiliations. Scanning the list of Nobel prizes, I think the Pac-12 would come first, although I'm not aware of any particular ranking (I didn't add up every conference, but my guess would be the Big 10 would come in second, the ACC third). Every single Pac-12 school has had at least one Nobel prize winner affiliated with them, with of course Berkeley and Stanford among the top in the world. Only 3 SEC schools (that I could find) have ever had a Nobel laureate affiliated with them -- ever (Vanderbilt, Florida and Tennessee). And even Vanderbilt has fewer than Under Stanford Control (again), Colorado, Washington, UCLA, Stanford and Berkeley, which is to say, even the top academic school in the SEC would fall in the bottom half of the Pac-12 in terms of Nobel prize affiliations. ::)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_No..._-_50th.29

Great list.  Using the broadest possible definition (Graduate and attendee, long term academic staff, temporary academic staff), the totals per conference and per university are as follows:

Pac-12:  220 total, 18 1/3 per college on average

UCBerk 91
Stanford 64
UCLA 16
Washington 13
Colorado 11
U$C 7
Arizona State 5
Arizona 5
Utah 3
Washington State 2
Oregon 2
Oregon State 1

SEC:  17 total, just over one per college on average

Vanderbilt 7
Texas A&M 4
Florida 3
Mississippi 1
Arkansas 1
Tennessee 1
Alabama 0
Auburn 0
Louisiana State 0
Mississippi State 0
Georgia 0
Kentucky 0
Missouri 0
South Carolina 0

Big 10:  142 total, just over ten per college on average

Illinois 25
Minnesota 25
Michigan 20
Wisconsin 20
Northwestern 11
Purdue 10
Indiana 9
Maryland 7
Rutgers 5
Ohio State 4
Nebraska 3
Michigan St 2
Penn State 1
Iowa 0

ACC:  46 total, just over three per college on average

Duke 11
UNorth Carolina 8
Virginia 7
Pitt 6
Florida State 6
Georgia Tech 3
Virginia Tech 3
Notre Dame 1
Syracuse 1
Boston College 0
Clemson 0
Louisville 0
NC State 0
Wake Forest 0

Conclusion:  Pac-12 almost double that of Big 10 on a per college basis.  Significant drop off to ACC, which edges out SEC by a smidgen. 

Trivia #1:  How many Pac-12 schools have more Nobel Prize winning affiliates than Noter Dame?  A: All of them, except Oregon State, which has just as many: one.

Trivia #2:  Which has more Nobel Prize laureate affiliates, UCLA or all SEC schools put together?  A: The SEC schools, by one: 17 to 16.

[Mick]

On multiple occasions, I've seen people imply that it's unfair to diss the SEC for the education it provides its student athletes.

I would have thought people would already have been familiar with statistics like these, but out of the Power 5 conferences, the SEC ranks dead last in graduation success rate. Out of the 14 schools, only 3 schools graduate at least 60 percent of the freshman class on-time.

http://www.educatedquest.com/smartest-po...onference/

Although, before we get too cocky, the Pac-12 was second-to-last, with only 4 out of 12 schools graduating 60%+ on-time.

For football programs, Stanford was #1 in gsr.  Clemson was #2 while winning the cfp!
http://time.com/4606863/college-football...academics/

Then there is the subject of the quality of the education students are receiving. It's hard to come up with a measure, but I was curious about Nobel prize affiliations. Scanning the list of Nobel prizes, I think the Pac-12 would come first, although I'm not aware of any particular ranking (I didn't add up every conference, but my guess would be the Big 10 would come in second, the ACC third). Every single Pac-12 school has had at least one Nobel prize winner affiliated with them, with of course Berkeley and Stanford among the top in the world. Only 3 SEC schools (that I could find) have ever had a Nobel laureate affiliated with them -- ever (Vanderbilt, Florida and Tennessee). And even Vanderbilt has fewer than Under Stanford Control (again), Colorado, Washington, UCLA, Stanford and Berkeley, which is to say, even the top academic school in the SEC would fall in the bottom half of the Pac-12 in terms of Nobel prize affiliations. ::)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_No..._-_50th.29

Great list.  Using the broadest possible definition (Graduate and attendee, long term academic staff, temporary academic staff), the totals per conference and per university are as follows:

Pac-12:  220 total, 18 1/3 per college on average

UCBerk 91
Stanford 64
UCLA 16
Washington 13
Colorado 11
U$C 7
Arizona State 5
Arizona 5
Utah 3
Washington State 2
Oregon 2
Oregon State 1

SEC:  17 total, just over one per college on average

Vanderbilt 7
Texas A&M 4
Florida 3
Mississippi 1
Arkansas 1
Tennessee 1
Alabama 0
Auburn 0
Louisiana State 0
Mississippi State 0
Georgia 0
Kentucky 0
Missouri 0
South Carolina 0

Big 10:  142 total, just over ten per college on average

Illinois 25
Minnesota 25
Michigan 20
Wisconsin 20
Northwestern 11
Purdue 10
Indiana 9
Maryland 7
Rutgers 5
Ohio State 4
Nebraska 3
Michigan St 2
Penn State 1
Iowa 0

ACC:  46 total, just over three per college on average

Duke 11
UNorth Carolina 8
Virginia 7
Pitt 6
Florida State 6
Georgia Tech 3
Virginia Tech 3
Notre Dame 1
Syracuse 1
Boston College 0
Clemson 0
Louisville 0
NC State 0
Wake Forest 0

Conclusion:  Pac-12 almost double that of Big 10 on a per college basis.  Significant drop off to ACC, which edges out SEC by a smidgen. 

Trivia #1:  How many Pac-12 schools have more Nobel Prize winning affiliates than Noter Dame?  A: All of them, except Oregon State, which has just as many: one.

Trivia #2:  Which has more Nobel Prize laureate affiliates, UCLA or all SEC schools put together?  A: The SEC schools, by one: 17 to 16.