College sports in the U.S. has seen waves of realignment in recent years, with Rutgers University, the University of Maryland and Syracuse University all making moves. The folks at the algorithmic services provider Global Language Monitor (GLM) decided to crunch some numbers and if these moves impacted academic rankings for these conferences.
The Southeastern Conference (SEC) saw some gains in its Academic Quotient Index score (a brand equity tool that GLM uses), which rose by 8.36%, according to a press release put out by GLM. This is how the conference rankings now stack up:
Rank, Conference, (Last Rank), Commentary
1. Big Ten Conference (1) -- 38.25
2. Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) (2) -- 42.40
3. Pacific 12 Conference (PAC 12) (3) -- 56.50
4. Southeastern Conference (SEC) (6) -- 82.86
5. Big 12 Conference (Big 12) (4) -- 100.50
6. American Athletic Conference (AAC) (5) -- 119.33
7. Big East Conference (BE) (5)-- 123.10
8. Mid-American Conference (MAC) (8) -- 128.31
9. Mountain West Conference (MW) (9) -- 137.75
10. Conference USA (C-USA) (10) -- 139.38
11. Sun Belt Conference (SB) (11) -- 145.14
As for who won and who lost in the shuffle, the SEC clearly came out ahead by GLM's measurements. Here are the top six BCS-eligible conferences by increase or decease in score prior to realignment and after:
Rank, Conference, Commentary
1. Southeastern Conference (SEC) +8.36%
2. Pacific 12 Conference (PAC 12) -9.01%
3. Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) -17.07%
4. Big Ten Conference -28.54%
5. Big 12 Conference (Big 12) -32.09%
6. Big East Conference -40.69%