Right now, today, which institutions would your rather have as partners to share long term common interests athletically AND academically that can reasonably be counted on to share those interests 25 years from now?
Group 1: Rutgers, Louisville, WVU, USF, Cinncinati, TCU, GTown, Nova, PC, St. John's, Depaul, Marquette, Seton Hall, (ECU, Navy, et al.)
Group 2: Duke, UNC, Ga Tech, UVA, Va Tech, NC State, Wake, FSU, BCU, Miami, Clemson, Maryland, Pitt, Cuse, (Rutgers/ND)
Group 3: Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio St., Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Northwestern, Minnesota, Nebraska, (RU/ND)
Group 4: Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kansas St., Baylor, Iowa St., Rutgers, Louisville, WVU, USF, Cincinnati, (Missouri/Texas Tech)
It depends on priorities of course, geographically the ACC is best since it has the highest concentration of Northeastern teams. If the top priority is associating with like-minded state flagship universities and $$$, then the B1G is best. If the top priority is to continue to dominate in basketball, well the new Big East looks nice and soft. If you are desparate to keep a seat at the BCS AQ table and the B12 schools listed have truly had enough of Bevo, then Group 4 might work in the absence of other options.