The world's universities were graded, according to a number of higher-education benchmarks ( Nobel Prizes, Papers published, etc. etc) and then adjusted for the number of students per the value of the status. The results are interesting. Naturally, the IVY LEAGUE dominates the standings, with seven members in the top 15, but the B1G does not look shabby.

On the other side of the spectrum Big East and Big 12 bring up the rear, with ACC and SEC close behind.

Penn State is in good company with the Big Ten, and the PAC 12 is a great partner conference. These two conferences have 18 of the top 100 universities in the world, compared to 9 total in the Big East, Big 12, ACC and SEC combined.

Noteworthy is the fact that Notre Dame is not on this list. Take that, Domers!

Top Conferences in Top 100 Universities Worldwide List, ( Neglecting those outside the USA) in order of placement

B1G (10) Wisc, Mich, Ill, Minn, NW, PSU, Pur, OSU, Ind, MSU

PAC12 (8) Stanford, CAL, UCLA, Wash, Col, USC,Az, Utah

IVY (7) Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Yale, Cornell, Penn, Brown

ACC (4) Duke, Maryland, NC,Pitt

SEC (3) Vanderbilt, Fla, Tex A&M

B12 (1) Texas

EAST (1) Rutgers

MR. EMMERT, LOOK ELSEWHERE FOR FOOTBALL CULTURE!a

P.S. Auburn is in the 300-400 range, Bama is not in the top 500!