Tiers in The SEC

[Lucky SC]

I was reading through the thread on the Florida fraternities and it brought up the "tier system" which it seemed questionable if it was a legitimate thing or if it something made up by people. Then i started to think how does this whole tier thing branch out across schools that are pretty much the same... in this case, the SEC having brought up UF.

So if there is a tier system, then how do the fraternities match up at say Alabama, UGA, LSU, South Carolina, Tennessee, etc? is there some kind of trend we see here for particular fraternities in the area?

Have the same fraternities been strong since conception of the chapters or the regional area, leaving no room for competition (basically the rich get richer deal)... or does whos the "best" cycle from time period to time period.

I found this an interesting topic, and wanted to know yall's opinion on it because there seemed to be a lot of controversy in the other thread.

[Elephant Walk]

Originally Posted by Lucky SC

I was reading through the thread on the Florida fraternities and it brought up the "tier system" which it seemed questionable if it was a legitimate thing or if it something made up by people. Then i started to think how does this whole tier thing branch out across schools that are pretty much the same... in this case, the SEC having brought up UF.

So if there is a tier system, then how do the fraternities match up at say Alabama, UGA, LSU, South Carolina, Tennessee, etc? is there some kind of trend we see here for particular fraternities in the area?

Have the same fraternities been strong since conception of the chapters or the regional area, leaving no room for competition (basically the rich get richer deal)... or does whos the "best" cycle from time period to time period.

I found this an interesting topic, and wanted to know yall's opinion on it because there seemed to be a lot of controversy in the other thread.

Good Question. You have to keep in mind to not only include the SEC, but also the Big 12 South. This disregards alot of great non-SEC/Big12South systems but still in the South, such as UNC, Hampden-Sydney, Sewannee and possibly FSU. All that being said...here's what I would go with:

Top Tier:
Ole Miss
Alabama
Texas
South Carolina (questionable, perhaps lower)

-in between-
Georgia
Auburn
LSU

2nd Tier:
Auburn
Tennessee
Vanderbilt
Oklahoma
Texas Tech

-in between-
Arkansas
Florida
Oklahoma St.

3rd Tier:
Mississippi St.
Texas A&M
Kentucky
Baylor

That being said...except for perhaps the 3rd tier, the top tier houses at any of these Universities could compete with one another.

[gee_ess]

EW - are you ranking the entire Greek system at these schools?! What is your criteria? Or are you ranking a specific fraternity at these schools?

[banditone]

I believe he is ranking the greek life. Probably more on the fraternity side.

That said, I'd put Okie State and Arkansas a bit higher. Definitely above T.Tech.

[Elephant Walk]

Originally Posted by gee_ess

EW - are you ranking the entire Greek system at these schools?! What is your criteria? Or are you ranking a specific fraternity at these schools?

What I assumed Lucky SC asked for was a tier of Greek life...more from a fraternity perspective because I know a great deal more compared to sorority life (though I would have to say that it's pretty close to the same...)

The qualifications are importance of Greek Life (though that's not a great determinant because in almost all of these schools it's very important), the importance of history/tradition, size, influence and affluence, alumni, etc.

Just for the helluvit I'll throw in the non-SEC/Big12South in there as well...

Top Tier:
Ole Miss
Hampden-Sydney
Alabama
Texas
South Carolina (questionable, perhaps lower)

-in between-
University of the South
Washington and Lee
Georgia
Auburn
LSU

2nd Tier:
Auburn
Tennessee
Vanderbilt
UNC (the existence of the big 4 sealed this deal)
Oklahoma
Texas Tech

-in between-
Arkansas
Florida
Oklahoma St.
Florida St.

3rd Tier:
NC State
Mississippi St.
Texas A&M
Kentucky
Baylor

[nittanyalum]

Originally Posted by Lucky SC

So if there is a tier system, then how do the fraternities match up at say Alabama, UGA, LSU, South Carolina, Tennessee, etc? is there some kind of trend we see here for particular fraternities in the area?

Have the same fraternities been strong since conception of the chapters or the regional area, leaving no room for competition (basically the rich get richer deal)... or does whos the "best" cycle from time period to time period.

Just re-clarifying question...

[banditone]

I did a tally of SEC schools for who was listed in 1st tier the most often. It came out something like this:

(info taken from posts on oldrow)
KA
SAE
EX
EN

It was only the SEC schools tho.

[UGAalum94]

Couldn't we just leave this kind of stuff to Old Row or Fratting Hard?

It's not really that I object to it being here, but if we know there are other sites that meet someone's tier-based needs, couldn't we just refer people to them rather than reproducing the same type stuff here?

Or is there a need for tier based discussion in a less openly racist and generally vile climate? Old Row kind of scares me, but it's not written with middle aged women in mind.

[banditone]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

Old Row kind of scares me, but it's not written with middle aged women in mind.

Funny, neither is this thread.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by banditone

Funny, neither is this thread.

Point taken. I've got no problem staying out of the fraternity threads as long as you guys have thought really hard about your "no women's comments invited policy." The threads with only guys in them don't ever seem to get very interesting even if you just use other guys posting as the standard.

Greek Chat = 75% women, I'd say, at least in terms of frequent users. Old Row not so much*.

ETA: *or at least it appears to be guys, but maybe it's really 84 year old women posing as college guys. With the internet, you never know for sure.

[banditone]

I'm just kidding. Post all you like!

[Elephant Walk]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

Couldn't we just leave this kind of stuff to Old Row or Fratting Hard?

It's not really that I object to it being here, but if we know there are other sites that meet someone's tier-based needs, couldn't we just refer people to them rather than reproducing the same type stuff here?

Or is there a need for tier based discussion in a less openly racist and generally vile climate? Old Row kind of scares me, but it's not written with middle aged women in mind.

As per the rules of the owner of GreekChat, we're not suppose to "direct anyone to any other greek website"...so, no, technically we can't.

Old Row is fun if you don't take it seriously. The stuff that gets said is often off the wall but great...the "how to frat hard" section is honestly the funniest fraternity related thing I've read in a long time. Fratting Hard is the less hardcore crowd with alot of Yankees and random small schools.

I did a tally of SEC schools for who was listed in 1st tier the most often. It came out something like this:

(info taken from posts on oldrow)
KA
SAE
EX
EN

It was only the SEC schools tho.

Agreed. There is alot of difference but it seems that these fraternities come up the most. Along with that Phi Delt chapters come up often, I think.

In my opinion and in no specific order...the top chapters in the South would go something like....

DKE - Alabama
SAE - Alabama
KA - Alabama
Sigma Nu - Ole Miss
Phi Delt - Ole Miss
Fiji - Texas
SAE - Texas

Those chapters are some of the more notable ones

[Lucky SC]

well its interesting to see the schools ranking, but i really meant more individual chapters, like are the SAE's and KA's going to be stronger in this area due to their "old south" kind of affiliation.

honestly though, I go to South Carolina and i'm surprised yall thought it was top tier ahead of UGA. I mean i'm honored you think so and i don't question it lol, but i always had the impression UGA was pretty intense atleast to be top tier too (grew up in GA).

[AnchorAlumna]

Good Lord. It's different at every school.
Get over your obsession!

[banditone]

From what I hear for South Carolina:
SAE
ATO
EN
KA