As the men’s college soccer season continues to build momentum, it’s an opportunity to re-ignite the age-old debate: which is the best Division I conference in the men’s game?

Given the swirling changes in college athletics over the past few years as programs chase TV money, it’s a challenge to keep track of who plays where. Changes have impacted the ACC, Conference USA and Big East, and the American Athletic Conference has since been born out of the turmoil. 

Like the game of soccer, gauging a conference’s ability can be subjective in one capacity and based on raw data in others. The ACC is often mentioned as the best of the lot, and after a few weeks of the 2013 season, it’s worth evaluating that idea once again.