[JesseK]

The real problem with gauging 'strength', which has been stated before, is that some teams' strengths vary wildly from year to year. Lose a mentor, gain a sponsor, graduate 90% of the students, gain access to a full machine shop -- any of these things could wildly change how well a team does.

I would conjecture that attempting to stack alliances based upon supposed unproven strengths will most likely create more confusion and controversy than a 'bad luck' fully-randomized schedule would. For example, any one of the powerhouse teams could have an off year in 2012, making the rest of us "totally screwed" if we're allied with them since they're the supposed counter balance to a "strong" opponent alliance.