I had season tickets in the NEZ during the Prince seasons and now I currently have season tickets two sections over from the visitors section, the aforementioned elite section 20. I would guess that the new NEZ is the best spot for your buds. The old NEZ was fine but the seats weren't sloped enough and you really couldn't see beyond midfield, I'm guessing that's different now. The best part about the new for you and your buds is that with even 9 people you don't have to get in crazy early for all of you to sit together. There are a ton of families that sit over there and they usually arrive around the time the band takes the field.
I sat up top for the entire game once and it blows, I won't even visit friends up there anymore.