Aspects of the disclosure relate to an active set management scheme implemented by a scheduler in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) network that minimizes capacity and interference issues. For example, the scheduler can initially group each base station into a separate active set. The scheduler can then analyze each active set to determine whether the active set is a good or bad based on the level of interference in and the number of MIMO receive dimensions available in the respective active set. If the scheduler determines that an active set is a bad, the scheduler can determine a set of metrics that each represent a capacity and link quality that would result if the bad active set is combined with another active set. Based on the set of metrics, the scheduler can combine the bad active set with another active set, and repeat this process until no bad active sets remain.