BOWL SCHOOLS KANT REED.

Football players have an advantage over other students because their tuition is free. Money is a factor in many students’ decisions to drop out. Comparing football players to other students on non-academic scholarships would be fair.

When do the bowl sanctions start coming down? I for one cannot wait for next year’s Fiesta Bowl, when BC and Northwestern square off for the National Championship.

Football players also have to play football, so comparing them to easy-street no-part-time-job-havin’ full scholarship recipients is not fair.

What kind of credibility can a guy named LAPCHICK have?

Of the five football players I taught at an SEC school, all were better than average students. They were made to study by the powers that be, and they wouldn’t start because of skipped classes, etc. Four of the five I taught currently play in the NFL in some capacity—whether starting, being a backup, or being part of the practice squad/NFL Europe—and all graduated.

This is probably a non-typical experience, but the APR is flawed but somewhat half-cocked step in the right direction.

The coaches at the institution I taught at were very upfront at student-athletes’ chances at making it big. And no, I didn’t go to Vandy.

As you relate, the national student body isn’t so hot at graduating either. Somewhere common sense has to play into the NCAA’s decisions, but the likelihood of that happening is about as probable as me getting Jennifer Anniston in the sack.

Though we wish you the best of luck with that, Quintillian.

Here’s a link to the report:

http://www.bus.ucf.edu/sport/public/downloads/2005_Football_APR_Grad_Rate.pdf

Much thanks!

What kind of credibility can a guy named LAPCHICK have?

I assume he learned something from his dad. Lapchick also heads up the center for the study of sport and society at UCF. He’s a long-time commentator on academic reform in college athletics.

Put me in the camp who thinks a 50% cut line (equivalent to an APR of 925) is reasonable even if “regular” students don’t do much better. A few reasons:

— It’s still a below-average standard.

— Across Division I as a whole, early entry to the pros is a relatively small phenomenon. Besides, the APR calcs give partial credit for students who leave early but in good academic standing.

— Regular students don’t have access to the range of academic support services (and I’ll let you decide the extent to which that’s a euphemism) available to athletes.

I have my concerns about the APRs — largely that they’ll encourage ahem innovations in grading or "academic support services — but they’re a necessary first step.

In my experience, however, most fans would rather talk about attendance standards, which they understand, rather than academic standards, which they do not.

Uh, Quintilian, everyone knew you didn’t teach at Vandy when you said 4 of the 5 went pro.

i must be missing something…louisville graduates 35% and has a higher score than just about everyone else, including schools whose rates are in the high 70’s?

I just like the fact that his letterhead (or footer, I guess) makes certain to alert us that Mr. Lapchick apparently holds the official title of “Eminent Scholar.” Perhaps you guys should add “Eminent Scholars” (in the field of college football) to all outgoing EDSBS correspondence with the media.

Ooh, good idea.