Academic BCS

According to the Higher Ed Watch, only 56% of Division I-A football players entering college between 1997 and 2000 graduated within six years of enrollment. In the spirit of the BCS, Higher Ed Watch created the Academic BCS to see how Division I-A schools rank when it comes to graduating football players.

The Academic BCS formula starts with each football team’s four-class average federal graduation rate, which includes all football players who entered college between 1997 and 2000 and graduated within six years of initial enrollment. Football teams then earn or lose points based on (1) the gap between the team’s graduation rate and the overall school graduation rate; (2) the disparity between the team’s Black – White player graduation rate; and (3) the team’s NCAA APR score in comparison to the median APR for all Division I-A teams. It must be noted that this formula doesn’t seem to include players who transfer to other schools and subsequently graduate and players who graduate outside the six year window.

My beloved University of Georgia Bulldogs are ranked 14^th in graduation rates. I hope university officials take notice and do something to improve our rankings as a higher education and subsequent graduation are the true keys to off the field success. It would be interesting, how the rankings are affected if it took into account players who transfer to other schools and subsequently graduate and players who graduate outside the six year window.

I think there would be a substantial affect as I’ve seen former Bulldog players, such as Champ and Boss Bailey on campus taking summer classes that counted toward graduation after they’d supposedly left school for the NFL. I imagine a number of the professional athletes return to school and eventually get their diploma outside the six year window.

Click HERE to learn more about Higher Ed Watch.