Friday, August 12, 2011

NCAA: APR trumps RPI

An NCAA Tourney ban? It might be getting real now (espn.com)
In one fell swoop, the NCAA has decided that college basketball teams that don’t perform up to par in the classroom will not be able to experience their one shining moment.

The NCAA’s Division I Board of Directors on Thursday unanimously approved the idea that college sports teams not carrying at least a 930 Academic Progress Rate averaged over four years will soon be barred from postseason competition. That means a raising of the bar of academic requirements teams will need to meet in order to go dancing in the NCAA tournament or any other sport's NCAA-sanctioned postseason.

Under the new rule, 12 teams . . .

Check the sky for pigs: NCAA's APR ruling the result of common sense (Sports Illustrated)
The most tangible change so far, the postseason APR requirement, is sure to be met with controversy. The new standard won't take full effect for three to five years (the board asked for a proposal by October that will outline a timeline for phasing in the new cutoff score, currently 30 points lower), but the APR has never been a big hit with major hoops coaches, many of whose scores suffer when a rash of players let their grades slide shortly before bolting for the pros. It's also inherently unfair to underfunded, smaller-conference programs that can't afford to build opulent academic centers and load them up with tutors. Under the 930 standard, the SWAC would have had just one team (Alcorn State) eligible for last season's tourney.

Conversely, the SEC would have qualified all 12 . . .

♦ from NCAA 2011 APR Report (ncaa.com): 298 D-1 Baseball teams' average APR: 959

  • MU Baseball 04-05: 941
  • MU Baseball 05-06: 945
  • MU Baseball 06-07: 946
  • MU Baseball 07-08: 961
  • MU Baseball 08-09: 972
  • MU Baseball 09-10: 979

  • Big 12 Baseball 09-10 Average: 966.9

  • Highest/Lowest Big 12 APR 09-10: UT, 998 / TT 942

  • 19 seasons out of 60 Big 12 teams' seasons that were below the 930 minimum (most recent: OSU, 07-08, 916)

  • As recently as 07-08, NCAA champ South Carolina would not have qualified; 2009 champ LSU would not have qualified for the tournament that year

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