Michigan State teams steer clear of academic penalties

MSU's Academic Progress Rates (APR) for all its sport teams steered well clear of the NCAA minimums for fear of reprimand and any loss of scholarships or postseason ban -- unlike the University of Connecticut, whose men's basketball team's 889 APR score led them to a loss of practice time and disqualified them for the 2012-2013 NCAA men's basketball tournament.

What is the APR and why does it matter?
As the ES has noted in previous posts (here and here), the APR is published as a four-year average which generally measures the retention (staying at MSU) and academic eligibility (above the schools minimum cumulative GPA) of every scholarship athlete on a team.  This measurement is far from perfect, as there are many situations (health, family, returning to finish after six-years, etc) that are or are not built into the APR calculations.  But, this is the accepted policy today.  Thus, the NCAA figures a 50-percent graduation rate over six-years is a reasonable benchmark for college athletes (and that is higher than the general regular, non-athlete student body average). A 1000 APR is a perfect score, with 100% projected graduation rates.  For years, the NCAA projected an APR score of 925 to be approximately a 50% average for an athlete to get a degree in six years. If a team fell below a 925 (now the mark is 930), then a team would be subject to sanction - that sanction now includes a mandatory post-season ban (including conference championships) for both men's basketball and football.  This 930 minimum for sanction will change over the next few years as the NCAA moves this average up to an APR of 940; and the measurement for sanctions are a bit more complicated...(link here). 

What about MSU?  Men's Hoops one-year score dips in 2011
This year, the Spartans came across in flying colors in all their sports.  Football was a concern a few years ago as it teetered the 925-benchmark, but a 943 average shows a significant improvement, especially with the largest scholarship roster size (of 85)... which means one player who struggles academically and leaves the institution does not impact the APR scores as much as one men's basketball player on a roster of 13. What is interesting is what the ES predicted: a one year drop in MSU's men's hoops APR down to 902 because of various defections (Korie Lucious and Chris Allen, most notably).  However, as this is a four-year average, it has a minimal impact at this time, so long as these defections are not a commonality.  Notably, Delvon Roe's leaving the team did NOT affect the APR because he remained a student at MSU (retained) and was academically eligible. 

AND, what you will notice - is the one year lag in APR scores, because it takes a year for APR to go through the NCAA's system of checks and error corrections before it is reported.  Anyways, here are the Spartans' most recent APR scores:

Baseball    984          
Field Hockey    972          
Football    943          
Men's Basketball    981          
Men's Cross Country    974          
Men's Golf    944          
Men's Ice Hockey    967          
Men's Soccer    978          
Men's Swimming    988          
Men's Tennis    1000          
Men's Track, Indoor    954          
Men's Track, Outdoor    953          
Men's Wrestling    991          
Softball    983          
Women's Basketball    1000          
Women's Cross Country    986          
Women's Golf    979          
Women's Gymnastics    995          
Women's Rowing    990          
Women's Soccer    992          
Women's Swimming    977          
Women's Tennis    984          
Women's Track, Indoor    981          
Women's Track, Outdoor    982          
Women's Volleyball    980

Big Ten, MSU fare well in new NCAA rules affecting post-season play

Today, the NCAA passed legislation very un-NCAA like:  in quick fashion. Just one day after a presidential retreat, its Board of Directors passed a new rule, phased in over a few years, that would make any team ineligible for post-season play (and the revenues that go along with it, obviously) if the team was not on-track to graduate at least half of its players. This is something that has been LONG endorsed by the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics going back 10 years or more.  The Knight Commission is a non-profit group advocating intercollegiate athletics reform and proper balance of athletics within higher education. The NCAA, however, uses a formula, called the Academic Progress Rate (APR) which tracks academic eligibility of every athlete, and  every team, on a term-by-term basis: awarding one point for staying in school (or graduating), and one point for remaining academically eligible both  at the institution and via the NCAA’s minimal academic expectations but rigid progress-toward-degree requirements (minimum # of credit hours passed each year).  An annual APR score is then averaged over a four-year period for the current APR score, which will be used in this instance.  A 930 score equates to about a 50 percent graduation rate.  A 1000 score is perfect.

So, the ES decided to look at MSU and other Big Ten schools and their 2011 APR scores (based on the 2009-2010 academic year) in men’s basketball and football, and… if this rule were in effect this year, who would be affected in the upcoming 2011-2012 academic year?  Well… here are the numbers:

	FB	MBK
Illinois	949	964
Indiana	966	929
Iowa	947	939
Michigan	928	970
MSU	938	995
Minnesota	935	964
Nebraska	958	945
N'western	993	990
Ohio St	985	952
Penn St	972	995
Purdue	939	954
Wisconsin	967	970

Michigan State is fine: matter of fact, all of MSU’s 20+ athletic teams are above 930.  Just two Big Ten schools in football or men's basketball would be impacted:  the Wolvies in football (928) and Indiana in men’s basketball (929).  Mind you, this will be phased in, so these schools have some time to put in the resources (or recruit athletes with better expectation they will remain academically eligible) to improve their scores.  But, the Big Ten looks pretty solid compared to other conferences.    

The ES won’t get into details about some of the dirty little secrets allowing teams to have exemptions for certain players.  But, the NCAA may take that on next as part of their reform effort.  

Interesting times as we head into football season.

Progress to graduation of football bowl teams: MSU ranks 57 of 68

OK, so we know that Alabama vs Texas will compete for the national title... and that Michigan State will take on Texas Tech on January 2 AFTER the Rose Bowl. But, how well do the players on these teams fare when you consider them on path toward graduation?

The ES wuz curious and looked at the numbers for ALL the bowl teams (all 68 of them), considering the Academic Percentage Rate (APR) compiled by the NCAA each year. MSU is ranked 57th out of 68 teams with an APR of 931 (the benchmark is 925, which equates to a 50% graduation rate, and below which teams are susceptible to penalties).

FYI - the dismissal of Winston and Jenrette will bring these numbers down for MSU and depending on the progress of others (and other potential dismissals or departures) could lead to potential of the Spartans numbers dropping below the 925 threshold and forced to create an academic improvement plan. One other important thing: just because players are closer to graduation, doesn't mean they are learning anything... there is no measure for that.

#	School	APR
1	Stanford	984
2	Air Force	983
3	Rutgers	980
4	Navy	978
5	Miami	977
6	Georgia	976
7	Penn State	976
8	Northwestern	973
9	Cal	970
10	BC	970
11	Ohio State	968
12	Boise St	966
13	Florida	963
14	TCU	962
15	Central Florida	960
16	LSU	960
17	Georgia Tech	957
18	Southern Cal	956
19	Clemson	955
20	Alabama	955
21	Utah	954
22	Wisconsin	953
23	Oklahoma	952
24	UConn	951
25	Missouri	951
26	Nebraska	950
27	Tennessee	949
28	Auburn	949
29	Ohio	949
30	Fresno State	948
31	UCLA	948
32	Kentucky	948
33	Northern Illinois	947
34	Cincinnati	947
35	SMU	947
36	UNC	947
37	Texas A&M	946
38	Iowa	946
39	Nevada	945
40	MTSU	945
41	Troy	945
42	Southern Miss	944
43	Pittsburgh	944
44	Houston	942
45	BYU	942
46	Marshall	939
47	WVU	939
48	Oklahoma St	939
49	Texas	939
50	Wyoming	939
51	Iowa State	935
52	TTU	935
53	Oregon	935
54	VTU	932
55	Florida St	932
56	East Carolina	932
57	Michigan State	931
58	Oregon St	930
59	CMU	930
60	South Carolina	929
61	Arkansas	927
62	Arizona	924
63	BGSU	920
64	Minnesota	915
65	Mississippi	910
66	South Florida	909
67	Idaho	905
68	Temple	891

Football 7, Academics 0. University of Alabama cancels classes for BCS Title Game.

Should have LouAnna Simon canceled classes last April 6, 2009, when Michigan State played North Carolina in Detroit for the 2009 men's basketball national championship game? If MSU plays for the national title in Indianapolis in April 2010, will president Simon cancel classes in an effort to build attendance from the student body?

Well.. at the University of Alabama, they have canceled classes from January 6-8, 2010, to allow students and faculty to attend the BCS Title Game on January 7. Said UA provost Judy Bonner, "given the number of students who have to be in Pasadena ... and the number of faculty, staff and students who want to be there, we are dismissing classes on Jan. 6-8. Students should expect additional assignments to make up for the lost class time."

Wow. And, Michigan State does not dismiss classes for anything -- whether it be two feet of snow, other weather hazards, or an invasion from Canada... MSU administrators certainly wouldn't shut down the school for football or basketball games.

The attendance for the national title game was 72,922 - a sellout, and the ES was there.... it was about a 75% disappointed Green and White crowd. And, it was only 92 miles down the road from EL to Detroit, not 2,019 miles from Tuscaloosa to Pasadena that 'Bama fans will travel to watch the Tide take on Texas.

That said, will UT follow suit and cancel classes? It's 1,417 miles from Austin to Pasadena.

But the point is Alabama proves that football is a priority over academics... at least in the state of Alabama.