OSU professor confident low numbers can be overcome
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Rob Oller
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Ohio State’s NCAA academic rating in football isn’t as bad as the Buckeyes were first led to believe.
Actually, it’s worse.
Ohio State dropped from 12 th worst into a tie for fifth worst among 119 Division I-A football schools in poor academic performance, based on corrected data the NCAA uses to measure academic progress.
But the bad news doesn’t automatically translate into trouble for OSU, because yesterday’s updated report and the original that was released in February serve only as a warning system to inform schools of their academic deficiencies.
The NCAA realizes that schools need time to adjust to change, which is why it allowed schools to correct errant data, NCAA spokesman Erik Christianson said. Overall, seven sports at OSU had data corrected, four improving (wrestling, women’s indoor and outdoor track and women’s cross country) and three dropping (football, men’s track and women’s volleyball).
Central to the NCAA academic reform package is the Academic Progress Rate (APR) measuring termby-term advancement toward earning a degree for current athletes. Beginning this fall, the NCAA will begin limiting scholarships of teams that fail to meet minimum academic standards. Continued poor performance could lead to further reduction of scholarships, recruiting restrictions and postseason ineligibility.
A perfect score of 1,000 in the NCAA-created formula means every scholarship athlete on a team remained academically eligible and in school that year. Teams that score below 925 are subject to punishment when the ratings begin to count in the 2005-06 school year.
Ohio State’s adjusted football number dropped from 870 to 864, but John Bruno, an OSU professor who serves as liaison between sports and academics, is confident the Buckeyes will avoid punishment.
"We remain optimistic, based on the fact we’ve got systems put into place and coaches who are buying into it," he said. "I think (the recent low numbers) you’ll never, ever see again."
Bruno has other reasons to be optimistic. The current data is based on the 2003-2004 school year, which means the Buckeyes still have the 2004-2005 school year to reach the 925 cutoff. He added that data from 2004 autumn quarter was promising.
"Every team we’ve looked at that has bothersome numbers — men’s basketball, ice hockey, football — we’ve seen their autumn numbers and you’re probably looking at a significantly higher APR," he said.
Also, any team that doesn’t reach 925 by the fall might still avoid scholarship penalties because the NCAA will examine data on a case-by-case basis and make squad-sized adjustments.
For example, a team with a roster of 10 is hurt worse by one athlete dropping out than is a team with a roster of 50.
Also, the fall 2005 APR ratings will be somewhat skewed because the NCAA is considering only data from the previous two-year period. Beginning in fall 2007, the APR will be based on four years of data (2003-07). "So it’s not really until four years from now that the magic number will be 925," Bruno said.
