APR scores

[Yvonne]

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The NCAA released its Academic Progress Report scores. Here are the Pac-12's.  I'll post a follow up with the explanation of these numbers when I can find it.

Sport	School	State	Academic Year	Multi-Year Rate	Penalties	Postseason
Football	Stanford University	CA	2010 - 2011	977
Football	University of California, Los Angeles	CA	2010 - 2011	956
Football	Oregon State University	OR	2010 - 2011	955
Football	University of Arizona	AZ	2010 - 2011	951
Football	University of Washington	WA	2010 - 2011	949
Football	University of Oregon	OR	2010 - 2011	948
Football	University of Southern California	CA	2010 - 2011	947
Football	Arizona State University	AZ	2010 - 2011	937
Football	University of California, Berkeley	CA	2010 - 2011	936
Football	Washington State University	WA	2010 - 2011	933

[Yvonne]

Here's the NCAA's explanation: http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/NCAA/Academics/Division+I/How+is+APR+calculated.

Basically, it's a measure of how many scholarship-receiving students are eligible and still in school.

[CowboyIndian]

Jeff Tedford has really turned the academic thing around at Kal, hasn't he?

[82lsju]

Jeff the UC system's highest paid employee has really turned the academic thing around at Kal, hasn't he?

now now, I'm sure any shortcomings are Tom Holmoe's fault, or they must be a conspiracy by UCB administrators to try and diminish the value of football to the University, or maybe some players leaving school early for the NFL, or some are players leaving school early for graduate school   

[FarmBoy]

82lsju - i think the actual Kal party line on this goes something like "unlike some country club schools, our classes are rigorous and the grades have to be earned. this is just a sign of how academically challenging Kal is to the rest of the Pac12." Nevermind that doesn't explain why the football program isn't required to compensate for the difficulty of its classes by holding recruits to a high academic standard.

Kal fans laughed when one top recruit, Shaq Thompson iirc, mentioned the academics of UW as a main reason for choosing the Huskies over the B.ears. They ridiculed the idea that a UW degree was more prestigious to a Kal degree. The real question is whether a 70-80% chance of a UW degree is more valuable than a ~50% chance of attaining a Kal degree.

It's incredibly cynical, bordering on exploitation, to recruit and sign a bunch of players to your program who you know have little chance of actually graduating with a degree.

[OutsiderFan]

Well, the reality is California football has no identity or brand.  On the one hand it claims a rigorous curriculum and high standards, but on the other, it hold recruits to very low standards.

It's kind of like the program and the W-L record.  Fans talk about Rose Bowls, but then they openly accept 7-5 or 8-4 seasons.  It really doesn't matter who the head coach is, until standards are set and people are held accountable to them, there is no chance for excellence. 

I've heard of California football players being suspended from team activities for not doing enough to stay eligible, but never heard of anyone being suspended for failing to meet a program standard higher than rock bottom minimums.  Look at Zach Maynard, the Senior QB team leader.  He fell way behind in credits toward graduation and there have been rumors he might in fact not be able to pass enough classes to stay eligible and may have to miss the first four games of 2012.

Maynard should be removed from the team until his academic progress is at an acceptable level so a message is sent to all players that they can't slack off and expect to play because California has higher standards than others.  Instead, the lesson is just do enough to get by, we'll let you participate as you get your coursework done to get back to meeting minimum eligibility requirements.  That enabling mentality permeates the entire program and leads to the acceptance of mediocrity across the board.

[Yvonne]

Speaking of brand, coach Shaw is using the APR information as he sells Stanford to recruits.

http://espn.go.com/blog/stanford-football/post/_/id/6700/

When I read his quotes about backing up the talk about being the best on and off the field, it reminded me of Willie Shaw's speech at the Fiesta Bowl rally. 

[doublespiral]

If you want to see a graph of football scores by conference, these guys have done the charts: http://www.teamspeedkills.com/2012/6/20/3102677/football-apr-scores-broken-down-by-conference

If you want any sport, any school:
http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/newmedia/public/rates/index5.html

[needle]

Try applying for a job with a good APR score.

What matters much, much more is a school's graduation rate.

I'd like to see somebody study the correlation between APRs and graduate rates before I put much stock into APRs.

[Robbie]

Note that the difference between first place and second place in the (old) Pac-10 is 21 APR points. The difference between 2nd and 10th is 23 points.

[washingtonismoney]

Wilner suggests trouble might start if you dip below 930 (http://bit.ly/MmXQSu). If so, this ought to be an area of concern for T.edford in addition to--and more important than--his struggles on the field.

[81alum]

Try applying for a job with a good APR score.

What matters much, much more is a school's graduation rate.

I'd like to see somebody study the correlation between APRs and graduate rates before I put much stock into APRs.

The NCAA used to use graduation rates and changed to APR as a significant reform.  The problem with graduation rates is that they do not fully manifest until years after a coach or AD has done the damage.  APR shows up immediately so the current coach and current AD can be held accountable.

Believe me, many schools exploited the graduation rate time-lag to duck responsibility.  It was always the last administration's fault that students were not graduating, but the current coach and current AD were ALWAYS turning things around.  Even when they weren't.

Tedford has been there so long that the time-lag issue would not, of course, be a factor in his case.  But most schools cycle through football coaches at least once every four years--so in the past no one was ever held truly accountable for football players who did not graduate.  Now, if the APR drops, it reflects immediately on the current coach.

[CowboyIndian]

the UC system's highest paid employee has been there so long that the time-lag issue would not, of course, be a factor in his case.

In T.edford's first year or two, much noise was made regarding the huge academic turnaround he'd wrought in the football program at the nation's #1 public university. I almost believed it.

[garvin]

I'm never certain I understand the APR completely, but I think it also doesn't penalize players for leaving for the pros early, as long as they were in good academic standing when they departed. There's a reasonable argument that that practice was unfair, that essentially it penalized good recruiting.

[Yvonne]

How it's playing on the Kal Kampus:

http://bit.ly/MO1ibE