Two Misconceptions in College Sports

typ3kal said:
"What about the other commonly heard claim -- that "smart schools" can't win in football and men's basketball? Cal, Georgia Tech, Navy, Nebraska, Northwestern, Stanford and TCU -- all academics-first colleges where football players are more likely to attend class -- are on their way to bowl games. Most of them have been in the top 20 nationally this season, and Georgia Tech and TCU even made BCS bowls."

Mentioning of Suh & the Heisman

"In other sports news, if ever a lineman was going to receive the Heisman Trophy, it was Ndamukong Suh. Since he didn't win, TMQ renews the suggestion I've made before, that the name of the award be changed to the Heisman Trophy for the Running Back or Quarterback Who Receives the Most Publicity. Seventy-five of these trophies have been handed out -- never once to a lineman. We're supposed to believe that every year for 75 years, the best player in college has been a quarterback or running back -- that a lineman has never been the best player? John Heisman himself, who played offensive tackle in college, would not be considered for his own award."

Also a mentioning of Cody Glenn

"Sweet Plays by a 13-0 Team No. 2: Indianapolis has reached first-and-goal 27 times this season and scored 22 touchdowns. That's sweet. Blocking was perfect Sunday each time Indianapolis drew near the Denver goal line. Peyton Manning stood unhindered, scanning the field. Once, Indianapolis showed a very tight three-man bunch, a set it hadn't shown this year. The result was a touchdown to Austin Collie on a Wes Welker-style spin route. Once, Indianapolis lined up with three tight ends, plus linebacker Cody Glenn in the backfield; Denver responded with an unusual 7-4 alignment. The result was a play-fake, and tight end Dallas Clark simply ran an out and no one covered him! For the final Indianapolis touchdown, also from in close, the Colts had linebackers Glenn and Gary Brackett in as extra blockers. The result was a play-fake, and again no one covered Clark on a simple down-and-out. On the field for that final Colts touchdown were five undrafted players (Brackett, Jeff Saturday, Gijon Robinson, Ryan Lilja and Kyle DeVan) plus a player previously waived by another NFL team (Glenn). What is in the water in Indianapolis?"

... and everyone seems to think that ESPN only rags on us... ;-) might be a start to a better relationship with ESPN.. or not.

Taken from http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story...mp;sportCat=nfl
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I heard this guy on the Brian Kenny show tonight. He was basically talking about graduation rates. And when looking at graduation rates of student athletes at schools Nebraska does deserve mention along with the Northwesterns, Cals, Stanfords, and TCUs of the world.

 
typ3kal said:
WCHusker said:
UGAHusker said:
Since when is Nebraska a "smart" school?
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Compared to the SEC? Hell, half the high schools in Omaha would be considered "smart schools".
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Would disagree with that one,

Flordia: average SAT 1240 - 1410 on the 1600 scale.

Median GPA 4.1-4.4

Nationally Ranked: #47 Best University per Newsweek

Vanderbilt: Average ACT: 30

Median GPA: UW: 3.75 W. 4.19

Nationally Ranked # 22 University per Newsweek

University of Georgia: Avg Act: 28

Median GPA: 3.8

Nationally Ranked #58

University of Neb.

Average ACT: 25

Med GPA: Not listed

Nationally Ranked: N/A

Yup SEC schools are so dumb. :sarcasm
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Sounds like Nebraska isn't too bad and moving up.

http://newsroom.unl.edu/releases/2008/08/2...ct+improved+UNL

Also, if we take the median GPAs and academic stats of student athletes compared to other schools we would rank very, very high. Our academic all americans is proof enough and our graduation rate is another thing to be very proud of. Also, just to reiterate, the author of the things you quoted to start this thread is talking about student athletes, not the Universitys and all their students.

 
The whole point of the article was the fact that schools are more looking towards the win now point and firing coaches that aren't winning on the field, but they had improved the student part of the student-athlete.

Or if they're Notre Dame, lowering their academic qualifiers so that they have a larger athlete base to look at.

 
whateveritis1224 said:
Or if they're Notre Dame, lowering their academic qualifiers so that they have a larger athlete base to look at.
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Which is what the SEC did en masse when they saw the Big 12 as a threat in the late 1990s, which is why you see this recent surge in their success across the board in sports. Remember the 1980s when we beat LSU in three bowl games, pasting them each time? The SEC was OK in football for a very long time. Their recent success is not simply because they discovered all of these athletes in their backyards. It's because they lowered the standards for those athletes (and all students) so they could compete with the Big 10 and Big 12.

Seems to have worked out all right for them, too.

 
knapplc said:
whateveritis1224 said:
Or if they're Notre Dame, lowering their academic qualifiers so that they have a larger athlete base to look at.
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Which is what the SEC did en masse when they saw the Big 12 as a threat in the late 1990s, which is why you see this recent surge in their success across the board in sports. Remember the 1980s when we beat LSU in three bowl games, pasting them each time? The SEC was OK in football for a very long time. Their recent success is not simply because they discovered all of these athletes in their backyards. It's because they lowered the standards for those athletes (and all students) so they could compete with the Big 10 and Big 12.

Seems to have worked out all right for them, too.
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Yeah, it does help them. And it's too bad because institutions that don't make education a priority are doing a disservice to those athletes. Even as a very good college player, your chance of making into the pros in most sports is a very difficult uphill battle. I think it's great that TO makes all his football players enroll in that "life" course which teaches them about budgeting money and other practical things.

Good for Nebraska for being about academics and athletics. :koolaid2:

 
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