The NCAA released the first round of Academic Progress Reports today. The reports measure the academic progress of student-athletes within each team and through formulas derived from Max Planck’s recently-discovered diaries arrive at an index. If a program’s index number is below 925, problems start.

Georgia came out fairly well, and no UGA sport will incur penalties. The flagship football program is in very good shape, and both basketball teams did well. Only baseball and men’s track seem to have work to do, and I’m not going to look into why they are below the 925 mark and what they have to do. You can see any school’s report by clicking here. (PS…”University of Georgia” is under “U”.)

It’s not surprising that the penalties announced today impact smaller public schools and especially historically black schools. In the case of a school like Middle Tenn. State, they built a program by finding the marginal qualifiers who fell through the cracks of larger Division 1 programs who didn’t want to take the risks. The pressures of winning are still there without the resources of the big programs, and one or two difference-makers can build a smaller program and enhance a coach’s career. I noted this earlier when it was found that women’s basketball graduation rates are dropping – more programs are willing to take more academic risks because the pressure to win has increased.