Boston College Athletics
USA Today Lauds BC Football, Basketball Academic & Athletic Success
September 28, 2006 | Football
Sept. 28, 2006
Boston College's combined athletic and academic success on the football field and basketball courts were lauded in Thursday's edition of USA Today, which reshuffled this week's football top 25 and last year's final men's and women's basketball top 25 according to academic success rate. Boston College was the only school in the country with its football, men's basketball and women's basketball teams all ranked in the nation's top 10 academically and athletically.
The NCAA tracked more than 93,000 athletes, most on scholarship, who entered school in the four-year period from 1996-99 in computing its Graduation Success Rates. In their second year of use, the numbers are considered more accurate than federally computed rates that penalize schools for players who transfer or leave for such other reasons as early entry in a professional draft.
USA Today then reshuffled this week's ESPN/USA Today Top 25 football (coaches') poll as well as the final 2005-06 men's and women's basketball polls.
In the reshuffled poll, the football Eagles, ranked 25th in this week's coaches' poll, are ranked number one in the country with a 96% graduation rate. Notre Dame (95%), Nebraska (88%), Florida (80%) and TCU (78%) round out the top five academic-athletic programs in the country. BC also was ranked number one in the country when the newspaper reshuffled its final top 25 poll at the end of the 2005 regular season.
In men's basketball, Boston College (73%) ranked sixth in the country when USA Today reshuffled last season's final top 25 poll. The women's basketball team, with a 92% graduation rate, tied for seventh in the newspaper's reshuffled poll.
"As always, we are very proud of the accomplishments of our student-athletes in the classroom, on the field and on the court," Director of Athletics Gene DeFilippo says.
