Grades Are In

Sporting News, The, Sept 13, 1999 by Steve Gietschier

Our exclusive ranking of 112 college athletic departments goes far beyond wins and losses

Let's face it. The soul of college sports is up for grabs because the news about college sports is good and bad. Consider what has happened in the past year. The Bowl Championship Series formula absorbed a lot of criticism, but it still produced a worthy title game and a terrific national champion in Tennessee. And Duke, a basketball team with tremendous talent, blitzed the ACC but came up a bit short to Connecticut in the NCAA title game.

Fans applauded these wonderful competitions--and rightly so--but away from the fields of friendly strife, things were not so picturesque. Students were ridiculed for taking courses with seemingly little academic substance. Coaches and advisers were implicated in term paper-writing schemes. Boosters were charged with the sort of overzealous conduct that for years has gotten good programs in trouble. The beat went on.

Granted, plenty of fans care about nothing but wins and losses. For them, all of this hand-wringing is beside the point. Don your school's colors, whoop and holler, sing the fight song and forget that college athletics is supposed to be part of an educational experience. THE SPORTING NEWS thinks there are fans who take a broader view, who cheer when college sports goes right and wince when it doesn't.

What these fans need is a balance sheet. A ledger. A report card. That is what TSN presents here. We grade the nation's 112 big-time college athletic departments, an evaluation that considers on-field and off-field criteria.

Suppose, for example, you are a college football and basketball fan looking for a new team to root for. We tell you which schools are perennially on top of the heap. Suppose you are the parent of a high school student-athlete searching for a college where high-profile athletes graduate. We list your best options. Suppose you are a high school senior who hopes to attend a college where football and basketball are king. We point out where you might want to go. Suppose you are a sports fan with a conscience, hunting for schools that play by the rules. We sing their praises.

Then, taking these factors into consideration--the wins and the losses, the athletes who finish school and those who don't, the crowds and the T-shirts, the overall size and strength of the sports program and the ethics--we tell you which athletic department is the best.

Well, sports fans/parents/students, paint your faces blue and white and make your way to Happy Valley. Penn State is THE SPORTING NEWS' Best College Athletic Department for 1999. State College, rejoice. Plant yourself in Whisker's Lounge in the Nittany Lion Inn and enjoy a Creamery Cocktail. Or visit The Tavern for dinner on East College Avenue and top off your meal with a piece of apple pie with the walnut crumb crust.

The Nittany Lions received three A's and an A- in the four categories in which we assigned grades, and an overall GPA of 3.92.

Our evaluation focuses on the two college sports our readers care about the most, football and men's basketball. So our study is limited to those schools that played both Division I-A football in 1998 and Division I men's basketball in 1998-99.

We looked at how well these football and basketball programs did over the past four seasons. We looked at the crowds they draw and the size of the budgets that support them and the merchandise sales they generate. Plus, we looked at academics: gradepoint averages and SAT scores for entering freshman players and the latest NCAA graduation rate statistics for football and basketball players. We looked, too, at the big picture: the number of teams each school sponsors and their success, the graduation rate for all student-athletes and the extent to which schools are complying with Title IX. Finally, we looked at NCAA probation.

So how did the Nittany Lions stack up against their competitors? Penn State finished 14th in our DO WE WIN? category, fifth in DO WE GRADUATE?, third in DO WE ROCK? and tied for fifth in DO WE PLAY FAIR?

The Nittany Lions won three bowl games in the past four years and were ranked high in TSN's poll each season. Beaver Stadium (93,967 seats) is more than filled to capacity every home Saturday. Penn State's athletic program is large, well-funded and successful across several sports. The school has done well in meeting federally mandated gender equity goals. And there are a lot of folks walking around wearing plain blue sweatshirts. What more need be said?

As for the other 111 schools, check out the chart to see how they did.