Should Your Team Be In The Tournament ?

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan may have just kicked a hornet's nest. He's taking on the NCAA's "March Madness" basketball tournament, and I have a feeling his new idea is not going to go over too well with college basketball fans. After all, this is the time of year for bragging rights among college alumni across this nation, and those bragging rights are attached to a fan's college making the NCAA championship tournament. Although only one team can win the tournament, there is prestige in just making it to the tournament.

But Duncan says there are teams in the tournament that shouldn't be there -- not if we are serious about education in this country. Duncan says any school that doesn't graduate at least 40% of it's athletes shouldn't be allowed into the tournament. If that rule was in effect right now, the following teams would be barred from competing (their graduation percentage is in parentheses):

Louisville (38%)

Georgia Tech (38%)

Clemson (37%)

Baylor (36%)

Missouri (36%)

New Mexico State (36%)

Kentucky (31%)

Tennessee (30%)

Washington (29%)

Arkansas-Pine Bluff (29%)

California (20%)

Maryland (8%)

The idea sounded pretty nutty when I first heard it, but the more I think about it the more sense it makes. After all, what are our colleges for? Were they created to educate students, or to act as a money-making minor league for professional sports? I submit it is the former, and any school that does not graduate at least 40% of its athletes is failing those young people.

I'm sure the 61% or more that don't finish college think they have a future in professional sports (and many of them may not have been serious about getting an education when they entered college). But the sad fact is that most of them will never be professional players -- there just isn't room for all of those who don't finish college in professional sports. They would have been much better served by earning a college degree.

Folks, 40% is not an unreasonable level (it should actually be much higher). Any school that can't meet this low standard is failing in its mission to educate.

But alumni shouldn't worry. The Secretary of Education doesn't have the power to enforce his wishes. He's just trying to point out a serious deficiency in colleges regarding athletics, and well he should. But while alumni shouldn't worry if their school can't meet the low level of 40%, they should be ashamed.