The media sometimes has a tendency to dig and focus on negative news with athletics — after all that’s how you take the escalator to the top floor of sports writing nowadays. But there are good things to report, and one just became available thanks to the most recently released NCAA APR progress reports for the 2017-18 academic year.
It’s no surprise that Northwestern is up there as a highly regarded academic institution, but Ohio State hasn’t done too shabby. In fact, the Buckeye program is ranked No. 11 of all FBS schools as it relates to APR progress data, and No. 2 in the Big Ten. That’s higher than so-called academic schools like Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois. Not bad for a school that often gets pegged as a machine that uses kids just to get wins on the field.
Basketball and football have historically been the sports that have taken a hit for a school like Ohio State, but those numbers were in the top ten percent for Urban Meyer and crew for the 2017-18 academic calendar year, so things seem to be clicking across the board.
The other sports that received public recognition awards for academic progress include men’s tennis, women’s golf and women’s soccer. Ohio State Faculty Athletics Representative Dr. John Davidson was encouraged and excited about the news according to a release from Ohio State.
“These teams exemplify the mutually reinforcing aspects of being a top-flight athlete and student at Ohio State,” Davidson said. “Women’s soccer made its ninth NCAA appearance in 10 years, while seeing 26 team members honored as Ohio State Scholar-Athletes. Women’s golf appears on the list fresh off of the 11th Big Ten Championship in program history. Football adds this honor to its recent Big Ten and Rose Bowl Championships, which left the program at No. 3 in the national rankings. While generating award-winning academic records, men’s tennis has produced an unprecedented string of Big Ten regular-season and tournament championships and, earlier this year, an ITA National Indoor Championship. This strong academic showing is indicative of Buckeye student-athletes’ drive and ability and the value placed on success and well-being in all aspects of their endeavors.”
And who says you can’t win both on the field and in the classroom? This should be another feather in the cap for the much-maligned Gene Smith, and is quite an accomplishment for a university with such diverse offerings in athletics.
