Academic Success and the Final Four

2 Apr 2008 in Amusements

College basketball programs are not known for producing college graduates. Now that the Final Four tournaments are set, how do the competing teams perform academically?

Data on graduation rates can be obtained from the NCAA. The table below reports graduation rates for all students, student athletes, and basketball players. (Figures for basketball players are highly volatile because there their numbers are small.)

4-Class Graduation Rates for NCAA Final Four Teams
	Men's Final Four			Women's Final Four
School	All Men	Athletes	Basketball	All Women	Athletes	Basketball
UCLA	85%	50%	29%
UNC	81%	64%	60%
Memphis	29%	47%	30%
Kansas	55%	46%	40%
Stanford				95%	90%	80%
LSU				59%	63%	31%
Connecticut				76%	73%	73%
Tennessee				63%	76%	81%

Among the men's schools, UNC stands out with the highest graduation rate for athletes and basketball players. Memphis stands out because the graduation rate is significantly greater among athletes in general (but not for basketball players).

Among the women's schools, all have graduation rates for athletes that are closer to school-wide rates. Athletes graduate at higher rates than the student body at large at LSU and Tennessee. Basketball players graduate at higher rates than athletes generally at Tennessee.

Suppose you wanted to bet on the outcome of the NCAA tournament but knew nothing about the competing teams. How well would you perform if you used 4-year graduation rates as your predictive variable?

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