Not just a bunch of dumb jocks
The Utah State University football team proved itself as one of the best teams in the nation in 2012, but its athletes’ performance off the field earned them a top spot academically.
The Aggies earned the ninth-best academic success ranking, according to the New America Foundation’s Education Policy Program’s yearly BCS Academic Bowl rankings.
The poll ranks teams with a formula comparing football player graduation rates to the rest of the male population at the university, the team’s black-to-white male graduation rate to the overall school’s rate and the team’s graduation rate of black players to the graduation rate of black male students at the school.
This season is the first time USU has made the top 25 in the poll’s six years of existence.
“I’m proud of our team and their accomplishments in the classroom,” said current head coach Matt Wells. “We are definitely among some elite programs. The support our student-athletes receive is second to none, and we will continue to strive to not just maintain, but do better.”
Last season’s seniors comprise the first graduating class recruited by former head coach Gary Andersen, who said academic success stems from the work and commitment from three different groups: the institution, the assistant coaches and the players.
“The players have done a tremendous job managing their time and putting in the work and deserve the credit for their academic success,” Andersen said. “They are the ones who take the tests and learn what is required of them. They deserve everything they have earned and will use their experience as a foundation for a successful life in whatever avenue they pursue because of their experiences at Utah State.”
– tavin.stucki@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @StuckiAggies