Amid the drastic changes that have transformed NCAA athletics in recent years—such as the introduction of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rights and a surge in transfer portal activity—some universities appear to be drifting from the long-held “student first, athlete second” philosophy that has defined college sports for decades.
On Tuesday, for the first time since it last occurred with the Idaho football program from 2014 and 2017, a Division I FBS program has been declared academically ineligible for postseason football—including bowl games—due to a drop in its Academic Progress Rate (APR) to 914.
The Akron Zips, led by head coach Joe Moorhead—who took over the program in 2021 and has yet to post a winning season or clinch a bowl berth—are now the only Division I team currently facing postseason suspension due to APR violations, before the season even starts.
The NCAA requires teams to maintain a minimum APR of 930. Last year, Akron fell slightly below that threshold with a score of 925, resulting in a minor penalty—a reduction in practice time. However, the program’s academic performance continued to decline, pushing its APR even lower this year.
While APR enforcement was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, those penalties have since returned—and Akron is now the lone program penalized with postseason ineligibility for falling short of the standard.
According to the NCAA, “Implemented in 2003 as part of an ambitious academic reform effort in Division I, the Academic Progress Rate (APR) holds institutions accountable for the academic progress of their student-athletes through a team-based metric that accounts for the eligibility and retention of each student-athlete for each academic term.”
The NCAA further explains that “the APR system includes rewards for superior academic performance and penalties for teams that do not achieve certain academic benchmarks. Data are collected annually, and results are announced in the spring.”
