Revenge of the Nerds: Restoring Academic Integrity in College Hoops

Rather than tolerating the groveling by defending champion Connecticut for concessions stemming from its scholastic shortcomings, the NCAA should possibly consider the alternative and make allowances for quality teams boasting textbook student-athletes such as Harvard and Northwestern.

UConn, barred from the 2013 tourney due to years of sub-par academic results, requested a waiver. The Huskies' plea-for-mercy proposal reduced the number of regular-season games they will play next season from 27 to 23, forfeited the revenue awarded to the Big East Conference for participating in the playoffs and prohibited coach Jim Calhoun from meeting off-campus with prospective recruits during the fall 2012 contact period.

UConn's bottom 10 academic ranking among the 300-plus DI schools had it creatively trying to swap games and money for academic integrity prior to the school hiring a new athletic director. Meanwhile, Harvard (ranked #1 this year in U.S. News College Compass among the nation's best colleges) and Northwestern (#12) were excelling on and off the court.

Harvard, which has supplied more U.S. presidents (seven) than Lincredible NBA players (three), should have received an at-large bid last season despite losing an Ivy League playoff game in the waning moments. This year, the Crimson is a cinch to secure its first NCAA berth in 66 years, going to Lin-finity and beyond. In non-conference competition, Harvard and Princeton defeated Florida State, which is challenging for ACC supremacy after beating North Carolina and Duke.

Northwestern, struggling to secure its first winning record in Big Ten Conference competition in 44 years, is in a more precarious situation than Harvard as the Wildcats aspired to participate in the NCAA playoffs for the first time. But Northwestern might have a shot for an at-large berth if it reaches the 20-win plateau for the third straight season.

While UConn struggled to appear in this year's tourney, let alone 2013, school president Susan Herbst lauded the "great strides in our academic approach over the past few years." We're taking for granted she isn't including suspect signee Nate Miles, who described a cynical and broken system of big-time recruiting. According to Miles, MOP Kemba Walker's original college roommate before he was expelled after a female assault twice received standardized test assistance from a UConn booster.

Amid the Linsanity of the New York Knicks' Jeremy Lin becoming Harvard's first NBA player in 58 years (he scored 30 points in a narrow loss at UConn two seasons ago), it's pretty safe to say anyone comparable to Miles isn't on the rosters for Harvard and Northwestern. Wouldn't it be refreshing to raise the tenor of the debate by being assured the nerds were rewarded instead of wondering what classes UConn's players are steered to these days to raise the program's grade-point average? Surely, the NCAA realizes that the average fan makes a point of appreciating colorful institutions with traditional classroom excellence more than those still trying to get their mercenaries to color within the lines.