The NCAA on Tuesday released its latest multiyear Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores for all sports, and the picture looks pretty decent for Big Ten football programs.
No Big Ten program received a multiyear score of below 925, the minimum requirement to avoid potential penalties, including scholarship losses. Six programs saw an increase from the 2008-09 scores and there weren't many major drop-offs among the programs that had lower scores.
The latest scores go through the 2009-10 academic year.
Here are the 2009-10 multiyear APR rates for each Big Ten football team:
Illinois: 949
Indiana: 966
Iowa: 947
Michigan: 928
Michigan State: 938
Minnesota: 935
Nebraska: 958
Northwestern: 993
Ohio State: 985
Penn State: 972
Purdue: 939
Wisconsin: 967
The national multiyear APR average for football went up two points to 946, although the single-year rate declined a bit.
Northwestern's multiyear APR score leads all FBS programs and ranks second among all Division I programs behind Penn (995). Ohio State and Northwestern were the only Big Ten football programs publicly recognized for being in the top 10 percent nationally for multiyear APR scores.
Here are the latest multiyear APR scores for each Big Ten coach (2009-10):
Ron Zook, Illinois: 939
Kirk Ferentz, Iowa: 974
Brady Hoke*, Michigan: 943
Mark Dantonio, Michigan State: 932
Jerry Kill*, Minnesota: 984
Bo Pelini, Nebraska: 970
Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern: 987
Jim Tressel, Ohio State: 970
Joe Paterno, Penn State: 959
Danny Hope, Purdue: 958
Bret Bielema, Wisconsin: 968
*-Scores from previous coaching stops
Other notables ...
Rich Rodriguez: 945
Bill Lynch: 957
Tim Brewster: 927
A few more notes:
Minnesota has shown progress since being docked three scholarships for a multiyear APR score of 915 after the 2007-08 academic year. The school's multiyear scores have gone up to 934 (2008-09) and now 935 (2009-10).
Michigan's multiyear APR score dropped for the fourth consecutive year, down from 936 (2008-09). The good news is Michigan remains above the 925 cut line for its multiyear rate.
Purdue saw an increase in its multiyear rate for the fourth consecutive season. The Boilers' scores have gone from 910 (2004-05) to 930.
Nebraska has had the same increase, going from a multiyear APR score of 932 after the 2004-05 academic year to 958 after 2009-10.