Weekly Outside the Lines
Show 158: Sunday at 10:30 a.m. ET on ESPN

It's a topic that involves a lot of numbers, but at the heart of them is a proposal -- from the men and women in charge of American universities -- that could reshape the way college sports are administered.

Forty-three of the 65 schools in this years' NCAA men's basketball tournament have player graduation rates below 50 percent, and 13 of those schools have a zero percent African-American rate. So, if NCAA President Myles Brand and school presidents have their way, this year's Final Four simply could not happen.

	SUN., APRIL 6, 2003
	Host: Bob Ley Reported by: Tom Farrey, ESPN.com (see related story) Guests: Myles Brand, president, NCAA; John Thompson, former head coach, Georgetown University; Robert Hemmenway, chancellor, University of Kansas; Mark Gottfried, head basketball coach, University of Alabama.

The plan to penalize schools with poor graduation rates means that -- were the bar set at 50 percent (and these are official U.S. Department of Education numbers, and four-year averages), Syracuse would not be in New Orleans, and neither would the University of Texas.

School presidents say they are poised for decisive change. But, school presidents, recently, have also had to answer for their decisions to seek out and hire Jim Harrick, and Jerry Tarkanian, and condone a player revolt at St. Bonaventure.

Incentivizing and penalizing schools for the academic performance of their athletes. The NCAA leadership wants this take effect by next year. In the here and now, the proposal is creating a firestorm.