BOWLS VERSUS PLAYOFFS - THE IMPACT ON FOOTBALL-PLAYER GRADUATION RATES IN THE NATIONAL-COLLEGIATE-ATHLETIC-ASSOCIATION

This paper investigates the determinants of football player graduation rates at National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I-A and I-AA levels [National Collegiate Athletic Association (1992) 1991 -1992 NCAA Division I Graduation-Rates Report. Overland Park, KS: NCAA ]. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between measures o f football team success and football player graduation rates. The prin cipal finding is that, at the major college football level (NCAA Divis ion I-A), success on the football field appears to be a substitute for success in the classroom. In contrast, at the NCAA Division I-AA leve l, there appears to be no relationship between football success and ac ademic success. We believe these results have two public policy implic ations. First, they confirm the desirability of the NCAA's current ref orms of student-athlete eligibility standards. Second, they indicate t he desirability of moving from a bowl system to a playoff system at th e major college football level. [JEL I21] Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd