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Nick Saban Sins On USF Admissions

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 4, 2007

When asked the other day about the University of South Florida football team's rapid rise to a national top 10 ranking, University of Alabama coach Nick Saban responded to the Birmingham News saying that USF had players that weren't academically good enough to play at Florida or Florida State.

That, of course, is nonsense, as Bulls coach Jim Leavitt quickly pointed out. Saban, however, should hold his tongue when talking about academic standards.

In 2000, Saban's former college team, Louisiana State University, raised its standards for admission in order to prove its status as a flagship university.

But the new standards do not apply to one group of LSU students: athletes.

The LSU Board of Supervisors agreed to allow exceptions for admission for any athlete meeting the NCAA freshman eligibility minimum of a 2.5 GPA in 13 core courses and a 17 on the ACT. One member told the New Orleans Times-Picayune, 'In order to compete in Division I, you have to have a level playing field, and that's by staying with the NCAA standards.'

No doubt this admission double standard helped Saban build a successful program when he coached at LSU from 2000 to 2004. He should be careful about criticizing the policies of other schools.

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