A lot has been made of the academic differences between Notre Dame and Ohio State over the past couple of days. But some interesting academic news out of Columbus may put things into perspective.
The Ohio State football program just posted its multi-year Academic Progress Rate and scored a 991. By contrast, Notre Dame – touted as one of the top learning institutions in the country – scored a 984.
The news comes on the heels of surprising comments by Notre Dame head football coach and Ohio State alum Marcus Freeman, suggesting that players at his program have to study harder to succeed academically.
As you can imagine, Buckeyes fans (and general Notre Dame haters) have seized on this news like flies to honey. Freeman is getting called out in retweets while others are savoring the irony of the stats refuting his argument.
Notre Dame and Ohio State may have different academic standards and requirements, but those don’t inherently make their students better. It doesn’t guarantee success to someone either.
For an example, more U.S. Presidents have attended the University of Delaware (Joe Biden) than Notre Dame or Ohio State thus far.
It was a silly comment for Marcus Freeman to make in the first place. All he’s done now is given the Buckeyes bulletin board material while looking like he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
It’ll take a win over the Buckeyes this September to quiet all of the haters now.
Leave a Reply