APR and March Madness

Academic Progress Rates (APR) were examined over a seven year period to determine if teams scores differed between teams that made postseason tournament play and schools that did not make the tournament. An additional examination of team scores sought to determine if scores differed based on the number of tournament appearances by a team. The findings indicated the APR for teams (n=172) that made at least one tournament appearance over the seven year period were significantly higher (p <.05) than teams (n=175) that had not made a tournament appearance. In addition, teams with seven appearances (n=8) had a significantly higher APR (p<.05) than teams with zero (n=175), one (n=63), or two (n=38) post season appearances. These findings indicated academic success and athletic success were related.