The Liberty University men”™s basketball team qualified for the NCAA men”™s basketball tournament after winning its Big South conference tournament, despite recording more losses than wins this past season.
While the Liberty University Flames made a quick, first-round exit, they were still the beneficiary of a national stage thanks to their tournament-opening matchup against North Carolina A&T.
Should our Huskies be so lucky.
The University of Connecticut”™s men”™s basketball team ”” winners of the 1999, 2004 and 2011 national championships ”” will be watching this year”™s tournament from home despite finishing the year in the top half of the Big East conference standings and ahead of two teams that were selected for the tournament.
Their absence has nothing to do with their performance on the court and everything to do with the academic performance of the students on their men”™s basketball squad.
Under rules approved in October 2011 by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, teams must meet certain academic standards in order to qualify for postseason play. UConn”™s men”™s basketball team didn”™t.
Despite the best efforts of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and then-head coach Jim Calhoun, the university failed to win its appeal with the NCAA, which had requested that the NCAA take into account more recent data than those factoring into the Huskies”™ 2013 ban.
Malloy called the NCAA”™s decision to not overturn its ruling “absolutely outrageous” at the time it was made last October.
On the contrary, the only thing that is outrageous is that UConn is forced to miss out on one of the premier marketing opportunities in all of higher education because for years, before the NCAA smartened up, the university”™s athletic department neglected the education of its star athletes.
To UConn”™s credit, it has shown measured improvement since the NCAA rule was approved a year and a half ago.
While university and state government leaders eye the next round of capital improvements to raise the school”™s profile on a national level, we hope ”” for the sake of the region”™s sports fans and businesses that benefit from a proximity to UConn ”” that the school will not forget to push for a higher standard from within.
