Purdue Passes The APR Test

The latest APR numbers are out and Purdue has passed in all 20 varsity sports that it sponsors. That means no ridiculous punishments like Oklahoma State losing a day of football practice per week or Connecticut being ineligible for the NCAA Tournament like they were a few years ago. Purdue is doing very well academically, with improvement coming almost entirely across the board. The latest scores represent the 2012-13 academic year, and here is how Purdue has done every year under the system:

Here is the explanation of the APR:

Every Division I sports team calculates its APR each academic year. Scholarship student-athletes each semester receive one point for remaining eligible and one point for staying in school or graduating. Teams scoring below certain thresholds can face consequences, including practice restrictions and playing season reductions. Rates are an average of the past four years' performance. National aggregates are based on all teams with usable data at the time of analysis.

In order to compete in the 2014-15 postseason, teams must achieve either a 930 multi-year APR or a 940 average over the most recent two years. This approach represents the next step in a phased-in move to a standard 930 benchmark, which will be in place for most schools with next year's announcement of 2013-14 data collected in the fall of 2014.

Some notes:

• Congratulations to women's volleyball, which is the only program at Purdue to have a perfect score in every year the APR has been tracked. Given that this has been Purdue's most successful sport of late Dave Shondell and his staff are doing an excellent job.
• Purdue met or exceeded its 2011-12 score in 15 of the 20 sports.
• In five that dropped, three were by three points or less, so marginal drops at best.
• Men's and women's basketball suffered the biggest drops at 10 points each.
• The Men's score is a bit of a concern, as the departure of so many players at the end of 2013 could have an effect when this year's numbers are released.
• In that same vein, Purdue lost a scholarship because of low basketball numbers in both 2006-07 and 2007-08, mostly because of the exodus of players during the Keady-Painter transition.
• No programs are in any danger of being sanctioned or missing the 2014-15 postseason. Men's Swimming is the closest at 945, but is still safe by five points.
• The football program has improved every single year under this metric. This is huge, as it has the most athletes on scholarship of any team with 85.

Finally, here is how Purdue stands up to the rest of the Big Ten in the two big money sports: