<p>keefer,
I don’t think you appreciate how the top private colleges approach their football recruiting. They really are trying to attract good players…who are also good students. And the graduation statistics indicate that they have been doing a pretty good job of this. </p>
<p>Rice is a good example of this with an 89% graduation rate for its football players (as well as 93% for its highly rated baseball and 93% for all of its student-athletes) vs. a university-wide rate of 91%. By comparison, a larger public university like U Michigan has only a 68% graduation rate for its football players vs 88% for all students. Schools like Rice are NOT athletic factories, but places where the students are truly students and are incorporated into the fabric of the school and yet still perform in highly competitive leagues and on a national level.</p>
<p>As for your comments about who Rice (or other top privates) will recruit, consider the following statements from Rice’s football coach found in the following link about the challenges of recruiting and competing at a college that demands academic ability from its recruits:</p>
<p>[Rice</a> Official Athletic Site](<a href=“http://riceowls.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/090808aac.html]Rice”>http://riceowls.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/090808aac.html)</p>
<p>“You can take 75-percent of the recruits in the country and they can’t come to Rice, and they probably can’t go to Vanderbilt. It lets you narrow your focus on the ones that are great fits. I really think that’s a positive and that’s how we approach it here. We’re going to get guys that are great fits academically and athletically. If you do your homework–you’re out there on the field. That’s why recruiting is going so well for us: because of our approach. I’ll bet you that’s what Vanderbilt is doing too–they had seven guys last year from Vanderbilt that were either drafted or went into the NFL. That hasn’t happened by accident….You look at Northwestern, you pull for those guys because there are similarities. Vanderbilt [and] Stanford, you pull for those guys too. You do know some of the battles that they and you go through but there are tough things at every job. I don’t think that’s one of the tough ones here.”</p>
<p>Now, as for the competitiveness of Duke football, let’s be kind and just say that they are a minor campus distraction and lead-in to the main event that plays out over the winter months. 
</p>
<p>And as for Cornell making the NCAA basketball tournament, please remember that they qualified by winning their league and thus receiving an automatic invitation. By contrast, schools like Stanford, Duke, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, did not win their conferences, but all were still invited due to their strong, nationally competitive teams that posted excellent seasons.</p>