How important is academic quality?

Acsdemic rigor may not be uniform within a school.

UNC Chapel Hill is well regarded academically overall, yet it ran a scam African American studies department for 17 years to give recruited athletes fake high grades to enable them to maintain elegibility. The scam was such a poorly kept secret that so many non-athletes took the courses to boost their GPA, that they inadvertently graduated with a minor in African-American studies.

http://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/unc-academic-scandal-leaves-university-in-peril-beyond-athletics/