GUEST BELI-BLOGGER LEE MCD: FINAL FOUR????

Today I give you the Final Four of the NCAA men's college basketball tournament: Duke, Kansas, Vanderbilt, and Xavier. There you go! This is not a prediction. IT IS A FACT! You see, these are the only teams from the Sweet 16 that posted a 50% or better player graduation rate. Sixteen of the initial 65 teams had player graduation rates of 25% or less. Click here to read the full story from The New York Times yesterday, "Graduation is Secondary for Many in Final 16." (NOTE: You might need to login to read the article... feel free to use the Beli-Blog's account... the Member ID is 'beliblog', and the Password is 'readit'.)

Does this mean major men's basketball is just another farm club for the NBA or just a money making machine for a few persistent colleges? Is this information (trend??) OK? Is it disturbing? Or do we have more important things to worry about? I am naturally biased as my alma mater (Brown) NEVER makes it to the tournament, but it also, like many other colleges, elite and otherwise, nurture scholar-athletes, not athletic students (scholars?). Is this OK? Does everything have its place or is something out of whack?