--- title: NCAA Final Four: UConn and Villanova Shine in Academics description: If the classroom counted on the scoreboard, these teams would be on top canonical: https://time.com/4276806/final-four-ncaa-tournament-academic-rankings/ author: Sean Gregory article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-31T20:11:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:41:51.328Z article:section: Sports og:title: The NCAA Final Four, Ranked by Academics og:description: If the classroom counted on the scoreboard, these teams would be on top og:url: https://time.com/4276806/final-four-ncaa-tournament-academic-rankings/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte0f109eabd4842d2/69888d4fcd1bba40ed700103/ncaa-march-madness-final-four.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: APTOPIX NCAA UNC Wilmington Duke Basketball og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The NCAA Final Four, Ranked by Academics twitter:description: If the classroom counted on the scoreboard, these teams would be on top twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte0f109eabd4842d2/69888d4fcd1bba40ed700103/ncaa-march-madness-final-four.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The NCAA Final Four Ranked by Academic Performance > Sponsored content. 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The March 2016 NCAA college men's basketball tournament.Charles Krupa—AP  by [Sean Gregory](https://time.com/author/sean-gregory/)  ## Sean Gregory Senior Correspondent Mar 31, 2016 8:11 PM UTC No team entered the [NCAA men’s basketball tournament](http://time.com/4273392/march-madness-final-four-syracuse/) with a worse record than Holy Cross, a Jesuit liberal arts school with 2,855 students in Worcester, Mass. The Crusaders finished regular season 10-19; they needed to win four consecutive games, all on the road, to win the Patriot League men’s basketball tournament and [clinch a spot](http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2016/03/09/holy-cross-lehigh-patriot-league-ncaa-tournament) in the Big Dance, where they didn’t last long. Holy Cross won a play-in game against Southern before Oregon crushed them in the first round, 91-52. If the men’s hoops brackets mimicked academic performance, however, Holy Cross would be cutting down the nets. According to new academic rankings compiled by the Washington think tank [New America](https://www.newamerica.org/) and shared exclusively with TIME, the small college had the strongest academic ranking of all 68 teams in the men’s tournament. If this year’s basketball brackets played out like academic matchups, with the school with the higher ranking advancing to the next round, the men’s Final Four would look like this: **Villanova** wins the South — which the Wildcats also did on the court, so kudos to ‘Nova for the all-around success — **Holy Cross** comes out of the West, **Notre Dame** wins the East and **Butler** takes the Midwest. Holy Cross knocks off Villanova in one national semifinal. Butler beats Notre Dame in the other semi, with Holy Cross taking the title game. ### NCAA March Madness: Highlights from Villanova’s Victory Over North Carolina  The Villanova Wildcats celebrate defeating the North Carolina Tar Heels 77-74 to win the 2016 NCAA college basketball National Championship game on April 4, 2016 in Houston. Streeter Lecka—Getty Images  The Villanova Wildcats hoist the trophy after defeating the North Carolina Tar Heels 77-74 to win the NCAA college basketball National Championship game on April 4, 2016 in Houston. Streeter Lecka—Getty Images  North Carolina's Theo Pinson sits in the locker room after Villanova defeated North Caroline in the NCAA college basketball National Championship game on April 4, 2016 in Houston. Eric Gay—AP  Villanova Wildcats' Kris Jenkins (2) shoots the game-winning three pointer to defeat the North Carolina Tar Heels 77-74 in the NCAA college basketball National Championship game on April 4, 2016 in Houston. Streeter Lecka—Getty Images  North Carolina Tar Heels guard Marcus Paige (5) shoots and scores a three-point basket against the Villanova Wildcats in the second half of the NCAA college basketball National Championship game on April 4, 2016 in Houston. Robert Deutsch—USA Today Sports/Reuters  Villanova guard Josh Hart (3) prepares to shoots as North Carolina forward Justin Jackson (44) defends during the second half of the NCAA college basketball National Championship game on April 4, 2016 in Houston. Eric Gay—AP  Villanova forward Daniel Ochefu (23) and North Carolina forward Kennedy Meeks (3) scramble for the ball during the second half of the NCAA college basketball National Championship game on April 4, 2016 in Houston. Eric Gay—AP  Villanova Wildcats Daniel Ochefu (23) lays up the ball up against North Carolina Tar Heels' Joel James (42) during the NCAA college basketball National Championship game on April 4, 2016 in Houston. Ronald Martinez—Getty Images  Villanova Wildcats guard Jalen Brunson (1) shoots the ball against North Carolina Tar Heels forward Kennedy Meeks (3) during the second half NCAA college basketball National Championship game on April 4, 2016 in Houston. Bob Donnan—USA Today Sports/Reuters  Villanova Wildcats' Daniel Ochefu (23) shoots against North Carolina Tar Heels' Marcus Paige (5) in the first half of the NCAA college basketball National Championship game on April 4, 2016 in Houston. Chris Steppig—Press Pool/Getty Images  North Carolina forward Justin Jackson (44) shoots against Villanova guard Josh Hart (3) during the first half of the NCAA college basketball National Championship game on April 4, 2016 in Houston. Eric Gay—AP  Fans cheer during the first half of the NCAA college basketball National Championship game between Villanova and North Carolina on April 4, 2016 in Houston. Kevin Jairaj—USA Today Sports/Reuters The academic champion on the women’s side tracks more closely with the action on the court. The University of Connecticut is the polar opposite of Holy Cross: the Huskies entered the tournament with the overall top seed and an undefeated record. In fact, the UConn women are so good, they’ve sparked a debate about whether their success is [dulling the women’s game ](http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2016/3/27/11312956/geno-auriemma-slams-uconn-critics-tiger-woods-womens-ncaa-tournament)(as if it’s their fault no one can beat them?). The Huskies are riding a 72-game winning streak and trouncing opponents by ridiculous scores (i.e. their 98-38 Sweet 16 win over Mississippi State). UConn is a safe bet to win its 4th straight national championship. And if the women’s hoops brackets mimicked academic performance, things would stay pretty much the same. According to New America’s rankings, Uconn is first among the 64 teams in the women’s tournament. The women’s academic Final Four would have played out like this: **UConn** took the Bridgeport regional, **DePaul** won Dallas, **Buffalo** was best in the Sioux Falls regional, and **Stanford** clinched Lexington. UConn beat DePaul in one Final Four game; Stanford beat Buffalo in the other. UConn may trample ts opponent in the national title game, on April 5\. But in the academic championship, the Huskies just eked out Stanford. What about the teams that made the actual Final Four? If the schools in this year’s semi-finals– which tip off from Houston on April 2 for the men, and from Indianapolis on April 3 for the women — played an academic game, Villanova (3rd overall in the New America rankings) would top Oklahoma (50th) in one men’s semi, while North Carolina (45th) trumps Syracuse (57th) in the other. Villanova takes it all. For the women, UConn (first overall in the New America rankings) beats Oregon State (58th), and Syracuse (14) gets by Washington (18). UConn topples Syracuse in the final. The formula for New America’s March Madness follows that of its College Football Playoff rankings released[ in December](http://time.com/4147924/college-football-top-25-ranked-by-academics/) (Northwestern took that title). The base score is a school’s most recent basketball “Graduation Success Rate,” a figure measured by the NCAA that doesn’t dock schools for having players who transfer or go pro before graduating–as long as those players leave in good academic standing. The higher the team’s graduation success rate, the higher they start out in New America’s rankings. (Both the Holy Cross men and UConn women have 100% graduation success rates). New America did subtract points from schools that graduate men’s and women’s basketball players at a much different rate than the overall men’s and women’s graduation rate at the school. To compare students to athletes, New America relied on federal graduation rates, since there’s no graduation success rate for the general student body. Even if a school graduated basketball players at _higher_ rates than the overall male or female student population, the difference was counted as a penalty against schools that have low overall graduation rates. One important note: Ivy League schools, and the military academies, do not report federal graduation rates for their sports programs. So in the men’s tournament, Yale was excluded, while Penn, Princeton, and Army were not counted in the women’s rankings. Academically, the women’s teams fared much better than the men. The average New America scores for teams in the women’s field were 51% higher than the men’s teams. Twice as many women’s teams (22 vs. 11) suited up squads with a 100% graduation success rate. This difference is particularly stark at UConn. While the women finished first, the men’s team finished at the very bottom of New America’s rankings. According to federal data, UConn men’s basketball players graduate at a 6% rate, while the overall male student body has a 79% graduation rate. 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