Shockwaves in College Football: Top Program Faces Postseason Ban Over Academic Scandal
Here’s a curious little twist for the upcoming college football season: what if your team isn’t exactly sidelined by losses or injuries, but by something far less flashy—academics? Yep, the Akron Zips are slated to miss the postseason in 2025 not because they didn’t win enough, but because their Academic Progress Rate (APR) took a nosedive below the NCAA’s cutoff. Now, before you shrug and think, “Ah, Akron, who cares?”—consider this: this marks the first time in nearly a decade that a program’s been slapped with postseason ineligibility strictly for hitting the bookworm brakes. It’s almost poetic, in a bitter way, especially when you peg Akron’s historical struggles on the gridiron alongside this latest blow. But maybe, just maybe, this ignites a question: could a team’s worst stadium antics or a season mired in losses be outshined by off-the-field missteps? And might the Zips find a way to surprise everyone by turning this academic hill into a hill of triumph?
A certain college football program is going to be done for the year in December regardless of how well they do between September and November.
According to On3 Sports, the Akron Zips football program has been ruled academically ineligible for the postseason in 2025. The team reportedly scored below the threshold of 930 on the Academic Progress Rate (APR).
“Akron faced a reduction in practice last season as part of a Level One penalty when the APR fell to 925 – below the 930 threshold for postseason eligibility. However, that number dropped to 914 during the 2023-24 academic year, which means the program is not postseason eligible,” On3 explained.Â
The NCAA only recently brought back its APR penalties after suspending them for a time due to the COVID-19 pandemic interrupting classes. LSU previously fell below the threshold but received a COVID-19 waiver. Now it appears the punishments are back in force.
As a result, Akron will be the first school to be ruled postseason ineligible for academic reasons in nearly a decade.Â
Fortunately or unfortunately for the Zips, the program is in such rough shape that they might not even notice the punishment.
Over the last three seasons under head coach Joe Moorhead, Akron have won a grand total of eight games. In fact, in nearly 40 years as a Division I-FBS program, the team has only qualified for three bowl games, with their win coming in the 2015 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
The Zips have had only four winning seasons since the turn of the century.Â
College football fans were stunned by the news, though not particularly stressed over it being Akron to suffer this fate:
“This is sad but let’s be honest they weren’t qualifying for a bowl game anytime soon,” one user remarked.
“We already have the first team that won’t be going to the bowl. Akron is ineligible due to their Academic Progress Rate dropping below a critical 914,” another joked.
“I personally think this should earn them an automatic bowl bid,” joked a third.
“The Moorhead effect,” a fourth said at Coach Moorhead’s expense.
It sure would be ironic if the Zips suddenly had a great season in 2025.
Related: 2025 Preseason College Football Top 25 Poll Released
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