Fan bases and alumni that resort to the “we have higher academic standards and a reputation” narrative are pretty full of themselves and I might add significantly insecure. Last I checked, Notre Dame, USC and Michigan rank higher than UVa academically in many if not most publications. And those schools care a great deal about academics and reputation. Yet they recruit from the same pool as Alabama, OSU and Clemson when it comes to football. And quite frankly so did Al Groh in the 2000s. I’m not knocking athletes here, but let’s be honest…. would the majority of current UVa football players be accepted by UVa solely based on their academic merit?

Last point…. I work with a Dookie who went to school at the same time as Bobby Hurley and Christian Laettner. He said no matter what time of day, those 2 and some other athletes were always playing foosball and pool at this local bar day and night as long as it didn’t interfere with basketball games and practices. He said they NEVER went to class. But because they played at prestigious Duke, they were probably academic all-Americans.