Due to academic threshold failures, the University of Akron Zips football program is banned from postseason bowl games. The team’s APR (Academic Progress Rate) reportedly dropped below 930, the NCAA’s threshold for academic bowl eligibility.
Akron Football Declared Bowl Ineligible After Shocking APR Drop
Akron’s football program hasn’t reached a bowl game since 2017, and recent news due to a ruling from the NCAA means that streak will go on longer, as the NCAA has designated the school ineligible for postseason bowl games for the upcoming 2025 season following an APR score of 914.
NEW: Akron football’s multi-year Academic Progress Rate has dropped below 914📉✏️
The Zips are now ineligible for bowl games due to academic reasons. (h/t @RedditCFB)https://t.co/QovB5twqDy pic.twitter.com/bte0VCCceS
— On3 (@On3sports) May 6, 2025
The APR measures how universities keep their athletes academically eligible and on track to graduate over four years. The news comes after Akron had already received a Level One penalty after its APR dropped to 925 last season, which reduced practices. However, the 914 score came during the 2023-2024 season.
Akron’s penalty makes it the first school to receive such a ban since Idaho in 2017.
The NCAA had suspended APR penalties due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but announced that they would be reinstated for the 2024-2025 season. LSU and New Mexico State saw their APR drop below 930 during that suspension period, but those schools received a waiver.
Akron joins two other schools with the dubious penalty: Mississippi Valley State and the University of Arkansas—Pine Bluff, which also underwent multiple years with their APR below the threshold.
Understanding the APR: Key Facts About NCAA Academic Progress and How It Keeps College Athletes on Track
The news comes at a rough time for the Zips, who are coming off a dismal season in the MAC, during which they went 4-8 and had a conference record of 3-5.
It was their third season under coach Joe Moorhead, his best mark after back-to-back 2-10 seasons in 2022 and 2023. Akron’s last bowl game was the Boca Raton Bowl, when Terry Bowden was their coach, leading them to a 7-7 season.
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