Jim Tressel has made Ohio State a perennial national title contender, beaten Michigan eight out of nine times and singlehandedly made the sweater-vest a fashion staple, but his most impressive accomplishment may be off the field where he, apparently, has revolutionized the football team’s academic performance.  The Buckeyes are now, on paper, the most bookwormish team in the Big Ten.

The changes are tangible as well. According to Dr. Bruno, the faculty rep, the football team’s GPA has risen in Tressel’s tenure from about a 2.5 his first year to around a 3.0. From the 2003-04 season, when the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate was first tabulated, to the 2008-09 season, Ohio State’s APR for football has jumped from 892 to 975, out of a 1,000-point scale.

In 2001, the Buckeyes had nine players on the Big Ten’s All-Academic football team, which ranked seventh in the conference. Since 2002, the Buckeyes have led the league or tied for the league lead each season. The total of 202 All-Academic Big Ten players in nine years under Tressel is 45 more than Minnesota, the team with the second-most players on the list.

Average GPA is a nebulous measure.  Grades can be malleable, as Andy Katzenmoyer proved.  Tressel could also have loaded the scrub team with engineering students, but this seems to be a direct contradiction to the theory that you need thugs to win in college football.  Michigan has been loading up on criminals and violent drug dealers and look where it has gotten them.

[Photo via Getty]