...Since coming into existence in 1906, the NCAA has struggled with its basic charter -- identifying and maintaining the correct balance between athletics and academics.

In recent years, the NCAA has established the Academic Progress Rate (APR), which creates a baseline measurement of retention and graduation rates its member schools must meet or risk the forfeiture of scholarships.

One might question the logic of taking away scholarships from underachieving athletic programs, but that's another matter.

And obviously, we'll never see a scenario in which an academic test becomes a part of an athletic event -- such as the hypothetical case above -- but at least one Washington think tank would like to see classroom performance have a bearing on which schools are in line to receive multi-million dollar Bowl Championship Series payoffs.

"In general, athletes graduate at a higher rate than the general student population," said Lindsey Luebchow, a policy analyst at the non-profit New America Foundation. "In general, student-athletes are doing a good job, but football and basketball are different stories."

Luebchow also is [a contributor] of Higher Ed Watch, a respected blog. Recently, she was asked by ESPN.com to develop a way to measure the academic performance of BCS teams and came up with a system that goes well beyond the NCAA's APR.

She chose to add or subtract points based on the team's graduation rate when compared to that of the school, and rewarded or penalized a team for a high disparity between graduation rates of black and white athletes, again measured against the school's general population.

Yes, the race issue.

"A lot of students are being recruited for athletics that are not prepared for college, having come from places that do not put a priority on education," Luebchow said. "But once these students are admitted, the schools have the responsibility to make sure these students have access to the tools necessary to leave with a degree."

Luebchow applied her math and on Tuesday released her re-ranking of the 25 teams listed in the most recent BCS standings, throwing out on-field performance. Her academic national championship game?

Let us all yawn in unison. It's No. 1 Boston College against No. 2 Cincinnati. ...

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