Akron is an important patch in the college football quilt—John Heisman made one of his first coaching stops there, for instance. However, the Zips have fallen on dark times.
The COVID-19 pandemic decimated the university, and its once-reliable recruiting base has been bleeding population for decades. These socioeconomic factors add up, and on Tuesday Akron fans learned their team will not be going bowling this year due to a low Academic Progress Rate.
Academic Progress Rate measures term-by-term eligibility rates, with programs whose APRs fall under 930 receiving certain sanctions. A low APR in the 2022 season cost the Zips practice time, and an even lower one in 2023 will—in a rarity—cost Akron a bowl game this season.
APR is a frequently criticized metric on several grounds—observers have characterized it as unhelpful at best and racist at worst—but it’s apparent that the Zips’ struggles need attention.
Akron last played in a bowl game in 2017, when it lost 50–3 to Florida Atlantic in the Boca Raton Bowl.
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