Good Question: 'Reply All': March Madness Edition (Pt. 2)
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- With March Madness back on the minds of millions of Americans, WCCO is hitting "Reply All" to your Good Questions.
Barb Mahal at Southwest High School wanted to know: What is the average GPA for players in the tournament and who has the highest?
The NCAA does not report out GPAs for individual teams, but does release the graduation rates and academic progress rates (APR) for each school. Last year, the University of Connecticut scored so poorly in that rating, they were banned from playing this year's tournament.
USA Today analyzed the APR rates and graduation rates for all student athletes and found Notre Dame to take top honors.
Maggie Erickson from Coon Rapids wanted to know: Why do basketball coaches wear suits?
The NCAA doesn't require coaches to wear suits, which is different from NFL teams who require coaches to wear team gear.
Jeff Halmos from suit design firm Shipley & Halmos said a suit presents a certain image on the court, an authority and respect for the game.
Last year, Esquire Magazine ranked the NCAA tournament coaches' attire. The winner: Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.
And what are the chances of picking a perfect bracket?
According to Depaul University math professor Jay Bergen, the odds are one in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808. But, if your picks are educated – for example, you don't choose any 16 over 1 seeds – the odds decrease to one in 128 billion.
Just for comparison, the odds of winning the Powerball are 1 in 175 million.
