Talent level and major distribution in “Power Five” conference football programs

ABSTRACT

This article investigates whether an association existed between the talent level of football student-athletes who competed at “Power Five” institutions during the 2016 season and the likelihood that they were in a clustered major. Previous literature has researched whether clustering occurs and its association with sociological variables. The researchers performed a z-test of proportions to compare the proportion of football student-athletes in a specific major to the male undergraduate students in the same major to determine if a cluster existed, then used a chi-square test to examine the association between recruiting rank and clustering. The data set includes 21 “Power Five” football programs. To measure talent level, the researchers used the composite recruiting rank from 247sports.com. Results of the study showed that football student-athletes with a recruiting rank of three stars or higher were significantly more likely to be in a clustered major at five of the 21 institutions examined.

KEYWORDS:

• College sport
• major clustering
• academic integrity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jim Watkins

Jim Watkins is an assistant professor of sport studies at Tusculum University. Kelsey Slater is a lecturer in the kinesiology department at Mississippi State University.