Arnie Duncan wants tourney ban

In other political and basketball news, Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan has some harsh words for basketball fans. Duncan wants teams with over 40% graduating in six years to be playing in the tournament. In that case, Secretary Duncan needs to speak with NBA Commissioner David Stern. In most cases, the star players play for one season and leave. In some cases, two seasons. It's very rare these days to see a ballplayer playing for four seasons.

If U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan had his way, a dozen of the teams in the men's NCAA basketball tournament would not be eligible to play in it, including top-seeded Kentucky.

Duncan proposes teams with graduation rates of less than 40% be banned from postseason play.

"That's a low bar," Duncan said Tuesday. "If you can't graduate two out of five of your student-athletes, how serious are you about the academic part of your mission?"

The schools that have men's basketball teams with graduation rates of less than 40% are Arkansas-Pine Bluff (29%), Baylor (36%), California (20%), Clemson (37%), Georgia Tech (38%), Kentucky (31%), Louisville (38%), Maryland (8%), Missouri (36%), New Mexico State (36%), Tennessee (30%) and Washington (29%).