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All things being otherwise equal, being a star athlete is a distinct advantage to any competitive admissions school, whether Ivy, Duke, Stanford, or the military academies. But the athlete cannot deviate greatly from the school’s norm. The Ivies and other competitive schools are not going to take a kid with very low SATs or GPA. The highly competitive schools will only go so far as to take an athlete who’s at the low end of the school’s mid-range. Beyond that, it doesn’t matter how good an athlete the kid is.

All things being otherwise equal, being a star athlete is a distinct advantage for entry to any competitive admissions school, whether Ivy, Duke, Stanford, or the military academies. (same is true for band at schools where that is important).

But the athlete cannot deviate greatly from the school’s norm. The competitive schools are not going to take a kid with very low SATs or GPA. The highly competitive schools will only go so far as to take an athlete who’s at the low end of the school’s mid-range. Beyond that, it doesn’t matter how good an athlete the kid is.

I have no doubt that desired athletes are treated differently than other students when it comes to admission requirements. It's a sad reality of today's collegiate economics.

I used Stanford as an example of what college athletic programs could and should be as I have first hand knowledge of just how stringent their admission standards are, and that they are applied evenly. I would also offer Duke as a similar example.There are many others that can also be cited, Ivy League included - although I'm sure exceptions are made, especially for minorities who come from difficult environments. Even so, it's near impossible to go to Princeton if you're a dummy.

But let's not forget the comment I was originally responding to:

The whole concept of top level college football being associated with “academics” is somewhat of a stretch.

I've found that people who make broad and sweeping generalizations like this one usually don't have much of an understanding of the subject. Your mileage may vary.