Samford snubbed by the B'ham News?

The Birmingham News on Thursday had this story about the NCAA's Academic Progress Rates and their impact on programs in Alabama. Predictably, Auburn and Alabama were highlighted, with the obligatory bone thrown to UAB. What's a little suprising is that Samford, which had the highest football APR of any Division I school in the state, wasn't mentioned in the story. Anywhere. Interestingly, the News chose to lead with Auburn's supposed academic preminence. The Tigers finished third in the nation academically, we're told. Well, among BCS teams that is.

Misleading? Phillip Poole, Samford's head PR man, thought so. He ripped the News a new one in this letter printed in Sunday's paper. Here's an excerpt:

Even more disheartening, however, was that Samford University, Alabama's largest private higher education institution, was not mentioned. We have the highest APR scores in the state in both football and men's basketball - not to mention that both are among the highest in the nation - and yet that was not even acknowledged unless the reader takes the time to look at the alphabetical listing on Page 6A and does a comparison of the numbers.

Oh, and the story does take note of Jax State's loss of scholarships under the APR rules. They even talked to Jack Crowe about it. So they do know that I-AA teams exist. Why ignore Samford's impressive achievement?

Oh, and for the record, Google Maps says it's 5.2 miles from the News' office to Samford's campus. It's 110 miles to Auburn. Just thought that was worth noting.