The women's NCAA tournament has been played in the shadow of the men's event for years. When it comes to academics, however, the women own the spotlight.

Four teams in the women's round of 16 had perfect graduation rates, while five of the remaining men's teams graduated 50 percent or fewer of their players, according to a study released Wednesday.

The report from the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport found that top-seeded Connecticut, Ohio State, Stanford and Vanderbilt gave diplomas to 100 percent of their women's players during a six-year period. Seven other teams still alive had higher graduation success rates than the two top men's teams.

"The fact that there were so many women's teams that were higher than the top men's team was a little startling," said Richard Lapchick, who heads the institute at the University of Central Florida.

The report accompanies an annual study that examined Graduation Success Rates and the Academic Progress Rates for men's and women's NCAA tournament teams. The graduation rates were reviewed over four freshman classes beginning in 1998-99; the APR uses four-year data beginning in 2003-04.

Leading the men's programs were Duke and Villanova, each graduating 89 percent of its players. North Carolina (86), Xavier (82) and Purdue (77) also fared well, while the lowest graduation rate was at Arizona (20).

"No matter how many teams we examine, overall women's basketball student-athletes succeed academically better than their male counterparts," Lapchick said.

This was especially true at Connecticut, where the perfect graduation rate of the women's team stands in stark contrast to the top-seeded men, who were at 33 percent.

Three other schools still have both their programs in the tournaments. The Michigan State men (60 percent) were ninth and the women (85) 10th; the Oklahoma men (55) were 10th and the women (69) 13th; and the Louisville men (42) were 13th and the women (80) 11th.

Only the Oklahoma and Purdue men's teams had APR scores below 925, and Purdue's score of 894 could make it subject to NCAA penalties.

The report also noted a tremendous disparity in the graduation rate of black and white basketball players, although the gap has improved from a year ago.

Four women's teams and eight men's teams had graduation rates for black players that were at least 20 percent lower than their rates for white players.

"No matter whether we look at women's or men's college basketball," Lapchick said, "the gap between the graduation rates of white and African-American basketball student-athletes is too big."

Since NCAA president Myles Brand passed an academic reform package in 2005, Lapchick said the Graduation Success Rates and APR scores have increased. He said that's especially the case in basketball, where punishment with the loss of scholarships can be devastating.

"I think coaches took note of this looming penalty," Lapchick said. "When I go to college campuses now, people in athletics departments tell me, 'We're only recruiting athletes we know can graduate now.' The penalty is too severe not to."