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(AP) -- If grades make you a long shot for college, you're much more likely to get a break if you can play ball.

An Associated Press review of admissions data submitted to the NCAA by most of the 120 schools in college football's top tier shows that athletes enjoy strikingly better odds of having admission requirements bent on their behalf.

The notion that college athletes' talents give them a leg up in the admissions game isn't a surprise. But in what NCAA officials called the most extensive review to date, the AP found the practice is widespread and can be found in every major conference.

The review identified at least 27 schools where athletes were at least 10 times more likely to benefit from special admission programs than students in the general population.

The NCAA defines special admissions programs as those designed for students who don't meet "standard or normal entrance requirements." The NCAA says such exceptions are fine as long as schools offer the same opportunities to everyone from dancers, French horn players and underrepresented minorities as they do to fleet-footed wide receivers and 300-pound offensive linemen.The NCAA sets minimum eligibility standards to compete once a student is in college, but leaves admissions decisions to individual schools and does not compare "special admits" across schools.

Kevin Lennon, NCAA vice president for academic and membership affairs, noted that NCAA schools face penalties, including losing scholarships, if athletes' graduation rates are too low or if they fail to show adequate progress toward a degree.

"While it's an institution's decision on who they bring in, we're most interested in what they do once they get there," he said. "And if they're not successful, there are consequences."And several schools report no special admissions but describe in great detail remedial efforts and other programs that adhere to the NCAA's definition of special admissions.

At South Carolina, All-American linebacker Eric Norwood recently graduated early with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice.

Norwood was twice denied admission to South Carolina before being accepted as a special admit. The school softened special admission standards in 2007 after coach Steve Spurrier threatened to quit when two recruits who met NCAA eligibility requirements were turned down.

"When I got here I applied myself," Norwood said. "I had great support from the academic staff, great support from the football staff. And my teammates, they held me accountable."

South Carolina athletic director Eric Hyman dismissed critics who call special admissions simply a way to land athletes.

"It's also a way to get better artists, better musicians," he said. "It's not all athletes. If you graduate, if your people are successful, there's going to be more flexibility. And that's what we've done.

(Copyright ©2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)