THE NAMES ARE SIMILAR: Crimson and Crimson Tide. Toss out the detergent and they are the same. By reputation, the two are a pair of the nation's foremost institutions--in the classroom it's Harvard, on the gridiron Alabama.

In the conventional wisdom, the two don't even overlap: Harvard is for the best and the brightest, 'Bama for the biggest and the brawniest. Cambridge has a Nobel prize-laden faculty, Tuscaloosa has the legacy of its great football coach, Paul "the Bear" Bryant.

Now something's up in the Bear's backyard. Alabama President Joab L. Thomas '55, who holds three Harvard degrees, established new standards for his school's football program in announcing the appointment of Bill Curry as head coach. Thomas hired Curry for three reasons: first, personal integrity; second, a commitment to improving the academic performance of his players; and third--and last--desire to win.

These are not new words from a university president announcing the appointment of a new coach. Stressing the importance of academic achievement at a press conference is easy, but Thomas has made a commitment to improved education at Alabama with higher admission standards, the introduction of a core curriculum and a recruiting program--not for football prospects, but for better faculty.

The Crimson Tide's new coach also reflects Thomas's commitment to academics. Curry earned an engineering degree at Georgia Tech and recalled how his college football coach had helped him with his studies by making him run steps when he cut chemistry. As a professional football player, Curry learned that only 37 percent of NFL players had a college degree. If you want proof positive that Curry was hired to do more than win, just look at his own record. Coaching at his alma mater, he had a losing record--hardly the normal credentials to coach at one of the premier programs in the country.

Thomas has received several death threats after appointing an outsider to lead the Tide. Such things have come to be expected in our sports-crazed society where universities are often confused for places for playing football, instead of places where young people--some of whom play football--are educated. Taking a stand for education at Harvard is easy. Taking a stand for education at Alabama is courageous. And admirable. The whole college football world should follow Thomas's example.