NCAA academic report: Over 700 teams fail to make grade

INDIANAPOLIS -- NCAA president Myles Brand wants college teams concerned as much about academic scores as final scores. If they aren't, they might be barred from NCAA tournaments.

Brand warned the underachievers Tuesday they could get hit with the NCAA's harshest sanctions -- fewer scholarships, reductions in practice and even a postseason ban. Nearly 150 teams face potential scholarship losses and another 26 are on the brink of a postseason ban because of poor academics.

"Academic reform is here to stay, and those penalties resemble what we give for major infractions. So these are serious penalties, and there are a number of teams that received those," Brand said after releasing this year's Academic Progress Report. "Yes, there are individual institutions who have seen a steady decline (academically) over the last four years, and for them, the situation is dire."

Brand was mostly pleased with what he saw in the report.

Overall scores improved by four points since the NCAA began collecting data in 2003. Scores are also up in 26 of 29 sports over the last four years, and fewer teams were penalized than even NCAA officials expected last year. One reason was the substantial academic improvement made by baseball and football players. Those sports increased their average scores by 12 and 11 points since 2003, respectively, which equate to graduation rates in the mid-60s.

There was plenty of reason for concern, too.

More than 700 of the 6,272 Division I teams fell short of the mandated cut score of 925 to avoid penalties, and 218 were assessed punishments ranging from warning letters to reductions in practice times. Some were granted waivers, and others showed enough improvement to avoid penalties.

But the 26 teams that have scored less than 900 in two consecutive years must improve now. A third consecutive score below 900 would keep them out of NCAA tournaments in 2009-10, and a fourth straight year on the list could lead to having Division I status revoked.

"The penalties should tell people that we take this very seriously," said Walter Harrison, chairman of the NCAA's committee on academic performance. "These penalties will be equal to, or greater, than the most serious penalties you can take in infractions cases."

Schools already facing possible postseason bans include football teams at San Jose State, Southern and Temple and men's basketball teams at New Mexico State, Centenary and East Carolina.

Thirty-six teams were assessed two penalties, and three schools had more than one team hit twice -- Alabama-Birmingham in men's basketball, football and men's golf; San Diego State in baseball and football; and San Jose State in baseball and men's basketball.

Florida International had five teams -- baseball, football, men's basketball, men's outdoor track and field and women's swimming -- receive one sanction each.

Money is also becoming a more notable factor. According to the report, 180 teams cited low resources as the reason for poor scores, and 253 teams said they were hurt by the departures of academically ineligible players. Teams can cite more than one explanation for scores when filing the report.

Brand acknowledged there is a correlation between money and APR scores, though he called on athletic directors and university presidents to set better priorities.

"It's not as much about how many resources you have, as it is about where you put it," he said.