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NCAA hits 99 teams with academic penalties



INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Ninety-nine teams at 65 schools produced failing marks under the NCAA's new academic measurements and could begin losing scholarships next fall.

Teams that fall below the NCAA's cutoff line would not be able to replace those scholarships when academically ineligible athletes leave school. The NCAA has limited penalties to a maximum of 10 percent of the scholarships.
Football teams had the worst overall results Thursday, followed by baseball and men's basketball. Nine women's programs were penalized.

The NCAA also released a list of schools that consistently outperformed the academic standards. Among those were Brown, Harvard, Yale, Notre Dame, the three U.S. military academies and William and Mary.

NCAA officials said they were pleased with the improvement over last year when it appeared 6 percent of schools could be sanctioned. Less than 2 percent of all teams were actually penalized Thursday because of their academic performance.

NCAA president Myles Brand attributed some of the improvement to a statistical adjustment made for squad size - something that will eventually be phased out.

"Our goal is not to sanction schools but to change behavior, and we are seeing some positive results," Brand said. "But those schools who were helped by the squad-size adjustment are at risk."

Sacramento State in California had the most teams affected (six) and could face the loss of as many five athletes. The school could lose as many as 2.3 scholarships.

Prairie View A&M, in Texas, was among the hardest sanctioned schools. It could lose nearly 10 athletes in five sports and be penalized 5.3 scholarships in football and nearly eight altogether.

Ten schools could lose more than 17 athletes in football alone.

Only seven teams in the six power conferences - Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Southeastern and Pac-10 - were sanctioned. Four schools - Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Texas of the Big 12, and Tennessee of the SEC - had insufficient scores in baseball. West Virginia of the Big East was penalized in men's wrestling and Mississippi of the SEC was sanctioned in men's indoor track.

DePaul of the Big East was the only power conference school to be penalized in football or men's basketball. It could lose one scholarship in men's basketball.

There is some concern that historically black colleges and universities were affected disproportionately.

"It is an issue," Brand said. "A number of those institutions received mission exemptions, but there are a number of institutions that are still not performing as well for student-athletes as they are for the rest of the student body."

Kevin Lennon, the NCAA's vice president for membership services, said 63 teams received waivers, primarily based on mission statements. Sixteen waivers were rejected.

Forty-three football teams fell below the cutline, with 23 actually sanctioned. Baseball was second with 40 teams missing the cutline and 21 facing penalties; and men's basketball was third with 37 teams failing to make the grade and 17 receiving sanctions.

Brand said baseball has been hit harder because more players leave school early for professional leagues and transfer rules do permit baseball players to sit out one season before continuing their college career.

Harsher penalties will be handed out in the future.

Next year, the NCAA will begin sending warning letters to schools whose teams have historically fared poorly in academics. In 2007-08, those schools could face the loss of scholarships and in 2008-09, the penalties could include a ban from postseason tournaments.