Complaints begin on NCAA report cards

"The Deep Dark"INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The NCAA had barely released its first report on teams' academic progress when the complaints began.

”We'd be remiss if we didn't express at least some concern that there are any number of flaws in this methodology,” Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione said.

The NCAA wants to hold schools more accountable for academic progress of athletes with a formula that tracks eligibility and retention. According to the report released Monday, half the 328 Division I schools have at least one team that could face sanctions of 5,270 teams nationwide.

Programs can lose scholarships for up to one year and no team can lose more than 10 percent of what it offers.

”This represents the implementation of the most far-reaching academic reform in decades,” NCAA president Myles Brand said. ”It holds schools accountable for the performance of their student-athletes.”

The new calculation generates a score between 0 and 1,000; penalties are assessed beginning with teams that drop below 925. The number is determined by a points formula that rewards long-term eligibility and retention of athletes. Programs can lose points when athletes transfer, drop out, leave for the pros or become academically ineligible while still at the school.

Under the formula, athletes receive one point each semester for staying academically eligible and another point for staying in school. For instance, a perfect score for a 13-member basketball team at a semester school would be 52.

The total number of points a team actually receives is divided by the maximum possible total to get a percentage, which is converted to the 1,000-point scale. No team can lose more than 10 percent of what it offers.

Some teams below the cutline will not be penalized because of a statistical adjustment that will help eliminate anomalies for teams with fewer athletes. Others can apply for a waiver.

At Oklahoma, the baseball, wrestling and men's and women's indoor track teams scored lower than the 92.5 percent mark.

”They're going to get a lot of waivers,” said Gerald Gurney, Oklahoma's associate athletic director for academic affairs. ”Any system that creates such a bureaucracy that you have huge numbers of waivers and very few people understand, you have a problem.”

At Maryland-Baltimore County, the men's indoor track team scored an extremely low 600 — a figure athletic director Charles Brown had already told NCAA officials was wrong.

”To be considered well below the cutline is very embarrassing and it hurts our recruiting,” Brown said. ”It's extremely upsetting that the NCAA released something when they know there are some flaws. This is an honors institution.”

The three sports that could be most affected are football, baseball and men's basketball. The NCAA estimates that 25 percent of football programs, 23 percent of baseball teams and 19 percent of men's basketball programs could face scholarship losses.

Football, baseball and men's basketball were the only sports with averages below the 925-point cutline. Baseball teams averaged 922, while football and men's basketball were at 923.

The most prominent programs that appeared in trouble were the men's basketball teams at Fresno State and Baylor. Fresno State received a 611, while Baylor scored 647 — a figure affected by the transfer of several players after the 2003 shooting death of Patrick Dennehy. Only one of those players remains on the team.

”If it were necessary to consider a waiver, we would do so,” Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw said. ”Hopefully at this point, our program is in good academic condition, and it won't become an issue for us.”

McCaw also said he wouldn't contest the numbers that were mailed to schools last week.

But some numbers appeared inaccurate to university leaders, and there appeared to be more problems with the track calculations. Houston's women's cross country team and the men's indoor track teams at Eastern Michigan and Seton Hall all scored zero.

NCAA officials acknowledged during the conference call that errors might have occurred or there might be just one athlete on those teams.

Schools can submit amended forms in March, with results expected to be released in April.

Monday's report indicates how schools are doing, based on data collected from the 2003-04 academic year. No penalties will be enforced until data from the 2004-05 school year are included.

Schools are expected to be notified in December of the final results, and programs must take the penalties as early as possible. Some schools could opt to take their punishment in the fall if they expect penalties.

Stronger sanctions, such as postseason bans for consistently poor long-term academic performance, are expected to be enforced by the fall of 2008.

But Brand believes the first step to correcting problems began Monday.

”In the case of the 7.2 percent of schools affected, they have not achieved the level of achievement they need to,” Brand said. ”They should take this as a serious warning.”

Associated Press writer Jeff Latzke in Oklahoma contributed to this report.