Temple was hit with loss of scholarships and practice time

Despite the overall improvement, however, five MAC football squads (Akron, Buffalo, Central Michigan, Temple and Toledo) were penalized with the loss of scholarships based upon the rolling four-year average. No basketball squads were hit with scholarship reductions based on the latest numbers from the NCAA.

This season the MAC's football squads averaged 920.2 in APR, an increase from last season when the three-year rolling average for the MAC was 913. Men's basketball posted a 938.4 average, representing a slight decrease from last season's mark of 941 for men's hoops programs.

The national four-year average APR for division one schools was 934 for football and 928 for basketball.  

The APR formula was devised by the NCAA as a real-time assessment of academic performance as opposed to the six-year graduation rate method that the NCAA also uses. The APR gives two points each term to student-athletes who meet academic eligibility standards and remain with the school. The team's total APR is the sum of the total points earned by the team divided by possible total points.

Based on this formula, the NCAA has set a score of 925 as the "cut score" for contemporaneous (loss of scholarship) penalties. An APR score of 925 (out of a possible 1000) translates to an approximate graduation rate of 60 percent. There are however, adjustments that can be made to a school's APR which impact potential penalties.

Schools that continue to score below 925, and fail to show improvement, are also subject to "historical penalties" under the NCAA APR guidelines.

The only MAC program subject to the historical penalty provisions was Temple's football squad which registered the conference's lowest APR score of 868 after receiving a public notice last year in the first phase of the historical penalty process.

The Owls fell under "phase two" of the historical penalty provision, and are limited to 81 total scholarships and 22 initial scholarships. The Owls were also hit with a practice time limitation of 16 hours per week. Continued lack of improvement could subject Temple to future sanctions including loss of  bowl game eligibility next season. A fourth consecutive year of poor APR results could result in loss of division one membership.

Despite the harsh penalties, Temple athletic officials indicate that progress is being made under head coach Al Golden pointing out that the APR score of athletes recruited by Golden was 980 and that Golden's second recruiting class projects out to an APR score of 975, though final figures will not be available until the end of the spring semester. Officials further stressed that the current APR score and penalties arose due to academic failings prior to 2006-2007, something that head coach Al Golden also emphasized when commenting on the Owls' APR.

"The penalties we received today were historical in nature," said Golden. "Not a single member of our organization was here when these issues transpired. In the world of college football coaching we have a saying, 'yesterday ended last night' and the more detractors choose to replay what occurred in the past, the further they will get away from the significance of what these young men have accomplished over the last two years"

"We have corrected this problem, have surpassed the minimal APR level and are achieving high standards in the classroom," Golden added.

While the NCAA publicly released the APR figures today, schools were notified privately in Fall 2007 and were encouraged to take any contemporaneous penalties, if possible, in the 2007-2008 academic year.

Hit with the largest number of scholarship reductions was Toledo which loses six football scholarships after posting an APR score of  892. The Rockets were able to demonstrate academic progress, according to athletic director Mike O'Brien and were therefore not subject to the historical penalty provisions of the NCAA. Toledo's football squad reported an APR score of 885 in the previous reporting period. The penalties mean that the Rockets were limited to 79 athletic scholarships out of a possible 85 last year and 22 out of a possible 25 initial scholarships for the 2007 recruiting class.

Similarly, Buffalo and Akron were hit with contemporaneous penalties, with the Bulls losing two football scholarships and the Zips receiving a reduction of five football scholarships under the contemporaneous penalty provisions but were each able to demonstrate continued academic progress, avoiding the historical penalty provisions. Buffalo scored 893 and Akron 920 in the most recent APR tally. 

The Zips are administering the loss of five scholarships in two phases, first by not renewinig three athletic scholarships in the current  2007-2008 academic year and then will complete the second phase by not renewing two additional scholarships in 2008-2009.

In addressing the football team's APR score, Akron athletic director Mack Rhoades, in a prepared statement said,  "We worked with the NCAA in a collaborative effort and our department's newly implemented initiatives over the last year, established prior to the NCAA report, will help move us toward the goal of getting back above and beyond the 925 standard." Akron was subject to the penalty provisions in part due to the departure of players from the program who were academically ineligible. 

While eight of the MAC's thirteen football-playing members, and two basketball squads, scored below 925, not all of the squads were subject to the penalty provisions of the APR formula thanks to successfully filing waivers or having no students leave the team while academically ineligible.

Kent State, which scored below 925 in both basketball and football, successfully filed a waiver for its football squad according Kristin Reid, assistant athletic director for academic services at Kent State. The Golden Flashes were able to demonstrate to the NCAA's satisfaction that they are making sufficient progress in their academics as the Golden Flashes recored the highest graduation rate among the thirteen MAC football programs this past academic year according to Reid. Kent State's men's basketball program, despite an APR of 915, was also spared scholarship sanctions due to the fact that the Golden Flashes did not have any players leave the program while academically ineligible (so-called "zero for two" students). Additionally, Kent State's men's basketball squad scored a perfect 1000 in this past year's APR.

Miami's four-year average APR score of 965 topped the MAC in football while Toledo topped all men's hoops programs with a four-year rolling average of 970.

Nationally, thirty-nine basketball and thirty-six football programs were hit with scholarship losses.

MAC Football APR Scores

MAC Men's Basketball APR Scores