NCAA Approves APR Cutline Increase

We had a feeling this NCAA summit was going to be different.

In the past, these "summits" were kind of like bench-clearing brawls.  Lots of pushing and shoving, but no real substance.

But this time, the NCAA said there were serious issues to be addressed.  Full cost of scholarships.  Multi-year scholarships.  Possible freshmen ineligibility.

And yesterday, the group fired the first salvo, raising the cutline for the Academic Progress Rate (APR) from 925 to 930.

It's going to take awhile for this new measure to go through.  The NCAA will give schools time to adjust and use a phase-in period, probably as much as five years.

But they're serious this time.  So serious that they're basically doing away with the appeals process.  In the past, if a school fell below the four year average of 925, they could still participate if they were showing that they were making progress toward achieving the goal.  That's the reason Louisiana's basketball team was still eligible for post-season, even though their APR four year average was below the cutline.

Under the new system, it will be cut and dried.  Make the grade, or lose postseason eligibility.

If the new criteria had been in place this year, twelve participants in the NCAA basketball tournament would have been ineligible.  And, since UCONN has fallen below the 930 mark for next year, they would not have been eligible to defend their championship in 2012.

Now, that's serious.