The APR assigns each athlete two points per semester: one for staying with the school, another for staying academically eligible. An athlete who flunks out would count as 0-for-2. An athlete in good academic standing can be counted as a 1-for-2 if he or she leaves school early. A team's APR is computed by dividing its points earned by its total possible points, on a 1,000-point scale.

A team is penalized a scholarship only when it has a four-year APR below 925 and loses a student-athlete who would not have been academically eligible had he or she returned to the school (an 0-for-2 athlete). Penalized teams cannot re-award that scholarship to another player for one year.

Additionally, historical penalties can be meted out if the APR is under 900 and no improvement is shown. In the first year of historical penalties, a school gets a public notice, as is the case this year with SDSU baseball and football. In the second year, additional practice and scholarship restrictions are given. A third straight year of historical penalties can bring a postseason ban.

NATIONALLY SPEAKING . . .

Nationally, NCAA President Myles Brand noted overall improvement, though 26 schools are facing postseason bans next year if they don't improve. Those teams include the Fresno State men's basketball team, the Sacramento State football team and the San Jose State football, men's cross country and men's soccer teams.

“We've been at this long enough where we can now recognize which teams and potentially which schools have problems, and we can address the specific problems,” Brand said of the APR, now in its fourth year. “We're getting to the point where we understand that the problems for different teams and different schools are not necessarily the same, and we can be more individualized in our attention and approach.”

While Division I baseball (938), football (934) and basketball (928) posted the lowest average four-year APRs for men's teams, baseball and football average APRs for 2006-07 are up about 12 and 11 points, respectively, from 2003-04. Men's basketball remains a concern with an average just above the penalty threshold. SDSU men's basketball's four-year APR is 929.

There were nearly 700 fewer flunk-outs (0-for-2 athletes) in 2006-07 than 2003-04. The Division I average for all student-athletes is 961.

San Jose State took a beating, including the worst football rate in Division I-A (865). Its football team has been limited to 16 hours of countable activity per week (practices), four hours under the maximum. It also is limited to 19 new scholarships for recruits, six under the maximum, plus a limit of 67 scholarship renewals.

“We cannot undo what has been done, but we can shape the future,” SJSU said in a statement. “We remain steadfastly committed to marching down the path to academic success that has been laid since January 2005.”

– BRENT SCHROTENBOER