NCAA APR again hits schools with lesser resources

"If you can't graduate half your student-athletes, you shouldn't be
 worried about playing in championships or tournaments,"
  said NCAA President Mark Emmert.
 "There's more important things for you to be focused on."
(Courtesy NCAA.org)

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana  --  Eighteen Division I teams will miss the postseason, and another 18 in men's basketball and nine other college sports will trade practice time for remedial classroom sessions under NCAA academic progress reports released Tuesday.

Poor Academic Progress Rate scores mean postseason bans in the 2013-14 academic year for teams from 10 schools: Alabama State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Florida A&M, Florida International, Grambling State, Mississippi Valley State, New Orleans, Norfolk State, Savannah State and Southern. For Southern, its track team is ineligible for the postseason.

That compares to 15 teams ineligible for the 2012-13 postseason.

Five teams received Level 3 APR penalties, which can include financial aid reductions and multi-year postseason bans: the men's basketball teams at Grambling, Mississippi Valley, New Orleans and Louisiana-Monroe and Chicago State's women's volleyball team.

Most of the penalized schools have significantly more limited resources than top NCAA programs, including 11 historically black schools. Four of those banned are men's basketball squads from the 10-team Southwestern Athletic Conference.

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