KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Four men's teams at Tennessee did not meet the new standard set by the NCAA to measure academic progress, with the basketball team making the lowest score at the university.
Baseball, football and men's golf also fell below the cutoff while all the women's teams were above it. Five Tennessee women's teams, including basketball, had perfect scores.
The scores released Monday by the NCAA are a warning, and no penalties will be assessed based on the data collected from the 2003-04 academic year. Penalties, such as loss of scholarships, could be assessed as early as next year after two years of data has been collected.
The new standard, referred to as the Academic Progress Rate or APR, is determined for each team at all Division I schools. Each scholarship player earns points each semester for remaining eligible and staying in school.
The points for each team then are divided by the highest possible total of points a team could score. That percentage is assessed a point total, with 1,000 being the highest, and 925 - or 92.5 percent - established as the cutoff.
Men's basketball at Tennessee came in at 852 while baseball was 885, men's tennis 906 and football 920. Nationally, baseball teams averaged 922, while football and men's basketball were at 923.
"We knew a little bit about where we were going to be because of our tracking. I don't know if anything was a surprise," Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton said.
Around the rest of the state's universities, Vanderbilt may be in the best shape. The Nashville school had only one team below the 925 mark with women's golf measuring at 900 plus.
The worst was Tennessee State, with six programs below 925. Men's basketball was the worst at TSU at 875.
Men's sports also had problems at Memphis, where the only programs below 925 were men's basketball (891), men's soccer (888) and men's indoor track (875).
Middle Tennessee had the worst football rating of any Division I program in Tennessee at 802, and all of the state's five Division I-AA football programs were below 925, with Tennessee-Martin the lowest at 833. Austin Peay, which plays non-scholarship football, was at 905.
In basketball, five Division I programs were below 925 - Memphis, MTSU (820), Tennessee-Martin (900 plus), Tennessee Tech (917 plus) and Lipscomb (920).
University officials believe the issue of players turning professional early will be discussed more and may result in changes to the new rules.
"Overall, I'm pleased with the APR," Vanderbilt Vice Chancellor David Williams said. "It's a very, very complicated thing to sort of understand and get your arms around, and a lot of questions are still out there."
Teams that fall below 925 will lose a scholarship for every player who is ineligible and leaves school. After several years of data is collected, there will be historically based penalties for teams that chronically fall below 925. Penalties could be recruiting or postseason restrictions.
Tennessee officials would not say how many players from 2003-04 were ineligible and left school.
Hamilton was optimistic Tennessee's athletes would improve and meet the new standards.
"Our coaches are competitive people. Our athletes are competitive athletes. Any time there has been an increase in academic standards in the NCAA or at our institution, our coaches and student-athletes have risen to that occasion, and I would expect no less this time," Hamilton said.
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AP Sports Writer Teresa M. Walker in Nashville contributed to this report.
