The Colorado Buffaloes were penalized for poor performance in the classroom, losing five scholarships in football and another in men’s hoops after falling short when the NCAA released its Academic Progress Report on Wednesday.
School officials said the penalties have already been served in previous recruiting classes. Colorado signed five less recruits in football last season, as well as one less in hoops.
Colorado was the only school from the six power conferences to be punished in both sports. The Buffaloes scored 920 in football and 897 in basketball, missing the cut line of 925 in a report that measures the classroom performance of every Division I team.
Colorado State has been sanctioned as well, losing one men’s basketball scholarship for the 2010-11 season.
The APR is regarded as a way to gauge real-time academic progress of every Division I team. Each athlete receives one point per semester for remaining academically eligible and another point each semester for remaining at that school or graduating.
A mathematical formula is then used to calculate a final team score with 1,000 points being perfect. Penalties range from warning letters to a reduction in practice time and scholarship losses, based on data collected from 2005-06 through 2008-09.
Knowing what was awaiting, Colorado took a proactive stance in dealing with the penalties.
Now, the officials are taking it a step farther—drawing up an academic improvement plan for football, one that should be completed this summer.
“Naturally, the APR score for football is of great concern to both our academic and athletic leadership at CU-Boulder,” chancellor Phil DiStefano said in a statement.
While the football team had an APR of 931 in 2008-09—above the benchmark—the cumulative score over the four-year period was 920. During that time, the Buffaloes had 31 players who were academically ineligible and left before graduation. Of those, 18 did so after using up their eligibility.
That’s counted against Colorado.
However, the football team has gone over a 2.5 grade point average five of the six semesters since it recorded a 2.104 in the fall of ’06.
“What it means is that APR is a measure that’s very important, but it doesn’t paint the entire picture of the academic program,” said David Clough, who serves as Colorado’s faculty athletics representative. “We’ve studied reasons why the situation occurred and have tried to engineer a solution where we’ll see steady improvement.”
The announcement comes at an inopportune time for Colorado, especially with speculation swirling about the possible breakup of the Big 12. Rumors have circulated that the Pac-10 may have some interest in the Buffaloes.
The CU regents met Tuesday night behind closed doors to discuss the school’s athletic membership, but a spokesman said there was no offer on the table for the school to join the Pac-10.
Colorado football coach Dan Hawkins has helped clean up a program marred by scandal under Gary Barnett, but he’s been drawing heat after turning in his fourth straight losing season in 2009.
Some of the data used to compile the current APR occurred under Barnett’s watch.
The same can be said of basketball. Ricardo Patton was in charge before Jeff Bzdelik took over in 2007. Bzdelik then bolted for Wake Forest in the offseason, the Buffs bringing on board Tad Boyle.
Colorado State received a penalty waiver last year, but didn’t meet the conditions of the exemption. As a result, the men’s basketball program surrendered one scholarship.
The Rams scored a 920 for 2008-09 in men’s hoops, giving them an 859 for the cycle. Included in that, though, are scores of 800 in 2005-06, and 773 in 2006-07, when coach Tim Miles wasn’t with the squad. In his first year with the Rams, they registered a 950.
Until those low scores rotate out of the equation, CSU is caught in a catch-22.
“Tim could bat 1,000 in ’09-10, but that four-year score isn’t going to get to a 925,” said Christine Susemihl, senior associate athletic director at Colorado State. “I can’t say we’re innocent and victims. We’re not. But with Tim coming in, it’s changed. We’re working proactively and doing a great job.”
Meanwhile, Air Force had one of the highest APR scores among football teams in the country, finishing second to Rutgers.
“It’s remarkable that a team can have its members take over 18 semester hours of the nation’s most demanding curriculum, prepare to serve our country, and still balance participation as a Division I athlete in a major conference,” Falcons coach Troy Calhoun said.
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AP Sports Writer Mike Marot in Indianapolis contributed.
