Texas A&M is winning in softball and baseball with student-athletes who also are excelling in the classroom.
Those programs were the school's top finishers among Big 12 schools in the NCAA's 2008 Academic Progress Rate (APR) public report announced Tuesday.
The A&M softball program, which won the league title and is the top seed for this weekend's Big 12 tournament, had a league-leading APR of 993, just seven points shy of perfection.
The baseball program, which leads the Big 12 with six games left in the regular season, had an APR of 946, which tied it with Missouri for second best behind Baylor's 974.
All but one of A&M's 19 intercollegiate sports programs tracked by the NCAA in the last four years scored above 925, which equates to about a 60-percent graduation rate and is considered minimally acceptable. Anything below 925 subjects a team to possible scholarship reductions.
"Overall, we felt good about the progress being made by all our sports teams," said David Batson, director of athletic compliance. "Now we just need to keep working."
The A&M men's basketball program had an APR of 912, which was based on academic performance from 2003-07. This was the first time the NCAA had four years of data for the APR, which it began in 2005. Athletes earn one point for remaining academically eligible each semester and another point each semester they remain at the school, accumulating a maximum of four points each year.
A&M has been able to improve its APR in men's basketball after the program lost a scholarship for a score of 839 in 2003-04 and 850 in 2004-05. A&M agreed to take the penalty in 2005-06 so it could have its full complement of scholarships for 2006-07. A&M expects its men's basketball APR to continue to rise because of the players the program graduated last year and will graduate this year.
"We expect to be well over 925 by next year," Batson said.
A&M had eight programs score at or above the Football Bowl Subdivision APR average for their respective sports (baseball, men's cross country, men's golf, women's golf, soccer, softball, women's swimming and volleyball). A&M was above the average for all Division I athletic programs nationally in those same eight sports.
A&M's programs that ranked the lowest among Big 12 teams were men's tennis, women's basketball and women's outdoor track. Men's tennis had an APR of 935, which was sixth among seven Big 12 schools, with Baylor last at 917. Women's basketball scored 948, which was 10th, finishing ahead of Kansas' 930 and Oklahoma State's 914. Women's outdoor track scored 943, which was 11th, ahead of only Texas Tech at 942.
Oklahoma State was hit with a one-scholarship penalty in women's basketball, which it took last season. OSU associate athletic director Marilyn Middlebrook said that was the result of a coaching change. Five of OSU's 13 players who played for former coach Julie Goodenough in her final season opted not to return under Kurt Budke for the 2006-07 season.
Oklahoma State was hit with a one-scholarship penalty in women's basketball, which it took last season. OSU associate athletic director Marilyn Middlebrook said that was the result of a coaching change. Five of OSU's 13 players who played for former coach Julie Goodenough in her final season opted not to return under Kurt Budke for the 2006-07 season.
Across the nation, more than 700 of the 6,272 Division I teams scored below 925. Of those programs, 218 were assessed punishments ranging from warning letters to reductions in practice time. Those showing enough improvement were granted waivers.
But 26 teams that scored less than 900 in the last two consecutive years risk being held out of NCAA tournaments in 2009-10 if they have a third consecutive score below 900. A fourth straight sub-900 score could lead to having Division I status revoked.
"Yes, there are individual institutions who have seen a steady decline [academically] over the last four years, and for them, the situation is dire."
NOTES -- In the Lone Star Showdown of APRs, Texas scored higher than A&M in 14 of the 19 sports. The Aggies had higher scores in baseball, men's cross country, men's golf, women's cross country and softball. However, A&M was within five points of UT in five other sports. ... Softball was the only sport that A&M ranked in the 90th to 100th percentile within the sport nationwide. Men's swimming was the only sport A&M ranked in the first to 10th percentile. ... OSU's baseball team has an APR of 877 but received a waiver for continuing to raise its APR. ... The North Texas football program lost five scholarships, and the school's men's basketball team lost a scholarship. The women's basketball program at Texas-San Antonio lost a scholarship, taking that penalty last year. The UTSA men's cross country and track teams had their combined scholarship limit of 12.6 lowered to 12.1, and the school's baseball program was also reduced from 12.6 to 12.1. ... Texas State's football program lost 2.95 scholarships and the women's basketball team lost one, penalties that were taken last year. ... The football program at Kansas lost two scholarships for next season and the men's basketball program at Kansas State will lose one. ... Overall scores improved by four points since the NCAA began collecting data. Scores are also up in 26 of 29 sports over the last four years, and fewer teams were penalized than even NCAA officials expected last year. One reason was the substantial academic improvement made in baseball and football. Those sports increased their average scores by 12 and 11 points since 2003, respectively, which equate to graduation rates in the mid-60s.
• Robert Cessna's e-mail address is robert.cessna@theeagle.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Texas A&M's APR Report
Here are Texas A&M's NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) numbers by yearly reports, with the 2006-07 score a four-year total. The APR was initiated in 2005, measuring each Division I student-athlete on scholarship. Each student-athlete can earn two points per semester -- one for being academically eligible and another for staying at the institution. Student-athletes who aren't eligible and leave are known as 0-for-2's. To determine scores the NCAA divides the points earned by the maximum points possible. A perfect score would be 1.0. The NCAA uses a multiplier of 1,000, so the maximum APR would be 1,000. An APR of 925 equates to about a 50-percent graduation rate and is considered minimally acceptable. Anything below 925 subjects a team to possible scholarship reductions.
MEN
Sport 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07
Baseball *904 921 *950 946
Basketball 839 850 *930 912
Cross Country 964 967 *993 982
Football 887 923 *937 932
Golf 1,000 986 *998 988
Swimming & Diving *968 952 *960 934
Tennis 932 941 *967 935
Track, Indoor *898 927 *952 932
Track, Outdoor *893 928 *953 942
WOMEN
Basketball *918 942 *974 948
Cross Country 955 934 *977 963
Golf 1,000 1,000 *996 988
Softball 1,000 987 *999 993
Soccer 977 977 *990 981
Swimming & Diving 981 967 *989 979
Tennis 1,000 1,000 *985 966
Track, Indoor 931 948 *969 947
Track, Outdoor 931 946 *966 943
Volleyball 917 948 *990 975
*-Adjusted score, which used a confidence boundary, was a short-term tool used until a larger sample became available; the 2005-06 year was the final year it was used