UB football is known for losses on the field, but thanks to recent hits in the classroom, the team will lose three scholarships next year under sanctions from the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
On Wednesday, the NCAA released a two-year Academic Progress Rate report, showing that the UB squad has a score of 878, well below the standard score of 925 on a 1,000-point scale.
New head coach Turner Gill had been informed of the possible scholarship losses while in the interview process for the job in December.
"They told me that there was a possibility of a scholarship loss this year," Gill said. "I knew that there would be some, but I didn't know how many."
The Academic Progress Rate, or APR, is based on athlete retention, graduation, and academic performance and is part of the NCAA's four-year Division I Academic Performance Program. The data for the first program report includes academic years 2003-04 through 2006-07.
Last year, the women's basketball team also received a warning that it was below the NCAA "confidence boundary" with football, but it, along with six other UB teams below the 925 mark at the time, all avoided the recent scholarship cuts.
Based on current data, a graduation success rate of approximately 60 percent is reflected in an APR score of 925. The football team's score shows an approximate graduation rate of 57 percent.
"We're just aiming to make sure we have retention of our players," Gill said. "That's the best way to save it all. You have to first try to control what you can control."
For a team to lose scholarships under the NCAA's "contemporaneous penalty," a student-athlete must exit the university on poor academic terms and the team must be below the 925-point mark.
Each player on the team, Gill said, is a student first and an athlete second.
"We say to them, 'If you can't do the things in the classroom, how do you expect us to do the things on the football field?' " Gill said. "It's a balance. We are trying to train them in a way where they are a complete person, not just a football player. They are a student first. They need to take care of their business in the classroom and in the community and we reinforce that everyday."
"It really comes down to them going to class, paying attention and doing what they are supposed to," Gill added.
With the loss of three scholarships and the advance warning, Gill's 2006 class of recruits consists of only 15 athletes, a relatively small group.
"Obviously it hurts because you don't have more people on your team," Gill said. "We learn and just press on with the goals. I feel confidence with what Warde (Manuel, athletic director) has put into place with the academics. He's on the right track in getting things done for next year."
Gill said the scholarship loss does not affect his outlook as a coach at UB.
"I am still very excited about being a coach here and pressing forward," Gill said.
The football team was the only UB team to lose scholarships but was not the only team to score below the accepted 925. Wrestling didn't score much higher, with 890 points. Women's basketball (904), baseball (905), and men's basketball (913) teams also fell below the 925 mark, but all four teams were considered within the NCAA "confidence boundary."
The boundary is put into place for programs that show an upward trend and a high possibility for achieving above the 925 mark in the four-year period of the performance program.
The NCAA released a report last year with the standings of each institution and its respective teams. Eight UB teams fell below the 925 mark last year with six in the confidence boundary.
The football team improved 18 points since last year's warning of possible scholarship loss due to a score of 860, but had an uphill battle to fight in order to even make the confidence boundary. The women's basketball team was also warned last year after falling below the mark.
Last year's warning served as a notice to athletic administration and academic-support personnel so the respective department could understand the APR and make necessary adjustments to get the endangered teams above 925.
The men's soccer team, men's swimming team, and men's outdoor track team were within the confidence boundary last year but surpassed 925 in this year's report with scores of 929, 956, and 938, respectively.
On a national level, 99 sports teams will lose scholarships with the majority coming from football (23), baseball (21), and men's basketball (17). Of the 99 teams, 90 of them are men's teams and nine are women's.
Opposed to a few of its counterparts, the UB men's tennis team scored the highest of the university's 20 Division I programs, scoring a perfect 1,000.
