If your APR falls below 925, you might get a contemporaneous penalty. If you have any zero-for-twos, that is.

Welcome to the NCAA's new lexicon of academic reform.

Tennessee is digesting data the NCAA released Monday that could dictate a new academic landscape.

Four UT men's sports - including football and basketball - fell below the new 925 gold standard. The Academic Progress Rate (APR) is a formula that assesses penalties such as loss of scholarships or postseason bans for teams that don't measure up.

"This today was just a warning to let us know our areas of concern,'' said Dr. Ruth Darling, director of UT's Thornton Center.

The real APR comes next December and affects the football signing class of February, 2006.

The NCAA will penalize teams that falter in the two-pronged emphasis of keeping athletes academically eligible and retaining them in school.

At UT, football, basketball, baseball and tennis fell below 925.

In a given sport, each scholarship athlete earns a point for being eligible and a point for remaining in the program. The 925 APR represents a sport achieving 92.5 percent of the possible points for an academic year.

Stay above 925 and there are no penalties - period.

Fall below and risk possible consequences.

UT's football team fell short at 920, which men's athletic director Mike Hamilton attributed to several players leaving school early for the NFL.

The basketball team, scoring an 852, has considerable ground to make up.

Coach Buzz Peterson blamed attrition. Justin Albrecht, John Winchester and Boomer Herndon each left with eligibility remaining.

Baseball had an APR of 885. Tennis scored 906.

Teams above the cut-off were golf (981), swimming (929) and track (932).

All of UT's women's teams were above 925. Five sports earned perfect scores.

Tennessee's coaches are concerned about the fairness of the formula, especially as it pertains to players who leave the program.

The worst-case scenario is the zero-for-two player.

An athlete who leaves the team - voluntarily or otherwise - is scored as zero points if he (or she) is not in good academic standing and doesn't remain in school.

If that particular sport is below the 925 APR, an 0-for-2 case costs the team one scholarship for one year.

This is termed a "contemporaneous" penalty. The maximum lost scholarships per year are nine for football and two for basketball.

Furthermore, teams falling below 925 are subject to further scrutiny for what are termed "historical" penalties - postseason bans or recruiting restrictions - if they remain below 925.

The NCAA will announce APR data each December that covers a rolling four-year period.

"You cannot disagree with the intent,'' said UT football coach Phillip Fulmer.

"But what we were told as head football coaches the way it would be, it didn't exactly come out to be that way when it was presented to us in written form.

"They put a tremendous pressure on continuing young men in the program.''

One potential problem is an athlete good enough to leave early for pro sports.

"As it stands right now,'' said Fulmer, "it punishes teams like Tennessee and Florida State and Georgia and Florida and Michigan, people that recruit good players that might leave after three years.''

The possible 0-for-2 penalty might also make a coach hesitate to dismiss an athlete who is not in good academic standing.

"It's certainly going to make you think about it,'' Fulmer said, "because you could be penalized twice. Not just the young man (dismissed), but a future scholarship.''

UT has been educating its coaches for the past month.

"We gave them exactly the number of points they needed to have to make sure they got back above the 925,'' Hamilton said.

"It's much better in athletics to be proactive rather than reactive.''

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276 or strange2@knews.com.