Division I football, basketball teams keep rising in NCAA APR

Daniel Uthman | USA TODAY Sports

NCAA Division I football and men's basketball programs showed improvement in the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate in 2013-14, according to data released Wednesday.

The APR standard to maintain postseason eligibility is 930, and Division I football teams earned an average of 956 in the 2013-14 school year, while men's basketball hit a 961. Football saw a five-point improvement from the previous year, and men's basketball's bump was four points.

The 5,756 teams in all sports that have been in the data set since its 2003-04 inception established a record APR average of 981.

But not all FBS programs hit the mark. For the fourth consecutive year, the University of Idaho football team fell short of the APR cutoff, earning an average of 896 in the newest data. Appalachian State, Central Arkansas, Lamar, New Orleans and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi were among men's basketball programs that didn't meet the 930 mark.

Overall, however, fewer teams will incur penalties in the next school year. Half the number of teams earned postseason bans compared to last year (21 vs. 42), and 28 will be hit with other penalties compared to 70 last year.

The overall four-year average for Division I athletes in 2013-14 was 978. The maximum team score is 1,000. Athletes earn points for their teams by staying academically eligible each term or semester and by remaining in school or graduating.

The highest-scoring men's sports were fencing, water polo and ice hockey (985). The highest-scoring women's sports were gymnastics (991) and ice hockey (990).

Power Five conferences had an overall APR of 985 in 2013-14 compared to 979 for the remainder of Division I.

If the final 2013 BCS top 10 were re-ranked based on APR scores earned that season, Stanford would have been No. 1 at 987 and Alabama No. 2 at 978. National champion Florida State would have ranked 10th (955), and runner-up Auburn sixth (968).