University presidents and athletic administrators promised swift and serious action after their two-day NCAA retreat.

On Thursday, they delivered their first hammer.

Following up on the retreat's mandate to toughen academic standards, the NCAA Board of Directors voted to ban Division I teams with a four-year academic progress rate (APR) below 930 from participating in the postseason, including all NCAA tournaments and football bowl games.

It's a significant change from the APR structure now in place. Currently, teams with a four-year APR of 925 or below face penalties like loss of scholarships. Only if a team falls below a 900 and is therefore considered a chronic under-performer will it face "historical penalties" including postseason bans.

Now the NCAA will do away with the 900 cutoff, forcing all teams to raise their academic standards or sit on the sidelines in the postseason. Under the new standards, 12 teams would not have qualified for this year's NCAA tournament, including Ohio State and Syracuse.

"A 930 equates to a 50 percent graduation rate and that is the stake in the ground that the presidents wish to put in as an overall goal for every team in Division I," said Dr. Walt Harrison, president of the University of Hartford who serves as the chair of the Division I committee on academic performance. "It's a clear marker. We believe a 50 percent graduation rate is a reasonable goal for all teams."

The final kinks still need to be worked out, but NCAA president Mark Emmert said he expects a formalized plan to be in place by October. Between now and then Harrison and his committee will look at the particulars, including a timetable for implementing the new structure. Because it is a considerable leap, Harrison said there likely will be a three- to five-year phase-in period, allowing schools to "ratchet up" their academics.

Also under discussion is just when the new numbers would be released. Currently, the NCAA releases its annual APR report in May -- a month after the NCAA tournament ends.

Connecticut, with an APR of 930 in May 2010, was eligible to compete and win a national championship. But as of May 2011, the Huskies' APR dropped to 893. If the new mandate was in place, UConn would not be able to defend its title.

But Harrison said that the different academic calendars -- some schools use quarters while others go by semesters -- would make it difficult to have more than one report released.

"As things currently stand, (the spring scores) would determine the next year's postseason eligibility," Harrison said.