Correction: Three Four of the 34 schools (49 programs) flagged as chronic academic laggards are Big Sky Conference Schools all within the football program.

Idaho State: football
Montana State: football
Sacramento State: football
Weber State: football

From USA Today

The NCAA stepped up a crackdown on academics Wednesday, subjecting 81 poor-performing teams to immediate scholarship reductions and flagging more than four dozen as chronic offenders that could be hit with harsher sanctions a year from now.

The NCAA has identified 49 teams at 34 different schools as chronic academic laggards, warning them by letter that they face stiffening sanctions next year if they don’t improve their Academic Progress Rates (APRs). For the worst offenders, those penalties entail a 10% or greater cut in scholarships and loss of one day of practice per week during the season.

Each scholarship player on each team generally can earn two APR points per semester for remaining at the school and academically eligible, and the NCAA has determined that teams should hit 92.5% of their possible total — an APR of 925 — or face the initial scholarship sanctions. A 925 roughly projects a 60% graduation rate.

The second-stage penalties target teams that post even lower APRs: below 900.

Fail to show improvement or obtain a waiver, and the sub-900 teams will face a 10% or greater cut in scholarships and loss of one day of practice a week during the season. That’s starting in 2008. Teams that have shown improvement will draw lighter slaps: a 5% or greater cut in scholarships and reduction in practice time by four hours per week.

For programs that continue to lag, the NCAA will start handing out postseason bans in 2009.

Bigskyfans.com is now proudly hosting the UNC Bears fan site. If you have not already seen it, please stop by, join the forum and either support Northern Colorado or start throwing some smack down. Let’s help build the Big Sky Community by being involved in this new forum.

Bigskyfans.com is a new place for fans from each school in the Big Sky Conference to get great information, chat with other fans, view photos and videos and get the latest news and events. The Big Sky Conference consists of nine schools. They are Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Montana, Montana State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Portland State, Sacramento State and Weber State.

Bigskyfans.com was started by Chris Lynn, the creator of eGriz.com. He hopes to take the success of eGriz.com and help fans of all schools have a place to not only support their team, but also get the best information possible all in one place. This site will be run by a selection of fans from each school which will report on news and events. Each supporting fan will also write articles on desired topics.

There will be a Big Sky Message Board which will contain general forums for the Big Sky Conference. We are hoping this turns out to be a great place for the Big Sky Fans to come together and support not only their team, but the conference as well. Of Course there will be smack talk between teams, this is what being a fan is all about and is encouraged.

If you have any ideas or suggestions, please let us know as we are still in the development stages.

Thanks, Chris Lynn