The academic progress of UA athletes ranks at the bottom of the Pacific 10 Conference, according to a preliminary report released yesterday by the NCAA, and as many as nine UA teams could receive sanctions if the findings were to take effect.

As part of data collected from the 2003-04 academic year for the National Collegiate Athletic Associations' Academic Progress Rate, five Wildcat squads - baseball, football, men's outdoor track, women's indoor track and women's outdoor track - would have been penalized by the NCAA, including a possible loss of scholarships.

The UA is one of 16 schools nationally to have at least five teams fall below the benchmark set by the NCAA.

Because the report is preliminary, however, no penalties will be implemented until next year, when data for two years is available.

Four other UA teams - men's golf, men's indoor track, women's cross country and volleyball - also received scores under the designated mark. But because of variables, such as a small number of members on each team, the NCAA estimates these teams' APRs to be higher than the findings actually show.

The system, which would require each team to hit a rate of at least 925 to avoid penalties, is based on academic progress of athletes as well as graduation rates, the NCAA reports.

According to the NCAA, a rate of 925 is more or less equivalent to a 50 percent graduation rate.

Because of the graduation rate inclusion, the resulting ratings can be misleading when determining each student-athlete's progress toward graduation.

Schools can be penalized if an athlete leaves school early to pursue professional opportunities or transfers to another institution.

The findings have been sent to each of the NCAA's member institutions, including athletic directors at the NCAA's 328 Division I schools, where 410 teams currently face possible penalties. More than half of all D-I schools have at least one team under the NCAA's required rate of 925.

"We hope the behavior changes and the number of teams will actually go down over time," NCAA President Myles Brand said in a conference call, The Associated Press reported.

Stanford and UC Berkeley paced the Pac-10, with average ratings of 979 and 964, respectively, according to the report.

The UA's 916 rating was last among all Pac-10 schools, with the University of Southern California's rate of 919 finishing just ahead. USC's rating was severely affected, however, by its men's basketball team's 761 rating, the lowest of any Pac-10 team. Thirteen Stanford teams each posted results of 1,000 to pace the league, while at the UA, women's basketball, gymnastics and women's swimming each tallied a rating of 1,000, reports stated.

UA men's basketball, which had come under scrutiny in recent years for low graduation rates, posted a rating of 957, well above the national average of 923. Public institutions averaged only 912 rating for men's basketball, reports stated.

Baseball, at 855, came in as the lowest rated UA team. Baseball, men's basketball and football posted the lowest average APR nationally, while women's field hockey, lacrosse and rowing - none of which are the UA fields teams for - received the highest average APR ratings overall, according to the report.

Because the findings are only preliminary and values may be skewed for some situations, The NCAA News reports school administrators and athletic directors are advised to review the findings and report discrepancies now, so they can be taken into account before the next results are released in December.

"Presidents ought to use this as a way to get ready," said Walter Harrison, University of Hartford president and president of the NCAA's committee on academic performance, reported The NCAA News.

Harrison said the teams and coaches can use this information to determine their teams progress and improve for next year.

"They'll see what each of their teams' APR is, how it was calculated and how many players left the institution and were ineligible. They'll know what they have to do - if they're below 925 - to meet or exceed that mark in the future."