ISAAC BREKKEN / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER
UNLV's defense attempts to stop Hawaii runningback Steven Lakalaka during the first half of an NCAA college football game on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2013, in Las Vegas.
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The University of Nevada-Las Vegas football team will be banned from the postseason, including the conference championship game, in 2014 due to poor academic performance, the school confirmed Thursday.
UNLV is a member of the Mountain West Conference and plays Hawaii annually.
The Rebels’ Academic Progress Rate score of 925 over the past four years (2010-13) was below the NCAA-mandated minimum of 930 (out of a possible 1,000). The NCAA denied UNLV’s appeals to forestall the ban.
"We as a University accept the subcommittee’s decision and are using this as an opportunity to improve," UNLV President Donald Snyder said in a release.
UNLV’s sanctions, in addition to the postseason, include replacing four hours of weekly practice time with four additional hours of academic activities and being limited to five days of football-related activities per week instead of six.
The Rebels went to the Heart of Dallas Bowl in 2013, the school’s first bowl game in 13 years.
UH had a 962 over the same four-year period, topping both the Mountain West (953.6) and NCAA (954) averages, according to a study by Peter Nicholson, the school’s faculty athletics representative.
UH athletic director Ben Jay said, "I was encouraged with our last reported multi-year all-team APR score of 970. Our department’s APR scores have been climbing in the right direction. Yet, we are still striving to attain our department’s goal of raising our APR scores until they are in the upper 50th percentile of Division I schools nationwide. None of our teams are currently in danger of falling below the 930 score that is the threshold for NCAA penalties."
