NCAA president Mark Emmert told ESPN Radio host Scott Van Pelt on Thursday that the association's Division-I Board of Directors has approved a plan to institute a minimum academic standard for teams participating in the NCAA Tournament, with roll-out expected by 2016, according to The Bylaw Blog. Teams falling under a 930 on the Academic Progress Rate would apparently being barred from the next NCAA Tournament.
The NCAA already has penalties for poor APR scores; most notably, UConn basketball was dinged two scholarships for the 2011-12 season for posting a low APR score. APR is a measure of player academic eligibility and retention.
Bylaw Blog noted that if the system had been in place last year, teams like UConn and Syracuse wouldn't have been eligible for the tournament. The rule could also make things murky at the bottom of the bracket, as school from small conferences are often among those with APR trouble.