(6th day of blogs looking back on Fresno State athletics in 2007-08.)

A key issue in 2007-08 figures only to grow in importance and controversy throughout the NCAA: the Academic Progress Rate.

The Fresno State men's basketball team learned in May that it would lose three scholarships next season as a penalty for its historically low APR score.

The team's score improved for the third straight year, but still fell below the NCAA-mandated minimum. The baseball team also was penalized, but only a small part of one scholarship -- valued at a few hundred dollars.

The APR is a student-retention policy. Most universities have their own policies and programs to keep students in school until they graduate. What makes the APR different is it's punitive.

The APR's fairness and its effect on recruiting was a major topic at the annual WAC board of directors meeting in June, says conference Commissioner Karl Benson.

But the topic is so sensitive that Benson refuses to say what was discussed. He says only, "Coaches today are having to be very judicious in the student-athletes that they are selecting."