The good news for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football team is that barring a very bad spring semester, it will no longer be banned from the FCS playoffs. The bad news is that because of its continuing Academic Progress Rate problems, reaching the postseason might be harder than ever.
After the Mocs were ruled ineligible for the 2009 playoffs last spring because of a low multiyear APR score, athletic director Rick Hart announced Thursday that the NCAA has granted them conditional relief from the ban for next season.
As long as UTC’s 2009-10 academic year score is above the 900 benchmark, UTC will be allowed to participate in the 2010 postseason. Hart is optimistic that the Mocs will finish above 900 after the team had perhaps its best semester ever in the fall.
“We have to remain diligent,” he said. “There’s no feeling of relief, but certainly there’s some satisfaction that the effort that has gone into this, for years now, is getting us close to at least achieving that first very important goal.”