Big 12 programs like Kansas, Kansas State, Texas and Texas A&M are losing underclassmen to the NBA.

Colorado is losing unexceptional players to places like Northern Illinois.

But no matter what the circumstances, programs must adhere to the NCAA's Academic Progress Rates system.

And with Xavier Silas, Caleb Patterson and possibly Jeremy Williams leaving CU, Jeff Bzdelik's program could face NCAA sanctions -- including the loss of scholarships -- a little over a year from now. That all depends, among other factors, on the academic standing of the departing student-athletes at the end of the semester.

The latest APR report is due to be released in May and will cover a four-year period beginning with the 2003-04 academic year through the 2006-07 academic year. CU's men's basketball program is expected to be hit with "historical penalties" -- three years probation -- next month because for the third time in four years, the program will report a sub-standard APR score.

"Talking to people around the Big 12, transfers associated with coaching change is a big issue," said Dr. David Clough, a legendary professor of chemical and biological engineering at CU who is also serving the university as thefaculty athletic representative. "When everything (in the APR report) is released nationwide, there are going to be a very high incident of penalties in certain sports."

When the last APR came out in May 2007, 44 percent of men's basketball programs and 40 percent of football programs fell below the 925 minimum score.

Although losing players this spring won't help men's basketball in terms of the APR down the road, CU is not anticipating any major sanctions for the upcoming season.

Despite the recent attrition, the fact that the 2003-04 academic year -- when seven of Ricardo Patton's players left the program at the end of the season academically ineligible -- will be out of the four-year window next year means CU's APR score should actually be higher when that report comes out.

"That first year in the window was a very bad year APR-wise. At that point in time we didn't really have a clue about the APR," said Dr. Clough, who is in his third year as the faculty athletic representative. "So that's going to drop off the back end, and for Coach Bzdelik that's good news. It's going to give him an automatic boost."

The APR is used in every NCAA sport. The formula is complicated, but Dr. Clough has developed a spreadsheet to simplify it for CU's coaches. Basically, every scholarship athlete can earn two points per semester (four for the academic year) by remaining academically eligible and enrolled at the institution.

If an athlete is ineligible but stays with the program, one point is lost (1-for-2) for that semester. If a player is eligible and leaves the program, one point is lost for that semester (1-for-2). If an athlete in ineligible and leaves the program, two points are lost (0-for-2).

At the end of the year the total number of points earned is divided by the total number possible. The result is multiplied by 1,000 to get the final score. The 925 score required by the NCAA corresponds to a graduation rate of at least 50 percent.

Due in part to the departure of four players last offseason -- Kal Bay, Marc Van Burck, Sean Kowal and James Inge left in good academic standing -- CU is not expected to meet the 925 standard for 2006-07.

As for 2007-08, Silas and Patterson are also planning to transfer from CU to other institutions in good academic standing, which means each would be a 1-for-2 APR case. Williams, whose status with the team won't be commented on by Bzdelik until he returns from a recruiting trip to Australia later this week, was academically ineligible for the fall semester and took a redshirt season.

The NCAA has also added a 2.6 rule to the APR, which states that if a student-athlete transfers and not only is eligible but has a grade-point average greater than 2.6 when he or she enrolls in another institution, the original institution doesn't lose a point.

If Bzdelik's program were to produce another failing score while on probation, CU men's basketball would be subject to scholarship losses. A third consecutive year of poor performance means limitations on practice time and postseason bans. And a fourth straight year of noncompliance would mean loss of Division I status.

The Buffs used charter airplanes and took an academic support staff on the road last season to help with the team GPA. Bzdelik is also confident that the players he has recruited for the future will not only improve the team's performance on the court, but will remain in the program for four or five years and will be given every opportunity to leave CU with degrees.

"One attitude we're developing here at CU is we'd like to take these APR statistics for each of our sports and we'd like to see improvement," Clough said. "And not just for the minimum score. We'd like each program to score as high as possible."