Panic in the Athletic Departments?

I asked a friend who works in a collegiate athletic department what the general feeling was among the employees regarding the new NCAA guidlines regarding the academic performance of student-athletes. His response was one word: "panic."

From the Chronicle of Higher Education (paid subscription required):

In the NCAA's first "real time" assessment of athletes' academic success, nearly 1,200 teams out of the 5,721 in all Division I sports had an Academic Progress Rate of less than 925, which means that the team is on track to graduate less than half its athletes. The rate, calculated for the 2003-4 academic year, measures how many athletes are making adequate progress toward their degrees.

The Big 12 did poorly in football. The Big 10 did the best among D1 football programs. Here's a quote from a San Jose Mercury News story:

The Big 12 ranked eighth among the 11 conferences that compete in Division I-A football in the percentage of teams that cleared the academic bars set in those three sports. It had 19 of 34 teams, or 56 percent, make the grade. The top performer was the Big Ten, with 30 of 32 teams achieving passing scores.

According to the first data releases on how schools are performing, it's safe to say "panic" is a pretty common feeling in athletic departments these days.