NCAA Cracks Down on Penn, Yale For Refusing to Comply to 1.6 Rule

The National Collegiate Athletic Association, in its latest move against colleges which will not comply with the 1.6 academic minimum rule, said yesterday that Penn and Yale will not compete in NCAA championship tournaments.

Penn is the current leader in a tight four-team race for the Ivy basketball title.

Penn, Yale, and four non-Ivy schools -- Johns Hopkins, Muhlenberg, Thell, and Williams -- have informed the NCAA headquarters in Kansas City that they will not comply with the new legislation which sets a 1.6 academic minimum rating for athletic eligibility.

Penn's athletic department expressed surprise that Penn and Yale had been singled out among the Ivy colleges. "I know the Ivies have agreed to act in concert," a Penn official said. "I can only assume that the schools other than Yale and ourselves did not send telegrams to the NCAA office."

An NCAA spokesman, however, said the other six members of the Ivy League had replied either by letter or telegram that they would file the necessary data. The six -- including Harvard -- are on a provisionally accepted list.

The spokesman added that if Penn wins the Ivy title, the NCAA Basketball Tournament Committee will decide whether to invite the league's second-place team or an at-large team.