BOISE, Idaho (AP) - The NCAA is standing by a decision that Boise State must lower the number of football scholarships it can award in the next two years.

The decision announced Wednesday comes after Boise State officials appealed the scholarship penalty included in a series of sanctions handed down earlier this year by the NCAA. As part of the penalty package, the NCAA ordered the school to cut football scholarships from 85 to 82 in each of the next two years.

In their appeal, school officials argued the penalty levied against Boise State was inconsistent when compared to past cases.

The NCAA cited major violations by the football program and other sports last year and placed the school on probation for three years and imposed other sanctions.