FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas' last-ditch attempt to keep the two track and field national championships stripped by the NCAA because of rule violations committed by former sprints coach Lance Brauman has failed.

Arkansas announced Thursday evening that it must vacate its 2004 and 2005 NCAA outdoor track and field championships -- as well as its 2004 NCAA Mideast Regional title -- after receiving a scoring clarification requested by the school.

The ruling means the Razorbacks are now credited with winning 40 men's track and field championships instead of 42 titles.

"The 40 (championships don't) bother me; forty is plenty for me," John McDonnell, Arkansas' legendary track and field coach who retired last summer, said Thursday. "The thing is the two that (the NCAA) took away from those kids and what they took it for -- for $360 in travel.

"There was no academic fraud, no cheating. (The NCAA) just wanted to do it, I guess."

The NCAA Division I Infractions Appeals Committee announced in late September that it would uphold the penalties placed on the Razorbacks for rules violations committed by Brauman.

The violations stem from Brauman's dealings with former Arkansas star sprinter Tyson Gay in 2003, before he was enrolled at the university.

After the appeal was denied, Arkansas officials asked for a clarification from the NCAA committee that handles track and field scoring to determine if the school could keep the two national titles if only Gay's individual results were deducted.

For instance, a school receives 10 points when its relay team takes first place at an NCAA track and field championship meet. Arkansas officials contend their track team would still have had enough points to win national titles in 2004 and '05 if only Gay's share of the relay points -- 2 1/2 points -- were deducted and not the entire 10 points.

But McDonnell said the scoring committee didn't look into the matter and instead kicked the appeal back to the NCAA.

Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long was unavailable for comment on Thursday, but he said in a statement released through the university that the school is "disappointed" in the ruling.

"During the course of this matter, the University of Arkansas has pursued every avenue afforded to it in the NCAA infractions process," Long said in the statement. "Although we are disappointed in the ultimate outcome, we respect the process and the final determination."

Arkansas associate athletic director Kevin Trainor said the school has already made several changes around campus to reflect the NCAA's ruling.

Trainor said the scoreboard inside the Randal Tyson Track Center -- which lists all of Arkansas' national titles -- has already been corrected.

The 2008-09 media guide for Arkansas' men's track and field team has been adjusted to remove the two national championships, as well as all of Gay's individual records.

And Trainor said the university intends to speak with Fayetteville officials about having the city welcoming signs that boast that the Razorbacks have won 42 national championships changed.