April 14, 2016
CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - The Patriot League tied for the national lead among all conferences with 45 percent of its teams earning Public Recognition Awards for finishing in the top 10 percent in their sport in multi-year Academic Progress Rates (APR), as announced by the NCAA on Wednesday.
A total of 88 Patriot League-sponsored teams earned Public Recognition Awards, along with eight teams that compete outside of the Patriot League from full-member schools. The Patriot League matched the Ivy League with the highest percentage of teams earning Public Recognition Awards, with the Big East (38%), Atlantic 10 (27%) and Atlantic Coast Conference (27%) as the others with at least 25 percent of their teams earning the honor.
Bucknell led all Patriot League schools with 17 teams receiving Public Recognition Awards, with all but two of those competing in the Patriot League. The Bison tied for third nationally with Stanford in Public Recognition Awards, behind only Brown (21) and Dartmouth (19). Lafayette followed with 16 teams that earned Public Recognition Awards, and matched the Bison with 15 Patriot League squads earning the honor. Holy Cross (14), Colgate (13) and Lehigh (10) also had a double-digit total of teams receive the award.
At least one team earned a Public Recognition Award in each Patriot League-sponsored sport, with the NCAA combining indoor and outdoor track and field into one list for this year's data. A League-high seven teams were honored in women's tennis, with six recognized in both men's cross country and track and field as well as women's rowing and track and field. There were 39 men's teams and 49 women's squads honored out of the Patriot League.
There are 22 Patriot League teams among the 110 nationally which have received a Public Recognition Award for academic success in each of the 11 years of the program. Lafayette and Bucknell each have five teams with that distinction, Lehigh and Holy Cross have four apiece, Loyola has two and both Colgate and Boston University have one.
The 1,071 Division I teams publicly recognized for high achievement represent 649 women's teams and 422 men's or mixed squads. The scores required to be in the top 10 ranged from 983 to a perfect 1,000, depending on the sport. Earning a perfect APR score were 944 teams. A total of 290 schools placed at least one team on the top APR list.
All Division I teams APR scores will be released at a later date. All teams must meet a certain academic threshold to qualify for the postseason and can face penalties for continued low academic performance.
The APR measures eligibility, graduation and retention each term and provides a clear picture of the academic performance for each team in every sport.
The most recent APRs are multi-year rates based on scores from the 2011-2012, 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 academic years.
For more information on the national numbers, view the NCAA Public Recognition Awards Release and Searchable Database.
Patriot League Teams Receiving Public Recognition Awards
Boston University (7): Men's Cross Country, Men's Track and Field, Women's Golf, Women's Rowing, Women's Soccer, Women's Tennis, Women's Track and Field
Bucknell (15): Baseball, Men's Basketball, Men's Cross Country, Men's Lacrosse, Men's Soccer, Men's Track and Field, Softball, Field Hockey, Women's Cross Country, Women's Golf, Women's Soccer, Women's Swimming and Diving, Women's Tennis, Women's Track and Field, Volleyball
Colgate (12): Men's Basketball, Men's Golf, Men's Swimming and Diving, Men's Tennis, Men's Track and Field, Field Hockey, Softball, Women's Lacrosse, Women's Rowing, Women's Tennis, Women's Track and Field, Volleyball
Holy Cross (14): Baseball, Football, Men's Basketball, Men's Cross Country, Men's Swimming and Diving, Men's Tennis, Men's Track and Field, Softball, Women's Basketball, Women's Cross Country, Women's Rowing, Women's Swimming and Diving, Women's Tennis, Women's Track and Field
Lafayette (15): Baseball, Football, Men's Basketball, Men's Cross Country, Men's Soccer, Men's Swimming and Diving, Men's Track and Field, Softball, Women's Basketball, Women's Cross Country, Women's Soccer, Women's Swimming and Diving, Women's Tennis, Women's Track and Field, Volleyball
Lehigh (10): Men's Cross Country, Men's Golf, Men's Tennis, Women's Basketball, Women's Cross Country, Women's Golf, Women's Rowing, Women's Swimming and Diving, Women's Tennis, Volleyball
Loyola (6): Men's Tennis, Women's Cross Country, Women's Lacrosse, Women's Rowing, Women's Tennis, Women's Track and Field
Navy (7): Men's Cross Country, Men's Lacrosse, Men's Soccer, Men's Tennis, Men's Track and Field, Women's Lacrosse, Women's Soccer
Georgetown (1): Football
MIT (1): Women's Rowing
Additional Teams Honored From Full-Member League Institutions
American (1): Men's Wrestling
Army West Point (3): Football, Men's Wrestling, Mixed Rifle
Bucknell (2): Men's Water Polo, Women's Water Polo
Colgate (1): Men's Ice Hockey
Lafayette (1): Men's Fencing