IRVING, Texas – Rice University student-athletes combined for an annual GPA of 3.290, giving the Owls their 10th Conference USA Institutional Excellence Award over the past 12 years. The Institutional Excellence Award is given to the C-USA institution with the highest grade point average during the 2016-17 academic year for all student-athletes in conference-sponsored sports. 

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The Sport Academic Award is given to the team in each conference-sponsored sport with the highest GPA for the academic year.  Eight different Rice teams recorded the highest GPA for their respective sports. Additionally, six other institutions were recognized.
 
The following is a list of all the Sports Academic Award honorees:
 

Sport	Recipient (*repeat winner)	GPA
Baseball	Rice	3.300
Men’s Basketball	Florida Atlantic	3.133
Women’s Basketball	*UTSA	3.391
Men’s Cross Country	Florida Atlantic	3.505
Women’s Cross Country	*Rice	3.789
Football	*Rice	2.916
Men’s Golf	Middle Tennessee	3.473
Women’s Golf	UTSA	3.748
Men’s Soccer	South Carolina #	3.368
Women’s Soccer	Rice	3.688
Softball	*Charlotte	3.642
Women’s Swimming	*Marshall	3.594
Men’s Tennis	*Middle Tennessee	3.627
Women’s Tennis	*Rice	3.848
Men’s Track & Field	*Rice	3.377
Women’s Track & Field	*Rice	3.577
Volleyball	*Rice	3.682

 
# Affiliate member