DALLAS – Liberty earned Conference USA’s Institutional Excellence Award for the 2025-26 academic year, the league announced Friday. The Institutional Excellence Award is given to the institution with the highest GPA during each academic year for all student-athletes in conference-sponsored sports. The Flames combined for an annual grade-point average (GPA) of 3.42.
 
The Sport Academic Award is given to the team in each conference-sponsored sport with the highest GPA for the academic year. Jacksonville State led the league as five different teams recorded the highest GPA for their respective sports. WKU followed with three teams, and FIU, MTSU and Liberty each earned a pair of Sport Academic Awards. Three other institutions were represented.
 
The following is a list of all Sport Academic Award honorees:
 
Baseball – DBU
Men’s Basketball – WKU
Women’s Basketball – LA Tech
Men’s Cross Country – Jax State
Women’s Cross Country – FIU
Football – WKU
Men’s Golf – MTSU
Women’s Golf – Jax State
Women’s Soccer – Jax State
Men’s Tennis – MTSU
Women’s Tennis – WKU
Men’s Track and Field – Liberty
Women’s Track and Field – Liberty
Softball – Jax State
Volleyball – FIU
Beach Volleyball – UTEP
Bowling – Jax State