CLEVELAND, Ohio – Bowling Green State University's men’s athletics program has been named the winner of the 2025-26 Mid-American Conference Men’s Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR) Academic Achievement Award. This marks the first time the Falcons have earned the honor.
 
The FAR Awards are designed to recognize the Conference institutions with the highest overall combination of grade point average (GPA) and Academic Progress Rate (APR) rank by gender. The GPA component is based on academic performance during the 2025-26 academic year.
 
The Conference’s Faculty Athletics Representatives worked with athletic academic advisors to develop an award that best represents the academic achievement of student-athletes in a competitive setting. The FAR Awards are presented to the institutions whose men’s and women’s programs achieve the highest overall combination of GPA and APR within the Conference. Only MAC-sponsored sports are included in the calculation.
 
"It is such an honor for BGSU to have the success of our male student-athletes recognized with this prestigious award for the first time program history," said BGSU Director of Athletics Derek van der Merwe. "Our student-athletes have worked tirelessly in the classroom and this award is a reflection of that dedication. We’re proud to be just the second school in MAC history to win both the male and female FAR awards in the same year, another strong testament to our Falcon Commitment, to the quality of student-athletes we recruit, and also to the level of commitment our coaches and staff have to academics.”
 
Bowling Green’s men’s cross country program posted the highest GPA in the MAC in its sport during the 2025-26 academic year with a 3.721. The Falcons also recorded a perfect 1000 APR in four sports: baseball, men’s basketball, men’s cross country and men’s golf.