Bowling Green Wins MAC Men’s FAR Award For First Time In Program History

CLEVELAND, Ohio - For the first time in program history, Bowling Green State University has been named the winner of the 2025-26 Mid-American Conference Men's Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR), the conference office announced on Tuesday (Aug. 25).

The FAR Awards are designed to recognize the MAC institution with the highest overall combination of both grade point average (GPA) and Academic Progress Rate (APR) rank by gender. The Conference FAR's worked with the Athletic Academic Advisors to compute an award that best represents the academic achievement of student-athletes in a competitive setting. The FAR Awards are given to those institutions male and female programs with the highest overall combination of GPA and APR within the Conference. Only MAC sponsored sports are used and the GPA is based upon the 2025-26 academic year.

This marks the first time the Falcons have won the men's FAR award, snapping a three-year streak for Western Michigan. BGSU is just the fifth different MAC school to win the award since it was created in 2007-08. With Bowling Green winning both the men's and women's FAR awards, BGSU is just the second university to win both awards in the same year, joining the 2022-23 Western Michigan Broncos.

"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 athletic programs posted a combined 3.337 GPA over the course of the season. Men's cross country led the way with a 3.721 GPA. Among MAC sponsored sports, men's golf followed with a 3.687. As a department, each men's program posted a cumulative GPA of 3.11 or higher for the 2025-26 academic year, including programs of non-MAC sponsored sports.

As for the Academic Progress Rate Report, BGSU's men's teams contributed to a 996 department APR, the highest in the MAC. Five men's teams, including four from MAC sponsored sports, posted a perfect 1000 single-year APR, with the full list including baseball, men's basketball, men's cross country, men's golf and hockey. Of those five, baseball, men's golf and hockey posted multiyear 1000 APR scores.

Men's Faculty Athletics Representative Academic Achievement Award

2025-26 Bowling Green State University

2024-25 Western Michigan University

2023-24 Western Michigan University

2022-23 Western Michigan University

2021-22 University of Toledo

2020-21 Kent State University

2019-20 Western Michigan University

2018-19 Western Michigan University

2017-18 Western Michigan University

2016-17 Western Michigan University

2015-16 University of Toledo

2014-15 Miami University

2013-14 Miami University

2012-13 Western Michigan University

2011-12 Western Michigan University

2010-11 University of Toledo

2009-10 University of Toledo

2008-09 Western Michigan University

2007-08 Western Michigan University

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