NEW YORK--The last in a series of academic awards was announced by the BIG EAST Conference on Wednesday afternoon and Villanova student-athletes have once again created a new standard for academic achievement with their success in the classroom during the 2016-17 academic year. A record total of 320 student-athletes were named to the BIG EAST All-Academic Team, surpassing last year's school record total of 302 honorees. This is the second straight year that the Wildcats have led all conference schools with the most selections to the All-Academic Team.

There are 2,501 members of the BIG EAST All-Academic Team league-wide for the 2016-17 academic year, marking the fourth straight year since conference realignment that the number of honorees has increased to a new record total. The BIG EAST honored 2,091 student-athletes in 2013-14, with that number rising to 2,197 in 2014-15 and 2,333 last year. Villanova and Georgetown have had the most honorees on the All-Academic Team in each of the past four years, with the Wildcats total of 320 honorees in 2016-17 surpassing the Hoyas (297) for the second year in a row.

Nominations for the BIG EAST All-Academic Team are submitted by each of the BIG EAST's 10 member and seven affiliate institutions. To be eligible for this honor, a nominee must have competed in a BIG EAST-sponsored sport, attained a minimum grade-point average of 3.00 for the preceding academic year, and completed a minimum of two consecutive semesters or three consecutive quarters of academic work with a total of 18 semester of 27 quarter credits, not including remedial courses. The nominations are reviewed and approved by the BIG EAST Academic Affairs Committee.

Villanova student-athletes have maintained a grade-point average higher than a 3.0 for 28 consecutive semesters. The overall GPA for more than 550 student-athletes in 2016-17 was 3.257, while 23 varsity teams have a GPA above a 3.0 for the academic year. The highest team GPA in 2016-17 was women's cross country (3.536), while the highest men's team GPA was men's tennis (3.421).

Earlier this year, the Wildcats had a record 15 teams earn public recognition from the NCAA for having a multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) score that ranked within the top 10 percent of their sport nationwide. The number of public recognition awards is a fitting barometer for where Villanova ranks among the nation's best universities for both academic and athletic success. There were just seven schools across the Division I landscape to have at least 15 teams recognized, and the Wildcats were the only BIG EAST program on that list.

Prior to Wednesday's announcement of the BIG EAST All-Academic Team, the league office also announced the BIG EAST Academic Excellence Awards and Sport Excellence Awards for the 2016-17 academic year. Villanova was recognized with team awards for men's basketball, men's indoor track & field and men's outdoor track & field for having the highest GPA among conference members in those sports. Four student-athletes earned BIG EAST Sport Excellence Awards, including Todd Czinege (baseball), Patrick Tiernan (men's cross country), Angel Piccirillo (women's cross country) and Emily Mayo (women's swimming & diving).