Notre Dame Fighting Irish Rank No. 1 in APR Honors

Notre Dame may have lost the national championship, but there are far better accomplishments the school can hold its hat on.

How about being absolutely flawless in the classroom?

According to the South Bend Tribune, "Notre Dame ranks number one with Duke among all Football Bowl Subdivision institutions with 15 of its athletics programs receiving 2013 Academic Progress Rate public recognition awards."

There aren't many smart rebuttals that can be made when it comes to that.

Per the report, 15 Irish teams posted multi-year APR scores in the top 10 percent of their respective sports. APR numbers from the 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 academic years were used and are part of the broad Division I academic reform effort that was approved in 2006.

The sports that contributed to this success include 11 men sports and four women sports.

Although football wasn't one of them, the men sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, fencing, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field. Women matched the men in cross country, golf, softball and swimming and diving, per the report. 

This is nothing new for Notre Dame, a school that has always taken great pride in academics. Last year, Notre Dame led the way with an incredible 17 teams finishing in the top 10 percent of the APR, while Duke finished second with a distant 13.

Notre Dame has now received public recognition awards in each of the eight years of the program. That is something nobody can look down upon. 

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