Perfect scores are hard to come by in collegiate athletics, but this year five of Ball State University's sports teams scored as good as they possibly could have - in the classroom.
According to the NCAA's annual Academic Progress Report, Ball State's men's golf, men's tennis, women's volleyball, cross country and gymnastics teams earned perfect 1,000s, while 16 sports scored higher than 980. With only 19 teams in the entire department, that's a phenomenal success rate.
The score reflects the university's academic eligibility and retention of student-athletes for each term of the 2003-04 and 2004-05 academic school years, as compared to other NCAA schools.
Even the university's lowest-scoring team - the football team, which is also the largest group of players - earned a 945, which was better than many other Mid-American Conference teams.
After the challenges and struggles the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics has experienced this year - from the textbook-policy violations and ensuing suspensions to the loss of the athletic director partway through the year - it's great to see that Ball State's athletes are keeping their heads in the game.
Athletes train hard for their sports - most of them training during their seasons as well as the rest of the year - and to maintain good grades while balancing training, competition and travel schedules is commendable. Beyond that, for Ball State to be leaders in the MAC - and even the nation - is a pride point for the university as a whole.
Student-athletes often deal with the stereotype that the "athlete" part of their title is more important to them than the "student" part, but Ball State athletes have proved that academics are of primary importance at this university.
And it never hurts to have a few perfect scores on the record.
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