This is part of a 30-part Year in Review series recapping some of the best moments and accomplishments during the 2012-13 season. The year's top highlight will be determined by online fan voting via interactions here on ucasports.com and on Facebook and Twitter. To vote for this highlight, leave a comment at the bottom of this page, go to our Facebook page and like, share and comment on the corresponding post, and retweet and favorite the Tweet from @ucasports for this highlight. Fans are encouraged to vote by as many means possible, and may vote for as many highlights as they choose. Votes will count in the 2 days until the next round of highlights are revealed. The top highlight will be revealed on August 1.

While they had an outstanding year of competition, the Bears and Sugar Bears also continued their tradition of success in the classroom.

In all, 201 UCA student-athletes were named to the Southland Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll for the fall and spring semesters – the most in the league. Of those 201 to have grade point averages of 3.0 or better, 36 carried perfect 4.0 GPAs.

All UCA student-athletes combined for an average GPA of 3.02, the first time for the cumulative GPA to eclipse the 3.0 mark. The UCA student-athlete GPA has consistently risen from the end of the first year of Division I in 2007, when the Bears and Sugar Bears had a combined 2.77.

The football Bears also finished with the highest APR (Academic Progress Rate) in both the Southland Conference and state of Arkansas for the third consecutive year. The Bears posted a score of 960 (of 1000), and are one of just two FCS programs to lead their league for the third straight season.

Three Southland Conference Student-Athlete of the Year awards went to UCA students, and 22 were named to their sport's All-Academic teams.