2012 SEC Academic Roll: Georgia Bulldogs football leads SEC with 38 selections

Georgia Bulldogs head coach Mark Richt reacts during the third quarter of the 2012 SEC Championship game against the Alabama Crimson Tide at the Georgia Dome. (Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports)

In total, Georgia placed 57 student-athletes on the 2012 SEC Academic Roll, second to only South Carolina. However, the count was based on five sports, while the Gamecocks’ 74 was aided by the addition of a sixth in men’s soccer.

Of those 57 young men and women who define the term ‘student-athlete’, 38 were football players, the most of any team in the conference.

Just behind the Bulldogs were Vanderbilt (36), followed by Alabama (29), South Carolina (28), and finally Missouri (26) to round out the top five.

Again, that was for just football. Overall, the aforementioned South Carolina (74) took home the top prize, with Georgia (57) coming in second, then Vanderbilt (55), Florida (46), and Kentucky (46).

The Academic Honor Roll is not a semester award but one that is a full year in the making. It is based on grades from the 2012 Spring, Summer and Fall terms’ combined grades for each player eligible.

The rules for qualification, according to the Athens Banner-Herald:

(1) A student-athlete must have a grade point average of 3.00 or above for either the preceding academic year (two semesters or three quarters) or have a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 or above at the nominating institution. (2) If a student-athlete attends summer school, his/her grade point average during the summer academic term must be included in the calculation used to determine eligibility for the Academic Honor Roll. (3) Student-athletes eligible for the Honor Roll include those receiving an athletics scholarship, recipients of an athletics award (i.e., letter winner), and non-scholarship student-athletes who have been on a varsity team for two seasons. (4) Prior to being nominated, a student-athlete must have successfully completed 24 semester or 36 quarter hours of non-remedial academic credit toward a baccalaureate degree at the nominating institution. (5) The student-athlete must have been a member of a varsity team for the sport’s entire NCAA Championship segment.

Congrats to the Bulldogs’ football team, who tied a bow on an excellent football season with a win over Nebraska in the Capital One Bowl and with the highest academic standing of any school in the conference.

And heck, we beat Florida on the football field and in the classroom — sup now?

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