ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. --- University of New Mexico athletics loves to talk about excelling both on the field and in the classroom. Eight Mountain West titles since the beginning of the 2024-25 academic year, including two this past fall and a tie for first in football, is a testament to that. The Lobos have shown on the field and on the playing courts that they are the class of the Mountain West.
Now, with the release of the Fall 2025 grades, Lobo student-athletes have served notice that, as great as they are on the field, they are even greater in the classroom.
Records fell all across the board as the Fall 2025 grades have been released, and in many cases, they didn’t just fall; they were obliterated in a swarm of marks that added up to a program record 3.68 grade point average for the student-athlete population. That mark easily topped the previous record of 3.55, set in both the Fall of 2024 and in the Spring of 2020 during the COVID season.
Overall, seven programs set records in their sports, with football and men’s basketball leading the way, as every team in the department achieved at least a 3.0 for just the second time in program history. It marked the first time every program had a score of at least 3.3.
“Our student-athletes continue to excel in every area; winning championships and succeeding in the classroom,” said Interim Vice President and Director of Athletics Ryan Berryman. “That success is a direct reflection of outstanding recruiting by our coaches and the culture of academic excellence fostered through the Lobo Center for Student-Athlete Success (LCSAS).
“I want to commend Chris Hudson, Senior Associate AD for Student Development, and the entire LCSAS team for creating an environment where our student-athletes are empowered to thrive,” Berryman added.
Certainly, the football and men’s basketball programs highlight the report, particularly given their successes on the field and court. In the Spring of 2025, the first season under Jason Eck, the program set a record with a 3.36 GPA. Now, after a fall season that saw the program go 9-4, tie for first place with a 6-2 record, including the first undefeated home season in 63 years, the team accomplished all of that while demolishing the previous record, posting a wild 3.67 grade point average.
The team did that with the fewest returning players in the FBS (34) and the second-most newcomers (74).
In men’s basketball, the team posted the largest improvement in GPA in the department, setting a record with a 3.39 mark. The team, currently ranked in the Top-40 nationally in the net, is 17-4 overall and second in the Mountain West at 8-2. The team, under first-year coach Eric Olen, is one of three Division I teams that did not return any players or coaches from the previous year.
Other teams to record program records were baseball (3.72), men’s tennis (3.92), softball (3.83), women’s track & field/cross country (3.82), and volleyball (3.88).
For baseball, all five of the best semesters in school history have come under head coach Tod Brown, and men’s tennis has now turned in three of the program’s top GPAs under head coach Rob Bareford, who is entering his fourth semester and won a Mountain West Tournament title last spring.
Softball set a program record for a third time under coach Nicole Orgeron, and all five of her semesters leading the Lobos have marked the five highest semester GPAs in program history. Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country has won the last four possible Mountain West titles and set a program record for a third straight semester, and volleyball joined the program record club as well.
Overall, the male student-athlete population recorded a 3.62 GPA, led by Men’s Golf and Men’s Tennis, which each posted a 3.92 GPA. On the female side, the student-athletes recorded a 3.74 GPA, tying the COVID pass-fail semester for best GPA. The women were led by women’s tennis, with a 3.95 GPA, and women’s golf, with a 3.92 GPA.