Led by the Crimson Tide’s national championship football and men’s golf teams, a total of five University of Alabama athletic teams were honored with the NCAA Division I Public Recognition Award, the NCAA announced Wednesday.

Each year, the NCAA honors select Division I sports teams by publicly recognizing their latest multi-year NCAA Division I Academic Progress Rate. This award is part of the overall Division I academic reform effort and is intended to highlight teams that demonstrate a commitment to academic progress and retention of student-athletes by achieving the top APRs within their respective sports. Specifically, these teams posted multi-year APRs in the top-10 percent of all squads in each sport.

Alabama had the only football squad in the Southeastern Conference to earn the award and was second only to Vanderbilt in the total number of teams honored.

“To have five of our programs honored in this way, especially considering the success they all enjoyed on the field, is a true testament to the excellence The University of Alabama strives for both athletically and academically,” University of Alabama Athletic Director Bill Battle said.

In addition to football and men’s golf, the Tide’s 2012 NCAA Championship women’s golf team was honored for the third year in a row; the women’s tennis team was recognized for the second year in a row; the men’s basketball team earned the accolade for the first time.

“We’re very proud not only to have had the most teams we’ve ever had receive this award in a single year, but also by the fact that we’ve now had at least one team honored every year since the award’s inception in 2005,” Battle said.

The overall APR report covering all sports will be released next week.