Good evening, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) sports fans!!
Many of you might not have heard of the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup. It is an award that honors institutions maintaining broad-based athletics programs success in many sports (including male and female sports). The Directors’ Cup, founded by the National Association of College Directors of Athletics and USA Today, began in 1993-1994 for NCAA Division I athletics. In 1995-96, it was expanded to include Division II, III and the NAIA. Each institution is awarded points in a pre-determined number of sports for men and women. The overall champion is the institution that records the highest number of points in their division’s Directors’ Cup standings. For NCAA Division I, there are 20 sports included (ten men’s and ten women’s).
The final fall standings, released on January 15, 2015, showed that the ACC really has a chance to win the Director’s Cup this year. The ACC has three institutions ranked in the top ten, six in the top 30, and nine in the top 50. North Carolina is third, Florida State (who just won the NCAA men’s soccer title) is sixth, and Virginia (who won the NCAA men’s water polo title) is ninth. Additionally, Syracuse comes in at 11th (terrific for a new member of the conference), Notre Dame at 17th, Virginia Tech at #27 (I’m going to go on record saying that if the Hokies can keep up this performance in wrestling, track and field, softball, and baseball, it will be their best year in the Cup – and Virginia Tech doesn’t have many Olympic sports), Clemson at #32, Louisville at #37, and North Carolina State at #42.
All in all – once again, the ACC has done very well – and member institutions should be proud of the conference’s performance.
The first Division I winter standings will be released Thursday, March 19, 2015.
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