University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Rank Fifth In Latest Directors' Cup
3/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Athletics
Minnesota led all schools during the early winter season with 293.75 points to move into fifth-place in the Division I Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings. The Gophers have 487.75 total points and rank behind Stanford (559), Florida (548), Penn State (521.50) and Virginia (518).
The Gophers, who moved up from 20th following the fall season, picked up big points with top-10 finishes in women's ice hockey (third), wrestling (seventh) and indoor men's track and field (eighth) during the last season. The women's swimming and diving team also finished 12th while the women's indoor track and field team scored a 39th-place finish.
The Big Ten also fared very well in the latest rankings. Aside from Minnesota and Penn State, Ohio State ranks ninth and Wisconsin is 11th. The other Big Ten rankings are Indiana (21st), Michigan State (29th), Illinois (38th), Michigan (53rd), Iowa (57th), Northwestern (84th) and Purdue (86th).
Minnesota has finished in the top 30 of the Directors' Cup standings for 14 consecutive years including 14th-place finish in 2008-09. Minnesota's top performances came in 2002 (seventh) and in 2003 (11th).
Points are accumulated based on performances in NCAA tournament competition. Each sport is scored on a scale of 25-100 with the national champion receiving 100 points, the runner-up getting 90 points and each participating team receiving a minimum of 25 points for qualifying. The Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in up to 14 sports -- seven women’s and seven men’s. The next Division I winter standings will be released on April 8.
