Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Finishes 29th in Directors' Cup Standings
6/29/2005 12:00:00 AM | General
June 29, 2005
Final Directors' Cup Standings in PDF Format
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EVANSTON, Ill. - Led by a national championship in women's lacrosse and NCAA Championship berths by nine other teams, Northwestern University's athletic department enjoyed its finest showing in the history of the Sports Academy Directors' Cup this year with a 29th-place finish.
Developed in 1993-94 as a joint effort between USA Today and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), the United States Sports Academy Directors' Cup is the only all-sports competition that recognizes the institution with the best overall athletics program. Schools can earn points by gaining NCAA berths in as many as 10 men's and 10 women's sports, earning a maximum of 100 points for a national championship.
Northwestern scored 532.75 points this year, as 10 different programs participated in NCAA competition. The spring was a particular boon to the Wildcat program, as lacrosse earned 100 points for its national title, while softball and women's tennis earned 64 points apiece by being one of the last 16 teams in their respective NCAA Championships. Men's tennis and women's golf also earned points for the program. During the fall, men's soccer advanced to the NCAA second round -- its first postseason bid -- while during the winter women's fencing (8th), men's swimming (8th), wrestling (14th) and women's swimming (36th) competed in their respective NCAA Championships.
Prior to this year, Northwestern's best showing in the Directors' Cup was 35th in 1996-97.
Of particular note, however, was Northwestern's finish among the Big Ten schools. The Wildcats placed sixth out of the conference's 11 institutions, behind Michigan (fourth), Ohio State (12th), Wisconsin (19th), Penn State (20th) and Minnesota (22nd) -- not particularly surprising, given those schools have anywhere from 25 to 33 varsity programs, compared to NU's 19 (smallest in the Big Ten). The bump to sixth ended a streak of four-straight years that Northwestern finished 11th among the conference schools, and surpassed the Wildcats' previous best standing of ninth.
"As I look back at this sports year, we as a department have a lot to be proud of," said NU director of athletics Mark Murphy, who recently completed his second year on the job. "It was probably the best year in the history of Northwestern athletics. We won our first NCAA team championship in 64 years, added an NCAA individual title (Matt Grevers in men's swimming), had eight teams ranked in the top 25 at one point, won two conference championships, boasted numerous All-America and Academic All-America selections, and had many of our coaches and student-athletes earn individual honors."
Stanford University won the 2004-05 Sports Academy Directors' Cup for the 11th year in a row, earning 1,238.75 points to finish ahead of runner-up Texas by 164.75 points. UCLA finished third, while Michigan was fourth and Duke was fifth.
