University Park, Pa. — Another outstanding athletic campaign, highlighted by two NCAA Championships and five Big Ten titles, has lifted Penn State to another Top 15 finish in the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup.
The Nittany Lions were ranked No. 11 in the 2009-10 standings, edged by Duke by 11 points for a spot in the Top 10. Penn State tallied 971.30 points.
Penn State earned its 12th Top 15 finish in the 17-year history of the Directors’ Cup, placing in the Top 25 every year, with eight Top 10 finishes. The Nittany Lions are in elite company as one of only 10 schools nationwide to be ranked in every final Directors’ Cup Top 25, joining: Arizona State, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio State, Southern California, Stanford, Texas and UCLA.
Penn State also is ranked No. 10 in the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup cumulative standings since its creation in 1993-94. The Nittany Lions are joined by eight of the above nine schools, with Georgia replacing Arizona State in the cumulative Top 10 over the past 17 years.
Stanford won its 16th consecutive Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup, earning 1,508.50 points. Stanford was followed by Florida (1,310.25), Virginia (1,253.25), UCLA (1,124), Florida State (1,087.50), Texas A&M (1,070.75), North Carolina (1,029.30), Ohio State (1,015.50), California (1,013.50), Duke (982.75) and Penn State.
Penn State and Ohio State again were the highest finishers in the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup among institutions located in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
Penn State has won 19 NCAA Championships since 1993-94, its first full year in the Big Ten Conference, more than double every other Big Ten institution Iowa and Minnesota are tied for second with nine. The Nittany Lion women’s volleyball team captured an unprecedented third consecutive NCAA Championship last December, the program’s fourth in 10 years. The Penn State fencing team won its third national title in four years in March, raising its total to 12 NCAA crowns since 1990.
The Nittany Lions have won 64 Big Ten Championships since 1993-94 (65 all-time) and their 24 Big Ten titles since 2005-06 are the conference’s second-highest total.
The Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup Standings are unveiled following the fall, winter and spring seasons. 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 20 sports — 10 women’s and 10 men’s.
For the complete Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup standings, go to www.nacda.com
