University Park, Pa. — Following another outstanding athletic campaign, highlighted by two NCAA Championships and three Big Ten titles, Penn State has finished 13th in the 2010-11 Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup Standings.
Penn State earned its 13th Top 15 finish in the 18-year history of the Directors’ Cup, placing in the Top 25 every year, with eight Top 10 finishes. The Nittany Lions (996.05 points) were barely edged by Texas (996.75 points) for 12th place.
Stanford won its 17th consecutive Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup, earning 1,550.25 points. The Cardinal were followed by Ohio State (1,277.05), California (1,219.50), Florida (1,212.25) and Duke (1,171.05). North Carolina, Virginia, Texas A&M, Florida State, Oklahoma and UCKA were just ahead of the Longhorns and Nittany Lions.
Penn State and Ohio State again were the highest finishers in the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup among institutions located in the Midwest and Northeast.
During 2010-11, Coach Russ Rose’s women’s volleyball team captured an unprecedented fourth consecutive NCAA Championship and Coach Cael Sanderson’s wrestling team won Penn State’s first national title since 1953. The Nittany Lion women’s volleyball (eighth consecutive; 14th overall), wrestling (first) and women’s soccer (13th consecutive) teams won Big Ten Championships this past year.
Penn State had 46 All-Americans, 29 first-team All-Big Ten selections and 36 first-team all-conference selections overall in 2010-11, as well as five first-team CoSIDA Academic All-Americans.
Penn State is one of only nine programs nationwide that has finished in the final Top 25 in every Directors’ Cup ranking, being joined by Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio State, Southern California, Stanford, Texas and UCLA.
Penn State has won 21 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 Lions’ 10 NCAA Championships since March 2007 lead the nation.
The Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup standings are unveiled following the fall, winter and spring seasons. The award 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.
