ODU Athletics Program Is Tops in CAA, According to Latest Directors' Cup Standings
Old Dominion University is the top-ranked school in the Colonial Athletic Association in the latest Directors' Cup standings, released Thursday.
The Directors' Cup is awarded annually to the nation's best overall collegiate athletics program. In 1993, USA Today and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) jointly launched the Directors' Cup and it has since grown into a highly recognized mark of distinction among collegiate institutions.
The April 7 standings update sees ODU in 68th place overall among the country's 233 Division I athletic programs with 261.5 points, tops in the CAA. William and Mary is currently ranked No. 75. George Mason is in 87th place.
Old Dominion earned 110 points in the fall from field hockey and men's soccer performances, and 61.5 points from the Monarchs' winter accomplishments in men's basketball and wrestling.
The Lady Monarch field hockey team won the CAA tournament championship this year and topped nationally ranked Michigan to advance to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament before falling to North Carolina.
The Soccer Monarchs topped defending national champion Virginia in the first round of the NCAA tournament before falling to Penn State. ODU wrestling saw three of its student-athletes qualify for the NCAA tournament, with senior James Nicholson earning All-America status for the second time in his career.
Old Dominion men's basketball capped off another stellar year by winning the CAA tournament crown and advancing to the NCAA tournament for the second straight season. The Monarchs narrowly lost to Butler, which reached the NCAA championship game for the second consecutive year.
Stanford University leads the Directors' Cup standings with 870 points, followed by Ohio State and Penn State.
Began in 1993-94 for Division I by NACDA and USA Today, the Directors' Cup was expanded in 1995-96 to include Division II, III and the NAIA.
Each institution is awarded points in a predetermined number of sports for men and women. The overall champion is the institution that records the highest number of points in its division's Directors' Cup standings. The winner receives a crystal trophy.
ODU's women's athletic program is also ranked in the standings for the Capital One Cup, an intercollegiate athletic contest that offers awards to the top men's and women's Division I programs in the country.
ODU is 42nd in the Capital One Cup rankings on the women's side, the only CAA program to be ranked. The ranking is due to the strong performance of ODU's field hockey team.
Points toward the Capital One Cup are earned and tracked throughout the year based on final standings of the NCAA Division I championships and final official coaches' polls. One winning men's and one winning women's program will be crowned after the completion of the final NCAA spring championships. Each winning athletic program will receive the Capital One Cup and $200,000 to fund student-athlete graduate-level scholarships. Winners will be announced at the annual ESPY awards.
The current leaders are Auburn University (for men's teams) and Stanford University (for women's teams).