UNC Ranks Seventh in Final Directors’ Cup Standings

Thursday morning brought the announcement that–for the 19th time in the award’s 23-year history–the Tar Heels again finished in the top 10 of the Learfield Director’s Cup standings.

After finishing the 2015-16 school year with a final tally of 1089.5 points, the Tar Heels ended up seventh overall–but were the highest ranked school to come from the ACC.

The Directors’ Cup measures postseason success and hands out points to a maximum of 10 men’s and 10 women’s programs per school.

Leading the way for the Tar Heels were their men’s and women’s lacrosse programs–which each earned 100 points toward UNC’s total by winning their sport’s national championships.

Runner-up finishes by men’s basketball and field hockey also played a large role in the Tar Heels’ final standing. In total, the school had 12 programs finish the season ranked in the top 20 of their respective sports.

There were no surprises at the top of the leaderboard, as Stanford took home the trophy for an astonishing 22nd consecutive year. The Cardinal racked up 1526.5 points to finish ahead of Ohio State, Michigan, Southern California and Florida.

UNC, which won the 1993-94 title, is the only other athletic program to ever win the prize. The Tar Heels’ 19 top 10 finishes rank fourth all-time behind only Stanford, Florida and UCLA.

All of the ACC’s other members have combined for just 18 top 10 finishes–or one less than UNC has by itself.

Eighth-place Virginia was the only other school from the conference to finish in the top 10 this year.

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UNC Ranks Seventh in Final Directors' Cup Standings

Thursday morning brought the announcement that–for the 19th time in the award’s 23-year history–the Tar Heels again finished in the top 10 of the Learfield Director’s Cup standings. After finishing the 2015-16 school year with a final tally of 1089.5 points, the Tar Heels ended up seventh overall–but were the highest ranked school to come […]

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