Record Directors Cup Finish For Oregon Athletics
By Rob Moseley
Editor, GoDucks.com
A strong spring fueled by NCAA championships in men’s and women’s track & field propelled the Oregon athletic department to a school-record 13th-place finish in the 2014-15 Division I Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup standings, as announced Thursday.
The Directors’ Cup uses a points system and accounts for 10 men’s and 10 women’s sports from each school to calculate an annual ranking of the nation’s most successful athletic departments. Despite fielding just 18 NCAA programs, Oregon totaled 933.5 points to finish in the top 15 for the third year in a row, and the fourth time ever.
The Ducks remain the only program ever to finish in the top 15 with 18 or fewer NCAA-sponsored sports. Stanford, UCLA and USC took the top three spots in this year’s ranking and Cal was 12th, giving the Pac-12 five of the top 13 spots.
“The culture of excellence we’ve worked to foster with our staff, student-athletes and supporters is unique, and provides an incredible competitive advantage,” UO athletic director Rob Mullens said. “We’re competing in the toughest conference in the country and enjoying unprecedented success.”
Oregon won three NCAA titles in the past academic year, in men’s indoor track and field as well as the two outdoor titles, joining Virginia as the only departments to do so in 2014-15. The Ducks and Florida are the only schools to win multiple national titles each of the last three years, and Oregon is one of five schools to win at least one in each of the last six years, along with Florida, Penn State, Stanford and UCLA.
Big Directors’ Cup points contributions from the three NCAA titles in track & field were supplemented by national top-10 finishes in football, women’s indoor track & field, softball and volleyball. The UO football team advanced to the College Football Playoff National Championship game, and women’s track also finished second, at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
The Ducks also received points from their finishes in men’s basketball, baseball and men’s and women’s golf. In all, 13 of Oregon’s 18 NCAA programs contributed points toward the Directors’ Cup, with nine – or half – finishing in the top 10.
The Learfield Sports Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today, and recognizes the accomplishments of colleges and universities maintaining a broad-based athletic program. Stanford, which sponsors 14 more sports than Oregon, accumulated top honors for the 20th straight year with a total of 1,448 points.
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