Notre Dame Finishes 17th In Learfield Sports Directors' Cup
With the final data tabulated after this week’s College World Series, Notre Dame finished outside the top 10 of the Learfield Directors’ Cup standings — which recognizes schools achieving success in all sports — for the first time in four years.
The Fighting Irish placed 17th with 894.50 points after finishing 10th last year with 1,010.25. It came in at a school record third in 2014 (1,128.25 points) and 9th in 2013 (1,015.5). Notre Dame had the same No. 17 placement during the 2011-12 school year with 843.5 points.
The way the scoring works is 20 total teams — 10 for men and 10 for women — can be tallied in the final result. This can include a multitude of sports not offered by many schools, including rugby, bowling, water polo, skiing, rifle and beach volleyball. A maximum 100 points is awarded for a national title, and from there points are based on how far an advancement there is in NCAA Championship action (or points scored by individuals), or in football ranking.
A total of 295 schools scored points. Here was the breakdown of Notre Dame’s 894.50 total:
FALL SPORTS: 275 Points
• 70.5 points for women’s cross country
• 64.5 points for football (No. 11 final ranking in the AP)
• 64 points for men’s soccer (advanced to round of 16 in NCAA Tournament)
• 50 points for women’s soccer (lost in second round of NCAA Tournament)
• 26 points for men’s cross country
Women’s volleyball under a new, rebuilding regime did not score. Notre Dame finished No. 7 nationally through the fall sports season.
WINTER SPORTS: 319 Points
• 75 points for men’s & women’s fencing
• 75 points for women’s indoor track & field
• 73 points for men’s basketball (Elite 8)
• 64 points for women’s basketball (Sweet 16)
• 25 points for men’s hockey (made 16-team NCAA Tournament field, losing in the first round to Michigan)
• 7 points for men’s indoor track & field
Neither men’s nor women’s swimming scored. After the winter campaign, Notre Dame was ranked No. 9 overall.
SPRING SPORTS: 300.50 Points
• 70 points for women’s lacrosse
• 60 points for men’s lacrosse
• 50 points for women’s softball
• 47.50 points for women’s track & field
• 25 points for men’s tennis
• 25 points for women’s tennis
• 23 points for women’s golf
The Irish did not score in baseball, men’s golf, men’s track & field and women’s rowing.
2016 NACDA Directors’ Cup Standings
Stanford has won the Cup an astounding 22 years in a row after placing second to North Carolina in the 1993-94 school year. Here were this year’s placements, with the Pac-12 having six schools among the top 14:
1. Stanford — 1,526.50
2. Ohio State — 1,306.00
3. Michigan — 1,196.75
4. USC — 1,196.25
5. Florida — 1,177.00
6. UCLA — 1,091.50
7. North Carolina — 1,089.50
8. Virginia — 1,088.50
9. Texas — 1,062.00
10. Oregon — 973.75
11. California — 966.00
12. Texas A&M — 962.00
13. Oklahoma State — 957.25
14. Washington — 951.50
15. Georgia — 949.50
16. Oklahoma — 914.25
17. Notre Dame — 894.50
18. Minnesota — 891.75
19. LSU — 883.50
20. Penn State — 878.00