BYU ranked No. 19 in Directors' Cup standings

PROVO, Utah — Midway through the winter sports season, BYU is ranked No. 19 nationally in the Division I Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup standings with a score of 316.50.

All five fall sports teams — men’s cross country, women’s cross country, women’s soccer, women’s volleyball and football — and men's indoor track and field contributed to the score, with three teams finishing in the top 20 in the country.

Men’s cross country placed fourth at the NCAA championships to earn 80 points, while the women’s team finished 28th, good for 46 points.

Women’s volleyball finished 13th in the national standings, reaching the round of 16 at the NCAA championships for the second year in a row. The volleyball team ended the 2013 season with a 27-7 record and scored 64 Directors' Cup points.

Women’s soccer finished the year with a 16-5-2 record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA championships. A final national ranking of No. 17 earned 50 points in the Directors' Cup.

Facing the toughest schedule in school history, the football team finished the 2013 season 8-5 and played in its ninth-straight bowl game. A top-45 finish was good enough for 25 Directors' Cup points.

Men's indoor track and field recorded 51.5 points after finishing its season No. 22 in the nation.

The Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup was developed in 1993 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.

Since the Directors' Cup inception 21 years ago, BYU has finished the fall season ranked in the top 25 nationally 17 times.

Stanford leads the 2013 Division I fall standings with 461.25 points. The rest of the top 10 include Stanford, Michigan State, Florida State, North Carolina, Virginia, Penn State, Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Duke and Colorado.

For more information on the Directors' Cup, visit the NACDA website.