BYU finishes 5th in Learfield Directors’ Cup final fall rankings

CLEVELAND – BYU finished No. 5 in the final fall rankings of the 2016-17 Division I Learfield Directors’ Cup standings – tying the best fall finish in school history.

BYU’s five teams tallied 312.5 points, the most among West Coast Conference schools and more than any program from the American, Big 12, Big East, Ivy League, Mountain West and SEC.

Stanford held the top spot with 504.5 points while UCLA was second at 348.0, North Carolina third at 345.0 and Wisconsin in fourth at 324.0.

Men’s cross country garnered the top point total for the Cougars with 72 after a seventh place finish at the NCAA Championships where two runners earned All-America honors. BYU won the WCC and spent every week of the season ranked in the top 15. Ed Eyestone was named WCC Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year and third time in his career.

The women’s team ran its way to a 10th place finish at nationals to earn 67.5 points for the Cup. It was the team’s best finish since 2005. First-year head coach Diljeet Taylor’s team spent four weeks of the season in the top 20 and All-American Erica Birk-Jarvis led the Cougars in their best run of the year to finish in the top 10.

Women’s soccer earned 64 points by finishing the 2016 season with an 18-3-1 record and ranking No. 9 in the NSCAA Coaches Poll. The Cougars made it to the third round of the NCAA Tournament after winning their fifth consecutive WCC title. Ashley Hatch and Taylor Isom were both named All-American by the NSCAA.

The women’s volleyball team also added 64 points for the Cougars after finishing with a 29-4 record, third-straight outright West Coast Conference title and fifth consecutive trip to the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament. Head coach Heather Olmstead was named the 2016 AVCA All-Pacific South Region Coach of the Year along with Amy Boswell and McKenna Miller earning All-America honors.

Football rounded out the year with 45 points in the Directors’ Cup after winning the Poinsettia Bowl and finishing at 9-4 in Kalani Sitake’s first season at the helm. The team ranked 26th overall in Directors’ Cup football standings. Running back Jamaal Williams broke the school’s all-time rushing record and the Cougars ranked 14th nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 19.5 points per game.

The Learfield Directors’ Cup was developed 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 NCAA Championships. The Directors’ Cup Committee is reviewing the scoring structure for 2016-17 which will be finalized prior to the winter sports standings.The first Division I winter standings will be released Thursday, March 23.

See the complete standings here