BYU Places 36th In Overall Athletic Standings

PROVO -- BYU has earned a 36th-place finish in the final Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings released today by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). With 15 teams advancing to postseason competition, the Cougars earned their highest Director's Cup finish since 2007.

"We enjoyed a very good season in 2009-10,” said BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe. “Nine of our athletic teams finished the year ranked in the top 25. It's a tribute to the hard work and dedication of our athletes, coaches and staff. We look forward to continued success in the coming year."

The annual rankings rate the overall success of 285 of the nation's NCAA Division I athletic departments. BYU is the second-highest ranked school from a non-automatic BCS-qualifying conference while beating out other perennial powers such as West Virginia (37), Michigan State (39) and Louisville (41). The Mountain West Conference placed four schools in the top 50 including TCU at No. 40, New Mexico at No. 47. New conference member Boise State finished 60th. Stanford won the Director's Cup for the 16th straight year while Florida, Virginia, UCLA and Florida State rounded out the top five.

BYU finished 23rd after the fall season with men's and women's cross country, football and women's soccer all scoring points. The winter standings saw the Cougars place 26th with points from men's basketball, women's gymnastics, men’s and women's indoor track, and men's and women's swimming. In the spring, men's golf, women's softball, men’s tennis, and men's and women's outdoor track rounded out BYU's scoring teams.

The Learfield Sports 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 up to 20 sports – ten women’s and ten men’s.