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BYU Athletics: Cougars earn Top 5 Directors’ Cup ranking in fall sports

By Shaun Gordon

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - SEPTEMBER 10: A flag for the Brigham Young Cougars enters the field of play for their game against the Utah Utes, at Rice Eccles Stadium on September 10, 2016 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - SEPTEMBER 10: A flag for the Brigham Young Cougars enters the field of play for their game against the Utah Utes, at Rice Eccles Stadium on September 10, 2016 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images) /
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BYU Athletics matched their best ever fall finish in the Directors’ Cup, sitting at No. 5 in the nation after a dominating performance by the five fall programs.

Monday’s College Football Playoff National Championship capped off the fall schedule in college sports, and BYU Athletics finished with one of the best fall campaigns in the nation.

The Learfield Directors’ Cup released their final fall standings on Thursday morning, and the Cougars are the No. 5 team in the nation after the fall slate. It’s tied for their highest fall finish, having also finished fifth in 1998, 2001, and 2003.

The Directors’ Cup measures the overall strength of an athletic program, awarding points for finishing well in every NCAA sanctioned sport.

For example, if a team wins the national title in their sport, that school receives 100 points in the Directors’ Cup. Points are awarded in decreasing number from there.

The NCAA sponsors nine fall sports, and BYU takes part in five of them. The Cougars earned 72 points for a 7th place finish in Women’s Cross Country, 90 points for a 2nd place finish in Men’s Cross Country, 45 points for a bowl win in Football, 25 points for a Women’s Soccer NCAA Tournament appearance, and 83 points for a Final Four run in Women’s Volleyball.

That’s a total of 315 points, just five points behind No. 4 Wisconsin and four points ahead of No. 6 Wake Forest.

No one is even remotely close to No. 1 Stanford, though. The Cardinal amassed 541 points in the fall, an eye-popping 160.5 points more than No. 2 Michigan. Stanford finished in the Top 5 in six different sports and also earned points for their bowl victory in football.

Unfortunately the Cougars probably won’t finish the entire season in the Top 10, since the fall sports tend to be BYU’s biggest strength. But it puts them in position to crack the Top 25 for the first time since the 2001-02 school year.

BYU’s best ever finish in the Directors’ Cup came in 1998-99, when they finished No. 12.

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