Irish Now 11th In Directors’ Cup Standings
Fall NCAA competition earned Notre Dame 199 points; men’s soccer leads the way, accounting for 64 points.

Jan. 1, 2004

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame stands 11th in the third set of fall sports standings released in the 2003-04 United State Sports Academy Division I Directors’ Cup all-sports competition sponsored by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (formerly known as Sears Directors’ Cup).

Fall NCAA competition earned the Irish 199 points based on their 10th-place finish in the NCAA women’s cross country championships (60 points), their second-round appearance in NCAA women’s soccer (50 points), their third-round NCAA appearance in men’s soccer (64 points, highest total ever in that sport for Notre Dame) and their NCAA first-round women’s volleyball appearance (25 points).

The final fall standings will be available Jan. 8.

Michigan (413 points) leads the competition thanks to top-10 finishes in five of the seven sports currently calculated. Second is UCLA, followed by Stanford and BYU.

The current standings include results from NCAA fall competition in field hockey, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s volleyball and I-AA football.

In previous years in which the Directors’ Cup competition has been held, Notre Dame has finished 11th in 1993-94, 30th in 1994-95, 11th in 1995-96, 14th in 1996-97, tied for 31st in 1997-98, 25th in 1998-99, 21st in 1999-2000, 11th in 2000-01, 13th in 2001-02 and tied for 13th in 2002-03.

Here are the current standings:
1. Michigan 413, 2. UCLA 298, 3. Stanford 289, 4. BYU 248, 5. (tie) Maryland and North Carolina 241, 7. Penn State 234, 8. Washington 228, 9. Wake Forest 207, 10. Connecticut 200, 11. Notre Dame 199, 12. Colorado 197, 13. Northern Arizona 190, 14. Santa Clara 181, 15. Villanova 178.