Dec. 23, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; December 23, 2010 - Another superlative fall sports season has boosted Penn State into fifth place in the latest Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings.
The Nittany Lions moved into the Top 5 on the strength of the women's volleyball team's unprecedented fourth consecutive NCAA Championship last week, which delivered 100 points.
Penn State was the only school in the nation to have its men's and women's cross country, field hockey, men's and women's soccer and women's volleyball teams selected to their respective NCAA Championships this fall. The Nittany Lion football team was invited to play in the Outback Bowl and the teams in the final USA Today Coaches poll will earn Directors' Cup points.
The final fall standings will be announced in mid-January.
Penn State has placed in the Top 25 of all 17 previous Learfield Sports Directors' Cups, with eight Top 10 finishes. The Nittany Lions finished No. 11 in the 2009-10 standings.
The Nittany Lions are in elite company as one of only 10 schools nationwide to be ranked in every final Directors' Cup Top 25, joining: Arizona State, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio State, Southern California, Stanford, Texas and UCLA.
The Nittany Lions have earned 275.00 Directors' Cup points in the 2010-11 standings, trailing only North Carolina (335), Stanford (319), Florida State (303) and Ohio State (294). Big Ten colleagues Indiana (13), Michigan (15) and Minnesota (20) also are in the Top 25.
The Learfield Sports Directors' Cup Standings are unveiled during the fall, winter and spring seasons. 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 -- 10 women's and 10 men's.
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