UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics is off to another strong start in the Learfield Directors' Cup standings.
The Nittany Lions are No. 7 in the final fall 2019 standings on the strength of four teams participating in their respective NCAA Championships and the football team earning a third New Year's Six bowl berth in four years. The Penn State women's soccer team captured the Big Ten Championship, as well.
The Nittany Lions earned their 13th consecutive top-10 fall finish. The Nittany Lions have placed in the top 10 in the final fall standings in 23 of the 27 years of the Directors' Cup.
Penn State and Stanford are the nation's only institutions to place in the Top 10 in the final fall Directors' Cup standings in each of the past 13 years.
Stanford (594.5) leads the Directors' Cup and is followed by Michigan (421.0), Washington (362.0), Wisconsin (345.0), BYU (338.0), Virginia (326.0), Penn State (312.0), Louisville (302.0), Notre Dame (296.5) and North Carolina (235.0).
During the fall semester, the Penn State women's soccer team captured its seventh Big Ten Tournament Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals falling to eventual champion Stanford. The men's and women's cross country, men's soccer and women's volleyball teams all competed in their respective NCAA Championships, with the volleyball squad advancing to the NCAA Tournament Regional Final where they dropped a tough decision to eventual champion Stanford. The football team finished in the Top 12 of the final CFP rankings for the fourth-straight season and earned a third New Year's Six bowl berth in four years, defeating Memphis in the Cotton Bowl.
Five Penn State fall teams were ranked in their respective Top 25 nationally (final regular season or final ranking): women's volleyball (7), football (9), women's soccer (13), men's soccer (18), women's cross country (18) and field hockey (22).
Penn State is among only nine institutions nationwide to have finished in the Top 25 in all 26 Learfield Directors' Cup final standings.
Under the leadership of Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Sandy Barbour, Penn State has one of the nation's most comprehensive and successful athletic programs, featuring more than 800 student-athletes across 31 varsity programs (16 men's, 15 women's). Penn State student-athletes posted a school-record 91 percent NCAA Graduation Success Rate (GSR) in the 2019 report. Ten teams earned a 100 percent graduation rate in the 2019 NCAA Graduation Rates Report.
The Nittany Lions rank No. 4 among all Division I schools with 207 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans all-time, including women's soccer student-athlete Kerry Abello and football student-athlete Blake Gillikin during the fall semester.
Penn State's 51 NCAA Championships all-time (79 national championships overall) rank No. 5 among all NCAA Division I programs and are the highest total of any college or university east of the Mississippi River. Penn State's 32 NCAA titles since 1992-93, including a fourth consecutive NCAA Wrestling Championship, lead all Big Ten Conference institutions. The Nittany Lions have won 113 Big Ten championships or tournament titles since capturing their first crown in 1992-93.
