Penn State Ranks Third In LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup Fall Standings

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics ranks third in the LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup Division I standings following the Fall 2024 season.

The Nittany Lions tallied 335 points in the Fall, led by Women’s Volleyball’s 100 points for winning their eighth national championship. Football reached the College Football Playoff semifinals and finished No. 5 in the AP poll to earn 75 points. Women’s soccer collected 73 points after advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals. Women’s cross country notched 60 points, while men’s cross country picked up 27 points.

Penn State sits third behind North Carolina (422.5) and Stanford (413.0). BYU (311.5) and Virginia (293.5) round out the top five. Oregon is next-highest Big Ten team at No. 7 with 280.5 points.

Led by Katie Schumacher-Cawley, the first female head coach to win a Division I women’s volleyball championship, Penn State women’s volleyball knocked off Louisville, 3-1, in the national championship match. The Nittany Lions closed the season at 35-2, claiming Big Ten and national titles. The run to the national title included wins over Delaware State, North Carolina, Marquette, Creighton and Nebraska. Jess Mruzik was named Most Outstanding Player after tallying 29 kills, 14 digs, five blocks and one ace in the title match.

Penn State football, led by James Franklin, won a program-record 13 games while advancing to the College Football Playoff semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl. The Nittany Lions earned a 38-10 win over 11th-seed SMU in the CFP First Round and followed with a 31-14 victory over 3rd-seed Boise State in the CFP Quarterfinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl. The Nittany Lions finished No. 5 in the AP poll. Junior defensive end Abdul Carter became Penn State’s 15^th Unanimous Consensus All-American, while senior tight end Tyler Warren was named a first-team All-American by two NCAA-recognized outlets.

Penn State women’s soccer, coached by Erica Dambach, reached the NCAA Quarterfinals. The Nittany Lions finished the season with 15 wins, including NCAA Tournament wins over Stony Brook, TCU and Vanderbilt. Redshirt senior forward Kaitlyn MacBean was an All-America fourth-team selection by the United Soccer Coaches.

The Penn State women’s cross country team, led by head coach John Gondak, placed 15^th in the 2024 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. Penn State earned its highest team finish since 2012 as three runners finished in the Top 100, paced by Florence Caron.

The men’s cross country squad, led by Gondak, earned Directors’ Cup points after Brian DiCola qualified for the NCAA Championships.

Under the leadership of Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Dr. Patrick Kraft, Penn State has one of the nation's most comprehensive and successful athletic programs, featuring 800 student-athletes across 31 varsity programs (16 men's, 15 women's). The Nittany Lions' 31 programs are tied for the fourth-highest number of sports sponsored by a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) institution. 

Penn State student-athletes have led the athletic department to 46 Big Ten championships and 15 NCAA National Championships since 2012. The Nittany Lions have finished in the top 15 of the LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup 20 times in the last 30 years (the Directors’ Cup was not awarded in 2019-20). 

Complete standings and the scoring structure of the LEARFIELD Directors' Cup can be found on NACDA's website at www.directorscup.org.