June 29, 2009

A school-record 14 postseason tournament teams fueled Baylor to a 33rd-place finish in the final 2008-09 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings released today by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). Baylor totaled 611.75 points to register its third-highest finish ever in the national all-sports sweepstakes and finish fifth among Big 12 Conference institutions.

"Baylor's success in the Big 12 All-Sports standings and Learfield Directors' Cup is a credit to our outstanding coaches, staff and student-athletes," said Baylor Director of Athletics Ian McCaw. "Thanks to the strong support that we receive from the Board of Regents, senior administration and generous alumni, our athletics program is experiencing widespread success and enjoying tremendous momentum."

Over the last five years, Baylor has recorded five of its seven highest finishes in the 16-year history of the Directors' Cup. Baylor placed a program-best 25th in the 2004-05 standings, was 32nd in 2005-06, 33rd in 2008-09, 38th in 2006-07 and 42nd in 2007-08. Prior to the 2004-05 academic year, Baylor's best Directors' Cup finishes were 39th in 1998-99 and 40th in 2001-02.

The Big 12 and the Big 10 Conferences were the only Bowl Championship Series (BCS) leagues to place every league school among the top 80 in the final 2008-09 Directors' Cup standings. Baylor placed fifth among all Big 12 institutions in the 2008-09 all-sports rankings, behind No. 6 Texas, No. 13 Texas A&M, No. 29 Oklahoma and No. 31 Nebraska. BU placed ahead of Big 12 institutions Oklahoma State (No. 35), Missouri (No. 36), Texas Tech (No. 57), Iowa State (No. 58), Colorado (No. 69), Kansas (No. 72) and Kansas State (No. 77). Stanford won the Directors' Cup for the 15th consecutive year, followed by North Carolina, Florida, Southern Cal and Michigan.

Of Baylor's 2008-09 Directors' Cup point total, 417.25 points came from the recently completed spring sports season which saw every Baylor team reach the postseason. All-told, Baylor produced a school-record 14 postseason tournament teams in 2008-09, five Big 12 Conference championships (two regular season, three tournament crowns) and two NCAA individual national champions (men's indoor 4x400-meter relay and Trey Harts in the men's indoor 200 meters). Over the last five years, only Texas (44) has won more Big 12 regular-season and tournament championships than Baylor (25).

After having a record 13 postseason tournament entrants in both 2005-06 and 2006-07, a school-record 14 Baylor teams earned postseason bids this past year--men's basketball (NIT runner-up), women's basketball (Sweet 16; sixth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and eighth in last nine years), men's tennis (12th consecutive NCAA bid; sixth consecutive Elite Eight appearance), women's tennis (in fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, reached Elite Eight for second consecutive year), men's indoor track and field (T-5th at NCAA Championships), women's indoor track and field (T-51st at NCAA Championships), men's outdoor track and field (T-20th at NCAA Championships); women's outdoor track and field (10th at NCAA Championships, matching best outdoor finish in school history), men's golf (12th consecutive NCAA Regional appearance), women's cross country (placed 19th in sixth straight NCAA Championship appearance), women's golf (ninth NCAA Regional appearance in last 10 years), softball (third NCAA Super Regional appearance in school history), baseball (10th NCAA Regional appearance in last 14 seasons) and equestrian (hunter seat team placed fourth at Varsity Equestrian National Championships).

Learfield Sports, a leader in the collegiate sports marketplace for almost four decades, manages the multimedia and sponsorship rights for more than 50 collegiate institutions including Oklahoma, Penn State, North Carolina, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Alabama, Purdue, Indiana, Miami (Fla.) and Stanford, which has been awarded the Directors' Cup trophy 15 consecutive years. The Dallas-based company also manages corporate partner programs for the Big Ten Conference and the Western Athletic Conference and secures marketing partnerships for the Black Coaches & Administrators (BCA). Learfield Sports (learfieldsports.com) is an operating unit of Jefferson City, Mo.-based Learfield Communications, Inc., which made its initial foray into the world of sports marketing in 1975 as the radio rights holder for the University of Missouri, a client still today.

Directors' Cup points are awarded based on each institution's finish in up to 20 sports - 10 men's and 10 women's.

Baylor's All-Time Directors' Cup Finishes

Year/Finish

1993-1994/109

1994-1995/64

1995-1996/120

1996-1997/125

1997-1998/65

1998-1999/39

1999-2000/43

2000-2001/54

2001-2002/40

2002-2003/69

2003-2004/47

2004-2005/25

2005-2006/32

2006-2007/38

2007-2008/42

2008-2009/33