Tampa Moves Into Directors’ Cup Top-10 Following Strong Winter Season
CLEVELAND - The University of Tampa capitalized on NCAA appearances by all four winter teams to move into the No. 10 spot in the NCAA Division II Learfield Sports Directors' Cup.
Grand Valley State holds onto the lead after the final winter standings. The Lakers stay in the lead with 718 total points. West Texas A&M moves into second with 451.50 points after finishing second in the women's basketball championship. Central Missouri jumps from 13th to third place to finish the winter with 448 points. The Mules were National Champions in men's basketball and advanced to the second round of the women's basketball championship. With 425 points, in fourth place, is Adams State. Rounding out the top five is Alaska Anchorage with 397.75 points.
Tampa has 374 points after a strong showing from women's basketball (64), men's swimming (63), women's swimming (53) and men's basketball (25). In the fall, the Spartans also registered points from volleyball, women's cross country and women's soccer.
The Spartans are the top Sunshine State Conference institution and are also first among NCAA South Region teams. Other SSC schools in the standings include Saint Leo (20), Florida Southern (26), Rollins (38), Nova Southeastern (48), Barry (166), Florida Tech (166), Lynn (181) and Eckerd (190).
All seven winter Division II championships have been completed with the following institutions capturing titles: women's basketball - Bentley; men's basketball - Central Missouri; swimming & diving - Drury; men's swimming & diving - Drury; women's indoor track & field - Adams State; men's indoor track & field - St. Augustine's; and wrestling - Notre Dame (OH).
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 14 sports -- seven women's and seven men's.
The first Division II spring standings will be released Thursday, May 22.
Please note, standings published midseason are unofficial. Official standings will be published upon the completion of the fall season. Complete standings and the scoring structure can be found on NACDA's website at www.directorscup.org. In addition, please visit www.thedirectorscup.com, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/lsdirectorscup or follow us on Twitter @lsdirectorscup.
In its four decades, Learfield has developed trusted, long-term relationships with some of the most revered institutions and associations in the world of collegiate athletics. Learfield Sports owns the exclusive multimedia rights to more than 90 collegiate athletic programs in the country and has prominence in all of the major conferences. Learfield's rights encompass all athletic department media and sponsorships components, including stadium signage and numerous content distribution platforms. Those platforms deliver the passion of college athletics over radio, television and digital networks to fans globally. This marks the sixth consecutive year for the company to title the prestigious Learfield Sports Directors' Cup. To learn more, visit www.learfieldsports.com.