Cleveland, OH – Capping a three-year climb, Florida State placed ninth and finished first among ACC institutions in the final standings for the NACDA Learfield Director’s Cup. FSU’s ninth-place finish marked the third straight year of improvement in the standings. Over the past three years, the Seminoles have improved from 22nd in 2015-16, to 13th in 2016-17 to ninth this year.
Florida State’s ninth-place finish marks the second-highest finish for FSU in school history and the fourth top 10 finish since the Director’s Cup rankings began in 1993-94. The Seminoles have now finished as high as fifth twice and ninth on two occasions as well.
“Finishing ninth nationally in the Directors’ Cup, our highest finish since 2011-12, is a tremendous achievement,” said Seminoles athletics director and university vice-president Stan Wilcox. “It is a testament to the work of our student-athletes, coaches and staff. This is the third consecutive year in which we have improved our finish and the first time in six years we have lead the ACC as the top finisher. To make such definitive strides athletically while posting a cumulative student-athlete GPA of 3.0 for the first time ever speaks to the positive direction of our athletics program.”
The Seminoles’ ascension to the top 10 came as a result of an extremely strong spring. In the final sports season of the year, the softball team won a National Championship (100 points), beach volleyball finished as the national runner-up (90 points) and the track teams’ top 15 finishes provided more than 120 points.
Making the success on the field even more special was the unprecedented success FSU had in the classroom in 2017-18. For the first time in school history, the cumulative GPA for the entire student-athlete population was at a 3.0. This was a major goal Wilcox had set out for the athletic department and this past year it came hand-in-hand with one of the best seasons athletically as well.
The Learfield 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 NCAA Championships.
FSU’s All-Time Director’s Cup Finishes
17-18 9th
16-17 13th
15-16 22nd
14-15 11th
13-14 12th
12-13 11th
11-12 5th
10-11 9th
09-10 5th
08-09 15th
07-08 15th
06-07 15th
05-06 17th
04-05 30th
03-04 22nd
02-03 38th
01-02 39th
00-01 35th
99-00 46th
98-99 39th
97-98 47th
96-97 49th
95-96 24th
94-95 24th
93-94 25th
