Michigan Athletics Finishes Third in Directors' Cup Standings
7/1/2016 12:00:00 AM | General
July 1, 2016
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan Athletic Department finished third in the 2015-16 Division I Learfield Sports Directors' Cup, totaling 1,196.75 points for its highest finish since also finishing third during the 2007-08 year.
Michigan now has 12 top-five finishes in the Directors' Cup and has placed in the top 15 of the standings in 20 of the award's 23 seasons, including a runner-up finish in 2003-04 and third-place finishes in 1999-2000, 2007-08 and again this year.
Stanford won the title with 1,526.5 points, while Ohio State (1,306), Michigan, (1,196.75), USC (1,196.25) and Florida (1,177) rounded out the top five.
The Learfield Sports Directors' Cup developed as a joint effort between NACDA and USA Today. Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in up to 20 sports -- 10 women's and 10 men's.
The Wolverines recorded top-10 finishes in the Directors' Cup standings in 12 sports: women's cross country (6), men's cross country (9), field hockey (5), men's gymnastics (7), ice hockey (5), women's swimming & diving (10), women's indoor track & field (6), wrestling (9), women's rowing (10), softball (5), water polo (4), and women's tennis (5) in addition to eight other top-25 finishes.
At the Big Ten level, Michigan led the conference in championships with eight: women's outdoor track & field, softball, men's cross country, women's gymnastics, women's swimming & diving, men's swimming & diving, women's indoor track & field and water polo (CWPA). Michigan also won the Big Ten ice hockey tournament title and led the conference with an average team finish of 3.75 across all sports.
A total of 47 student-athletes earned first-team All-America honors during the year with a total of 66 All-America selections in all. Michigan had 71 student-athletes earn All-Big Ten first team honors with 35 student-athletes winning individual conference titles.
A total of 276 student-athletes were named Academic All-Big Ten Conference compared to 260 in 2014-15 and 235 in 2013-14. Men's track & field athlete Mason Ferlic (aerospace engineering) and field hockey athlete Shannon Scavelli (psychology) were U-M's recipients of the Big Ten Medal of Honor.
Michigan had eight individuals claim Academic All-America honors: Cory Bruder (baseball -- evolutionary anthropology), Sara Driesenga (softball -- social work), PJ Ransford (men's swimming & diving -- mechanical engineering), Nicole Artz (women's gymnastics -- elementary education), Ali Thomason (water polo - neuroscience), Cindi Ofili (track & field -- elementary education), Mason Ferlic (cross country/track & field -- aerospace engineering) and Erin Finn (cross country/track & field -- biochemistry). Michigan boasts 129 Academic All-Americans.
During the 2015-16 academic year, Michigan was the only school to achieve exemplary Academic Progress Rate (APR) marks from the NCAA in football (above 989), men's basketball (995 and above) and women's basketball (995 and above).
Further, Michigan is the only Big Ten Conference institution to earn NCAA Public Recognition Awards in both football and men's basketball, with men's basketball now having earned the award in five straight years. U-M tied an institutional record in 2015-16 with 10 Public Recognition Awards for ranking among the top 10 percent of their respective sports in the most recent multi-year APR report.
Directors' Cup 2015-16 Division I Final Standings
Top Five Institutions
| Rank | School | Points |
| 1 | Stanford | 1,526.50 |
| 2 | Ohio State | 1,306.00 |
| 3 | MICHIGAN | 1,196.75 |
| 4 | USC | 1,196.25 |
| 5 | Florida | 1,177.00 |
Michigan's 2015-16 Team Finishes
| Sport | Record | Conf. | NCAA | Points |
| Baseball | 36-21 | 5th | --- | 0 |
| Men's Basketball | 23-13 | 8th | 1st rd. | 25 |
| Women's Basketball | 21-14 | T7th | (WNIT T3rd) | 0 |
| Men's Cross Country | --- | 1st | 9th | 69 |
| Women's Cross Country | --- | 2nd | 6th | 73.9 |
| Field Hockey | 18-5 | 2nd | T5th | 60 |
| Football | 10-3 | 3rd+ | 11th | 66 |
| Men's Golf | --- | T4th | 10th^ | 16 |
| Women's Golf | --- | 6th | T18th | 55.5 |
| Men's Gymnastics | 6-19 | 7th | 9th | 32.5 |
| Women's Gymnastics | 23-8 | 1st | 3rd^ | 59.25 |
| Ice Hockey | 25-8-5 | 2nd* | 2nd rd. | 60 |
| Men's Lacrosse | 3-10 | 6th | --- | 0 |
| Women's Lacrosse | 6-12 | 6th | --- | 0 |
| Women's Rowing | --- | 3rd | 10th | 60 |
| Men's Soccer | 8-6-4 | 6th | --- | 0 |
| Women's Soccer | 12-7-2 | 5th | --- | 0 |
| Softball | 52-7 | 1st | T5th | 78 |
| Men's Swimming and Diving | 11-0 | 1st | 12th | 64.5 |
| Women's Swimming and Diving | 8-1 | 1st | 10th | 67.5 |
| Men's Tennis | 21-8 | T3rd | 2nd rd. | 50 |
| Women's Tennis | 23-7 | T2nd | T5th | 73 |
| Men's Indoor Track and Field | --- | 4th | T58th | X |
| Women's Indoor Track and Field | --- | 1st | 6th | 73.5 |
| Men's Outdoor Track and Field | --- | 2nd | T13th | 62.25 |
| Women's Outdoor Track and Field | --- | T1st | T20th | X |
| Volleyball | 20-12 | 9th | 2nd rd. | X |
| Women's Water Polo | 30-8 | 1st | 4th | 83 |
| Wrestling | 13-3 | 6th | T9th | 68.25 |
+ indicates East Division finish
* indicates Big Ten tournament champion
^ indicates NCAA Regional finish
X indicates finishes were not used in computation
# indicates final USA Today ranking
Communications Contact: Kurt Svoboda
