Jan. 11, 2007
BERKELEY - With an NCAA championship in men's water polo and top-20 finishes in five other sports, California is ranked as the No. 1 athletic program in the country in the final fall Sports Academy Director's Cup standings, released Thursday.
The Golden Bears compiled 364.5 points during the fall athletic seasons to edge out Stanford, which has 334 points, for the top spot. Duke is third (316), with UCLA (309) and Wisconsin (309) rounding out the first five.
For Cal, the Bears received the maximum 100 points in men's water polo, which captured its record 12th national title in early December with a dramatic 7-6 victory over USC on Jeff Tyrrell's game-winning goal as time expired.
In addition, both volleyball and men's soccer reached the Sweet 16 of their respective NCAA tournaments. For volleyball, which defeated LSU and Cal Poly in the opening two rounds, the finish matched the best in school history. Men's soccer won the Pac-10 title and received a first-round NCAA Tournament bye before downing New Mexico to advance to at least the third round for just the third time ever.
Field hockey won the NorPac Conference crown and beat Ohio in an NCAA Tournament play-in game to gain entry into the main playoff draw, while women's soccer edged Auburn, 3-1, in its NCAA playoff first-round match.
Finally, football capped off a spectacular run with a share of the Pac-10 championship and a 45-10 victory over Texas A&M in the Holiday Bowl. With a 10-3 overall record, the Bears were ranked 14th in the final polls.
Cal's No. 1 ranking after the fall seasons clearly represents the Bears' highest placing at this stage of the year. Cal's previous best came last fall when the Bears were 11th. The Bears have successively improved their fall standing each of the past four years, from 28th in 2003, to 15th in 2004, to 11th in 2005, to first in 2006.
Last year, the Bears finished seventh overall for the full 2005-06 campaign, also the highest in history, and Cal is certainly on pace for its seventh top-15 finish in the past eight years.
The Director's Cup, which was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today, measures the best overall collegiate athletics programs in the country and awards points based on final national standings in a maximum of 10 NCAA-sponsored sports for both men and women.
Visit the NACDA website for a look at the complete fall standings.
Final Fall Director's Cup Standings 1. California 364.5 2. Stanford 334 3. Duke 316 4. UCLA 309 4. Wisconsin 309 6. Colorado 304 7. Virginia 303 8. Wake Forest 300 9. Florida 280 10. Notre Dame 279Other Pac-10 Schools 12. USC 264 20. Washington 187 36. Arizona State 126 39. Oregon 123.5 89. Oregon State 52 123. Arizona 32 173. Washington State 16
Cal's Fall Sports Finishes Team NCAA Finish Points Field Hockey T9th 25 Football 14th 61.5 Women's Soccer T17th 50 Men's Soccer T9th 64 Volleyball T9th 64 Men's Water Polo 1st 100
