June 27, 2007

BERKELEY - With a ninth-place standing in the final Directors' Cup rankings released Wednesday, Cal Athletics capped off one of the most outstanding seasons in school history.

In addition to its fourth Top-10 finish in the Directors' Cup in the past five years, Cal also captured national championships in both men's water polo and rugby and won a record 11 individual or relay NCAA titles.

Other significant highlights achieved during the 2006-07 year include an NCAA certification of the Athletic Department that included a comprehensive self-study, confirming the department is operating in full compliance of the NCAA's operating principles, and a new agreement with the Collegiate Licensing Company that will greatly increase the amount of Cal merchandise available and could net the department an addition $1 million in revenue annually. Golden Bear fans helped set a third consecutive football attendance record, buying 40,262 season tickets in 2006 when Cal averaged 64,318 fans per game.

Academically, Cal's more than 850 student-athletes achieved a cumulative GPA of 3.0, with women's soccer leading all teams with a combined 3.356 GPA. Each of Cal's NCAA-sponsored teams also exceeded the required minimum score on the 2005-06 Academic Progress Report.

Twenty-one of Cal's 27 intercollegiate programs earned a postseason berth in 2006-07, with nine teams finishing among the country's Top 10 - men's water polo (1st), rugby (1st), women's swimming & diving (3rd), women's tennis (3rd), men's crew (5th), women's crew (7th), men's gymnastics (7th), men's swimming & diving (8th) and women's outdoor track & field (8th).

Football won the Holiday Bowl with a 45-10 rout of Texas A&M and finished 14th in the final polls, while women's basketball earned a second straight bid to the NCAA Tournament after placing third in the Pac-10.

Field hockey (NorPac) and men's soccer (Pac-10) both won conference championships and advanced to the NCAA playoffs. Women's gymnastics hosted the NCAA West Regionals in Haas Pavilion and finished fourth among six teams for its best showing in 15 years.

Other teams to compete in the postseason were men's golf (regionals), women's golf (regionals), women's soccer (2nd round), softball (regionals), men's tennis (1st round), men's track & field and volleyball (Sweet 16).

In winning its 12th NCAA crown, men's water polo edged USC, 7-6, on a last-second goal for the title. Rugby, meanwhile, wrapped up a 25-1 campaign with a 37-7 victory over BYU for its 23rd championship.

Women's swimming & diving finished a program-best third behind national titles from Dana Vollmer (100 butterfly) and Jessica Hardy (100 breaststroke) and American-record performances in the 400 medley relay and 400 and 800 freestyle relays. Women's tennis also matched its highest placing ever when it reached the NCAA semifinals.

Two Bears - Alysia Johnson (track & field) and Tim McNeill (gymnastics) - won a pair of individual NCAA championships. Johnson prevailed in both the indoor and outdoor 800 meters, the latter in a school-record time of 1:59.29. She later won the 800 at the USA Championships to qualify for this summer's World Championships.

McNeill came back from offseason knee surgery to defend his title on the pommel horse and capture the parallel bars.

Others to stand atop the victory stand were swimming's Patrick O'Neil in the 200 butterfly and track & field's Kelechi Anyanwu in the discus.

The Directors' 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.

Cal placed a program-record seventh last year and was also ninth in both 2003 and 2004. For 2006-07, the Bears led the nation after the fall sports season for the first time and were second following the winter seasons.

Below is a year-by-year look at Cal's Directors' Cup finishes:

2006-07       9th
2005-06       7th
2004-05      15th
2003-04       9th
2002-03       9th
2001-02      20th
2000-01      12th
1999-2000    15th
1998-99      23rd
1997-98      19th
1996-97      26th
1995-96      30th
1994-95      13th
1993-94      17th

2006-07 Directors' Cup Final Standings

Top 10 Institutions

2006-07 California Team Finishes

*Directors' Cup Points
#IRA Championships
^Final National Ranking
&National Collegiate Rugby Championships

Note: Rugby and men's crew championships are not sponsored by the NCAA and do not count towards Directors' Cup points.

For a complete look at the 2006-07 Directors' Cup standings, visit nacda.com.