COLLEGE ATHLETICS
Arkansas 15th in Directors Cup
The Arkansas Razorbacks lead the SEC and rank No. 15 in the latest 2017-18 Learfield Sports Directors Cup standings released Thursday.
The Razorbacks received 33 points from their women’s soccer team in the latest update, adding to the 75 points scored by the men’s cross country team for a fifth-place finish at the NCAA meet and 63 points by the women’s cross country team for a 13th-place finish at nationals.
Arkansas, with 163 points, is well ahead of its next-closest pursuer in the SEC, which is Ole Miss in 27th place with 130 points. Alabama is No. 51 with 86.5 points, while Tennessee and Texas A&M are tied for No. 53 with 83.5 points.
Stanford leads the standings with 385 points, bolstered by first-place finishes in both men’s and women’s soccer for 100 points each. Michigan, with 269.5 points, UCLA (243), which won men’s water polo for a 100-point boost, Penn State (232.5) and North Carolina (230) round out the top five schools.
Arkansas finished 20th in last year’s standings. The Directors Cup program has been tracking the success of the nation’s top intercollegiate athletics programs since 1993-94.
— Tom Murphy