Texas clinches second place in Division I Learfield Directors' Cup competition

Texas Longhorns athletics clinched a runner-up finish in the 2022-23 competition for the Division I Learfield Directors’ Cup, whose overall champion is the institution which achieves the highest level of success across the board in both men’s and women’s sports.

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Texas can finish no worse than second to Stanford in the competition after winning the cup in both 2020-21 and 2021-22. Even with eight teams remaining in baseball’s College World Series, the Longhorns have earned enough points to clinch a second place finish.

Texas and Stanford are the nation’s only programs to win the Directors’ Cup in back-to-back years. This marks the fourth time in cup history that the Longhorns have finished second in the standings, with their previous runner-up honors in 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2004-05.

Stanford has dominated since the inception of the award, reeling off 25 straight victories between 1994 and 2019 and leaving the rest of the NCAA to fight for second place. 

The initial scoring system included points from each school’s top 10 men’s and top 10 women’s sports. In 2018 the scoring system was adjusted to include points from 19 teams regardless of gender with a requirement that four of the teams be men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, and volleyball. 

The combination of these changes to the scoring system, a small step back by Stanford’s athletic department, and Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte’s push for success across the board led to Texas taking the crown from Stanford for two consecutive years after the Cardinal’s quarter-of-a-century run.

During the current 2022-23 season, the Longhorns amassed 1,306.50 points prior to the addition of Texas baseball’s final point total. Stanford, which beat the Longhorns to earn a spot in the CWS and assure that Texas could not catch it, already has 1,339.00 points, with Ohio State a distant third with 1,210.75 points.

Texas recorded its fifth straight top five Directors’ Cup finish after a fifth place showing in 2017-18 and a fourth place effort in 2018-19. There was no award in 2019-20 due to COVID-19. 

Texas is the top-ranked institution in the Big 12 Conference in the Directors’ Cup standings for the ninth consecutive year and has been the top-ranked school in its respective league (Big 12 or Southwest Conference) 22 times in the 30-year history of the Directors’ Cup.

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Texas has now recorded a top 10 finish a total of 23 times in the 30-year history of the Directors’ Cup: first (2020-21 and 2021-22), second (2001-02, 2002-03, 2004-05 and 2022-23), third (2005-06), fourth (1995-96 and 2018-19), fifth (2007-08 and 2017-18), sixth (2008-09, 2011-12 and 2013-14), seventh (1993-94, 1996-97 and 2016-17), eighth (2006-07), ninth (1999-2000, 2014-15 and 2015-16) and 10th (1994-95 and 2003-04).

The Longhorns recorded a pair of NCAA Championships, 10 top five and 13 top 10 NCAA team finishes, while also winning 12 Big 12 Conference titles in the 2022-23 calendar year. Texas registered NCAA team championships in volleyball and women’s outdoor track and field. The titles marked the third NCAA crown and first since 2012 for volleyball, and the fifth NCAA championship and first since 2005 for women’s outdoor track and field.

The Longhorns registered a total of four top two NCAA team finishes, as women’s indoor track and field and women’s swimming posted NCAA runner-up performances. The four top two NCAA team finishes marked a tie for the third-most in UT history, behind the record 10 set in 2021-22 and five in 1998-99. Texas has now recorded a total of 18 top two NCAA team finishes in the last three years.

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UT’s 10 top five team finishes mark the second-most in school history, trailing only the record 12 set in 2021-22. 

See the entire breakdown of the Longhorns’ successful 2022-23 season here.