Tar Heels Finish Fourth In 2020-21 Directors Cup
July 2, 2021 | General
CHAPEL HILL – A third consecutive NCAA field hockey championship and seven other top-10 national finishes in NCAA post-season competition led the University of North Carolina to fourth place in the 2020-21 Learfield IMG College Directors' Cup.
The Tar Heels' fourth-place performance is the 22nd time Carolina has placed in the top 10 in the 27-year history of the multi-sport competition and marks the 19th time UNC has the highest national finish among Atlantic Coast Conference schools.
Carolina's 22 top-10 finishes equal the total number of top 10s by all other ACC schools combined.
Carolina amassed 1126.25 points in 2020-21, just one-quarter of a point behind Michigan, which was third. The University of Texas won the competition with 1252 points, becoming the first school to beat Stanford since UNC won the inaugural trophy in 1993-94. (No winner was declared in 2019-20 due to the pandemic). Stanford totaled 1195.75 points, finishing 56.25 behind the Longhorns.
The Directors' Cup awards points based on NCAA postseason success. Each school may accumulate points towards the Cup standings in 19 sports – four of which much be baseball, men's and women's basketball and women's volleyball.
Carolina's fourth-place finish is its highest since 2009, when the Tar Heels were second overall. This is the 10th season UNC finished in the top five, including its third fourth-place showing (also in 2002 and 2006). The ACC's overall average finish this season in the Directors' Cup standings was 38th place.
The Carolina field hockey team earned the Tar Heels 100 points in the standings by defeating Michigan in overtime to win the program's ninth national championship.
Five UNC teams– men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's soccer and women's tennis – reached the NCAA semifinals, tied for third place and scored 83 points apiece. Men's golf added 72.75 points after tying for fifth (its highest finish at the NCAA Championship in 28 years), fencing contributed 72 points following its best-ever sixth-place performance and men's tennis earned 64 points by tying for ninth.
Five other sports finished in the top 20 (women's swimming and diving was 12th, women's cross country was 14th, wrestling was 16th, football was 17th and men's indoor track and field was 18th).
Baseball (33rd), men's basketball (33rd), women's basketball (33rd) and women's outdoor track and field (40th) each contributed at least 25 points to UNC's total.
Carolina led the ACC in the Directors' Cup standings for the 19th time. No other school has led the ACC more than three times (Duke and Florida State both have led three times; Notre Dame and Virginia have each led once).
Carolina has the fourth-most top 10s in the history of the Directors' Cup. Only Stanford (27), Florida (27) and UCLA (24) have more than UNC's 22. Virginia is next among ACC schools with eight.
Carolina's average finish in the 27-year history of the competition is seventh place. Virginia is second among ACC schools with an average finish of 15.5.
1 Texas 1252
2 Stanford 1195.75
3 Michigan 1126.5
4 North Carolina 1126.25
5 Florida 1121.75
6 Southern California 1052
7 Alabama 1017.25
8 Arkansas 968.75
9 Ohio State 972.5
10 Georgia 971.5
4 North Carolina 1126.25
11 Virginia 970.25
14 Notre Dame 900
16 Florida State 893
21 Duke 831.50
23 NC State 783.25
32 Virginia Tech 631.25
36 Clemson 554.75
40 Louisville 532.75
44 Georgia Tech 487
54 Wake Forest 394.75
62 Miami 358.5
64 Syracuse 328
73 Pittsburgh 279
74 Boston College 277
2019-20 no competition due to the pandemic
2018-19 10th
2017-18 13th
2016-17 5th
2015-16 7th
2014-15 5th
2013-14 14th
2012-13 8th
2011-12 8th
2010-11 6th
2009-10 7th
2008-09 2nd
2007-08 14th
2006-07 3rd
2005-06 4th
2004-05 9th
2003-04 7th
2002-03 8th
2001-02 4th
2000-01 15th
1999-2000 5th
1998-99 17th
1997-98 2nd
1996-97 2nd
1995-96 6th
1994-95 2nd
1993-94 1st
Duke: 1998-99, 2004-05, 2010-11
Florida State: 2011-12, 2017-18, 2018-19
Notre Dame: 2013-14
Virginia: 2009-10
The Tar Heels' fourth-place performance is the 22nd time Carolina has placed in the top 10 in the 27-year history of the multi-sport competition and marks the 19th time UNC has the highest national finish among Atlantic Coast Conference schools.
Carolina's 22 top-10 finishes equal the total number of top 10s by all other ACC schools combined.
Carolina amassed 1126.25 points in 2020-21, just one-quarter of a point behind Michigan, which was third. The University of Texas won the competition with 1252 points, becoming the first school to beat Stanford since UNC won the inaugural trophy in 1993-94. (No winner was declared in 2019-20 due to the pandemic). Stanford totaled 1195.75 points, finishing 56.25 behind the Longhorns.
The Directors' Cup awards points based on NCAA postseason success. Each school may accumulate points towards the Cup standings in 19 sports – four of which much be baseball, men's and women's basketball and women's volleyball.
Carolina's fourth-place finish is its highest since 2009, when the Tar Heels were second overall. This is the 10th season UNC finished in the top five, including its third fourth-place showing (also in 2002 and 2006). The ACC's overall average finish this season in the Directors' Cup standings was 38th place.
The Carolina field hockey team earned the Tar Heels 100 points in the standings by defeating Michigan in overtime to win the program's ninth national championship.
Five UNC teams– men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's soccer and women's tennis – reached the NCAA semifinals, tied for third place and scored 83 points apiece. Men's golf added 72.75 points after tying for fifth (its highest finish at the NCAA Championship in 28 years), fencing contributed 72 points following its best-ever sixth-place performance and men's tennis earned 64 points by tying for ninth.
Five other sports finished in the top 20 (women's swimming and diving was 12th, women's cross country was 14th, wrestling was 16th, football was 17th and men's indoor track and field was 18th).
Baseball (33rd), men's basketball (33rd), women's basketball (33rd) and women's outdoor track and field (40th) each contributed at least 25 points to UNC's total.
Carolina led the ACC in the Directors' Cup standings for the 19th time. No other school has led the ACC more than three times (Duke and Florida State both have led three times; Notre Dame and Virginia have each led once).
Carolina has the fourth-most top 10s in the history of the Directors' Cup. Only Stanford (27), Florida (27) and UCLA (24) have more than UNC's 22. Virginia is next among ACC schools with eight.
Carolina's average finish in the 27-year history of the competition is seventh place. Virginia is second among ACC schools with an average finish of 15.5.
2020-21 NCAA Directors' Cup Standings
Place School Points1 Texas 1252
2 Stanford 1195.75
3 Michigan 1126.5
4 North Carolina 1126.25
5 Florida 1121.75
6 Southern California 1052
7 Alabama 1017.25
8 Arkansas 968.75
9 Ohio State 972.5
10 Georgia 971.5
2020-21 ACC Directors' Cup Standings
Place School Points4 North Carolina 1126.25
11 Virginia 970.25
14 Notre Dame 900
16 Florida State 893
21 Duke 831.50
23 NC State 783.25
32 Virginia Tech 631.25
36 Clemson 554.75
40 Louisville 532.75
44 Georgia Tech 487
54 Wake Forest 394.75
62 Miami 358.5
64 Syracuse 328
73 Pittsburgh 279
74 Boston College 277
University of North Carolina's Learfield IMG College Directors' Cup Finishes
2020-21 4th2019-20 no competition due to the pandemic
2018-19 10th
2017-18 13th
2016-17 5th
2015-16 7th
2014-15 5th
2013-14 14th
2012-13 8th
2011-12 8th
2010-11 6th
2009-10 7th
2008-09 2nd
2007-08 14th
2006-07 3rd
2005-06 4th
2004-05 9th
2003-04 7th
2002-03 8th
2001-02 4th
2000-01 15th
1999-2000 5th
1998-99 17th
1997-98 2nd
1996-97 2nd
1995-96 6th
1994-95 2nd
1993-94 1st
Years with Highest Finish Among ACC Schools
North Carolina: 1993-94, 1994-95, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1997-98, 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2012-13, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2020-21Duke: 1998-99, 2004-05, 2010-11
Florida State: 2011-12, 2017-18, 2018-19
Notre Dame: 2013-14
Virginia: 2009-10