Liberty Athletics finishes in Top 100 in Directors’ Cup

Liberty Athletics’ historic season landed the Flames inside the top 100 in the final standings for the 2018-19 Learfield IMG College Directors’ Cup.

The National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics released the final standings for the 2018-19 Directors’ Cup last week where Liberty finished No. 93.

The Learfield IMG College Directors’ Cup is awarded annually to the nation’s best overall collegiate athletics program.

The 93rd ranking for the Flames marked the third time in school history Liberty has finished inside the top 100 in the final standing. Liberty ranked No. 82 in the listing in 2001-02 and No. 96 following the 2011-12 athletics campaign.

Liberty finished as the top ASUN Conference school in the standings, ranking ahead of No. 98 Kennesaw State, No. 111 Lipscomb and No. 155 Florida Gulf Coast.

Stanford continued to dominate the Learfield IMG College Directors’ Cup chasing, winning the title for the 25th time in athletics department history. Stanford led the final standings with 1,567.75 points, followed by Michigan (1,272.25), Florida (1,156.75), Texas (1,148.50) and USC (1,075.75).

The Flames also ranked as the fourth-best school in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the final standings. Virginia led the group at No. 8, followed by No. 49 Virginia Tech, No. 84 James Madison and No. 171 VCU.

Liberty’s robust finish in the Directors’ Cup standings was strengthened by the Flames baseball team winning the ASUN Championship to advance the NCAA Regionals, the men’s golf team finishing in 20th place at the NCAA National Championship and the track & field program producing four All-Americans at the NCAA Outdoor Track Championships.

Additionally, Liberty’s men’s basketball program appeared in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in program history, resulting in the program’s first-ever #MarchMadness win against No. 5 seed Mississippi State, 80-76

Overall, Liberty claimed eight conference titles during the 2018-19 athletic season: men’s basketball (regular season and conference championship), baseball (conference championship), women’s tennis (regular season), men’s indoor track & field (conference championship), women’s indoor track & field (conference championship), men’s outdoor track & field (conference championship) and women’s outdoor track & field (conference championship).