Compiled by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, the Directors' Cup standings take a formulaic approach to gauging a school's athletic prowess across the spectrum of NCAA competition. The formula weighs nationally popular sports more than certain sports that are popular on a regional basis.
The top schools in football, cross-country, volleyball and soccer--schools that have national prominence -- are awarded points on a 100-point scale. Sports that are not endorsed by as many colleges nationwide, such as field hockey and water polo, are scored on a 50-point basis.
For the Big Green, which notched 120 Directors' Cup points, the impressive national ranking was secured by success in men's soccer, men's cross-country and women's soccer. The men's soccer team scored 50 points in the Directors' Cup scale with a 17th place finish in Division I, the men's cross country team earned 45 points with a 15th place finish and the women's soccer team scored 25 points towards Dartmouth's total with a 33rd place finish.
"We are very proud to have had a successful season that contributes to the athletic prominence of the school," said men's soccer co-captain P.J. Scheufele '06. "Three Ivy League titles in four years is quite an accomplishment for the senior class to leave with, and we hope that the program continues to build upon that success, moving on to later rounds in the tournament in years to come."
The men's track team finished 15th in the nation, earning 45 points. The scoring is slightly different for cross-country, as there is no season-ending tournament. As a result, the 15th-place finish, although better than the soccer team, earned 45 points for the Big Green.
"This season was great for us, as we brought our program back to national prominence after a three-year absence from the NCAA championship meet, and we were able to bring national attention to the College itself in the process," said cross-country co-captain Steve Mucchetti '06. "Personally, it meant a lot to me to be co-captain of an Ivy League championship team that ranked in the top 15 in the NCAA. I never really thought that I would have that opportunity."
The women's soccer team scored 25 Directors' Cup points for Dartmouth. The squad qualified for the NCAA tournament as an unranked seed with a record of 12-4-1. The Big Green dropped its first round match to Boston College, 2-1. The first-round loss placed the team in a tie for 33rd place, adding 25 points to Dartmouth's Directors' Cup total.
"I take it as a big honor that we have contributed to the success of Dartmouth athletics as a whole," said First-Team All-Ivy forward Sarah Johnson '07. "This past season was such a turnaround, how hard we worked at the beginning and throughout paid off and is still paying off with honors like this."
Dartmouth's 120 Directors' Cup points tied it with Arizona State and the University of Washington. The strong finish even ranked the Big Green ahead of some high-profile Division-I schools such as Virginia Tech (37th place) and the University of Michigan (40th place).
Yale scored 89 total points, anchored by a ninth-place finish in women's soccer and a tournament birth for the men's soccer team. Princeton tallied 69.5 Director's Cup points.
In the final 2004-05 Directors' Cup standings, Dartmouth placed 69th in Division I, good for third in the Ivy League behind Princeton (42nd) and Harvard (43rd). Stanford University has won the Cup an astounding 11 consecutive seasons.
As for the winter, the Big Green looks to maintain its Directors' Cup advantage over Ivy League rivals with success in men's ice hockey, men's and women's squash and men's and women's skiing.
