This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Stanford has the best all-around college sports program in the country, and has had it for quite some time. No surprise there. Locally, it may surprise some folks that BYU has the 11th strongest athletics program in the country — at least through the first half of the 2013-14 school year. The final fall Division I Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings are out, with football having been completed on Monday when Florida State knocked off Auburn in the BCS National Championship game. Thanks to strong showings in women's soccer, women's volleyball and men's and women's cross country, the Cougars racked up 265 points. Stanford has 461.25 points, well ahead of second-place Michigan State, which has 382.50 after picking up 85 points for what the Directors' Cup organizers are calling a third-place finish in football. The Spartans defeated the Cardinal in the Rose Bowl. BYU got 25 points in football for finishing 45th. Independent in football and a member of the West Coast Conference in most other sports, BYU is the highest-ranked school not in a power conference. The Mountain West's New Mexico, at No. 17, is the next highest-ranked school from a non-power conference. Among the other Utah schools, the University of Utah is tied for 79th with 75 points, Weber State is tied for 100th with 53 points and Utah State is tied for 133rd with 45 points and Southern Utah is tied for 148th with points. Utah is 9th among Pac-12 schools. The ACC leads all conferences with five schools in the top 10: No. 3 Florida State, No. 4, North Carolina, No. 5 Virginia, No. 8 Notre Dame and No. 9 Duke. The Learfield Sports Directors Cup is a join effort between the National Association of College Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. Points are awarded based on a school's finish in up to 20 sports — 10 women's sports and 10 men's sports. The first Division I winter standings will be released Thursday, March 27.