Heels Fourth Nationally in All-Sport Competition

Posted on June 30, 2006

Carolina’s runner-up finish at the College Baseball World Series clinched fourth place for the Tar Heels in the 2006 Directors’ Cup, the all-sport competition sponsored by the National Association of College Directors of Athletics and formerly known as the Sears Cup.

It is UNC’s best finish since it placed fourth in 2001-02, and it was Carolina’s fifth consecutive top 10 finish and 11th top 10 showing in the competition’s 13-year history.

The Directors’ Cup measures a school’s postseason success in men’s and women’s sports. Each school is ranked based upon its 10-highest men’s and 10-highest women’s finishes.

The Tar Heels won the inaugural trophy in 1993-94 and has averaged a sixth-place finish in the past five years. It finished ninth last year.

Stanford won the 2005-06 Division I title for the 12th consecutive year with 1197.375 points. UCLA was second with 1071.375 points, Texas was third with 966, Carolina was fourth with 952.75 and Florida was fifth with 913. Rounding out the top 10 were Notre Dame, California, Duke, Georgia and Southern California.

This was the 11th time Carolina finished with the most points among Atlantic Coast Conference schools. In addition to No. 4 Carolina and No. 8 Duke, Florida State was 17th, Virginia was 26th, Maryland was 27th, N.C. State was 34th, Clemson was 39th, Miami was 42nd, Wake Forest was 44th, Virginia Tech was 45th, Georgia Tech was 50th and Boston College was 51st.

Twenty-four of Carolina’s 28 varsity sports qualified for NCAA postseason play. In addition to baseball’s second-place finish, the women’s basketball team tied for third, women’s indoor track and field was fourth, men’s and women’s soccer and women’s lacrosse advanced to the final eight and earned fifth-place points, men’s outdoor track and field was ninth, and field hockey and men’s and women’s tennis reached the Sweet 16 and earned ninth-place points.

Carolina’s previous Directors’ Cup finishes were first in 1994, second in 1995, sixth in 1996, second in 1997, tied for second in 1998, tied for 17th in 1999, fifth in 2000, 15th in 2001, fourth in 2002, eighth in 2003, seventh in 2004 and ninth in 2005.

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Related coverage online:

• Fever Pitch at the Bosh: Heels Go to Omaha
  from the July/August 2006 issue of the Carolina Alumni Review
• Trustees Extend Baddour’s Contract Through 2008-09

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