BATON ROUGE — With two NCAA titles and better than half of its programs ranked in the top 10 in the nation, LSU finished 10th in the Sears Directors’ Cup all-sports standings for the 1999-2000 season, up four spots from the 1998-99 standings.
Each year, the Sears Directors’ Cup program, presented in partnership by Sears, NACDA (National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics) and USA Today, recognizes the top athletics programs in NCAA Divisions I, II and III and the NAIA, and presents a total of $100,000 in postgraduate academic scholarships to students in all four collegiate categories. Standings are based on the combined success of both men’s and women’s athletics.
LSU sponsors 20 sports on the varsity level and 14 of those sports finished the year ranked in the top 25.
The LSU women’s outdoor track and field team won the national championship for the 12th time in the last 14 years and the Tiger baseball team won the national title for the fifth time in the last 10 years.
Other LSU sports which finished in the nation’s top ten were the women’s indoor track and field team at No. 4, the men’s outdoor track team at No. 5, the softball and men’s indoor track teams at No. 7, the women’s basketball team at No. 8, the men’s basketball and gymnastics teams at No. 9, and the women’s golf and men’s tennis teams at No. 10.
Also, the women’s swimming and diving team finished No. 16 in the nation, the women’s tennis team No. 17 and the men’s swimming and diving team No. 23.
Stanford won its sixth consecutive Sears Directors’ Cup, boasting two NCAA champions and 10 teams overall finishing in the top four in the nation. UCLA finished second, followed by Michigan, Penn State and North Carolina to round out the top five.
LSU finished second among Southeastern Conference institutions, behind only Florida, which finished seventh. Other SEC schools placing in the top 25 were Georgia (No. 12), Tennessee (No. 20), and Auburn (No. 23).
1999-2000 Sears Directors’ Cup Division I Final Standings (Top 10)
1. Stanford — 1359.5
2. UCLA — 1153.5
3. Michigan — 965
4. Penn State — 909.5
5. North Carolina — 908.5
6. Nebraska — 906
7. Florida — 842
8. Arizona — 837.5
9. Texas — 801
10. LSU — 764