Razorbacks Check in at No. 17 in latest Directors' Cup Standings
Link to Full Directors’ Cup Standings
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas ranks fourth in the Southeastern Conference and No. 17 overall in the latest 2024-25 Learfield Directors’ Cup Standings released on Thursday by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of America (NACDA).
Arkansas has earned 497.2 points and is one of nine league programs in the top 25 of the initial standings. The standings released on Thursday included men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, fencing, women’s field hockey, football, women’s hockey, rifle, men’s and women’s soccer, skiing, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s and women’s indoor track & field, women’s volleyball, men’s water polo and wrestling.
Arkansas has secured a top-20 national finish in the Learfield Directors’ Cup Standings in four-consecutive years. The streak marks the first time in school history that the Razorbacks have finished among the nation’s top 20 programs in four-straight final standings. Arkansas finished No. 18 in 2023-24, following a 13th-place finish in 2022-23, a seventh-place finish in 2021-22 and an eighth-place finish in 2020-21.
Arkansas has won eight NCAA titles and 38 Southeastern Conference team championships in the past seven years, including 20 conference titles in the past four years alone. Both conference championship totals lead all SEC programs and the Razorbacks’ 38 titles are more than six other league programs combined in that same timeframe.
Arkansas found itself in a familiar place on the podium following both the men’s and women’s competition at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Virginia Beach, Va. A victory by Jordan Anthony in the 60m and a silver medal finish for Jack Turner in the heptathlon propelled the Arkansas men to a fourth-place trophy finish. Anthony became the first Razorback to win the 60m at the NCAA Indoor. Turner’s score of 5,962 points placed second to a 6,013 total for Peyton Bair of Mississippi State in the heptathlon. The Hogs earned 80 Directors’ Cup points for the team finish.
A scintillating performance by Razorback Isabella Whittaker produced an American and collegiate record in the 400m as she blasted a 2025 world-leading time of 49.24 seconds to lead the Razorback women. Arkansas finished in a three-way tie for fourth place in team standings with 31 points, earning 76.2 Directors’ Cup points.
After starting SEC play winless in its first five outings, Coach John Calipari’s Razorback men’s basketball team made an improbable run into the NCAA Tournament advancing to the Sweet 16. Arkansas finished the season with a 22-14 record, earned its 37th NCAA appearance and its 15th NCAA Sweet 16, including its fourth in the last five years. The Hogs were a No. 10 seed and topped No. 7 seed Kansas (79-72) in the opening round, before upsetting No. 2 seed St. John’s (75-66) in the second round of the tournament. Arkansas’ season came to an end in a last-second heartbreaker to No. 3 Texas Tech (85-83). The Razorbacks earned 64 Directors’ Cup points for the NCAA Tournament run.
Freshman diver Maria Sanchez competed in three different events and led Arkansas to a 40th place finish at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. Sanchez-Moreno competed in the 1-meter (20th), 3-meter (13th) and platform (24th) diving competitions. Her performances at the national meet earned All-America Honorable Mention honors and netted the Razorbacks 26 Directors’ Cup points in women’s swimming and diving.
A win over former Southwest Conference rival Texas Tech capped the season in style as the Razorbacks won their fourth straight AutoZone Liberty Bowl. The win was also the third bowl win under Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman. Pittman is 3-0 as a head coach in bowl games at Arkansas, becoming the first Razorback coach to win his first three bowl outings. The victory earned Arkansas 45 Directors’ Cup points.
The Razorback men’s cross country team earned the program’s first top-five national finish of the year with yet another trip to the podium at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. Arkansas, ranked No. 3 all season long, secured a third-place finish at the national meet with 202 points. Three Razorbacks earned All-America honors as the Hogs secured their 24th top-four NCAA Cross Country finish in school history, including their fourth such finish in the past five seasons. Coach Chris Bucknam’s squad earned 85 Directors’ Cup points for its championship performance.
Led by sophomore Paityn Noe, the Arkansas women’s cross country team recorded a top-20 finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. Noe crossed the line seventh in the individual race to earn All-America honors and lead the Hogs to a No. 17 team finish. Arkansas earned 57 Directors’ Cup points for the performance.
Razorback Soccer continued its recent run of success on the pitch. Arkansas earned a No. 2 seed in the 2024 NCAA Tournament and hosted three rounds of postseason play in front of capacity crowds at Razorback Field. Coach Colby Hale’s squad advanced to the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in program history in 2024, including the third time in the past four seasons. The postseason success netted Arkansas 64 points in the Directors’ Cup standings.
The Directors’ Cup tracks the nation’s most successful intercollegiate athletics programs for their performance throughout the year. The Directors’ Cup program has been tracking the success of the nation’s top intercollegiate athletics programs since 1993-94.
