Princeton Ranked 11th In Division I After Fall Season In Learfield Rankings

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Princeton University concluded the fall season ranked 11th in the 2009-10 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings, which ranks Division I athletic programs based on their success in postseason competition.

Princeton is the highest-ranked school - and the only school in the top 20 - from a non-BCS conference. The remainder of the top 20 includes six schools from the Atlantic Coast Conference, five from the Pac-10, four from the Big Ten, two from the Big 12 and one each from the Big East and Southeastern Conference.

The Tigers' fall success left the program with 230.50 points, just behind the University of Florida and ahead of the University of Southern California. Princeton's total for the fall alone would have ranked 84th in Division I for all of the 2008-09 academic year.

The Tigers earned points in four of the eight fall sports, including Final Four appearances in men's water polo and field hockey. Princeton also finished fifth in women's cross country and reached the first round of the NCAA men's soccer tournament.

Overall, Princeton is one of nine Division I CWPA schools which ranked as the University of Maryland (#13), Indiana University (#46), University of Michigan (#54), Harvard University (#58), Iona College (#90), Brown University (#101), Bucknell University (#101) and the United States Naval Academy (#115) all received points.  Eight over CWPA institutions earned points as well as Gannon University (#78) and Mercyhurst College (#78) rate in the Division II rankings, while Johns Hopkins University (#5), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (#21), Macalester College (#43), Wheaton College (#53),  Carthage College (#76) and Washington & Jefferson College (#93) appear in the Division III rankings.

The Directors' Cup awards points to schools based on their final placing in the NCAA championships in 20 sports, 10 for men and 10 for women. The point totals are adjusted for the size of a particular championship bracket.

Presented by USA Today and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) since 1993, the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup has grown into a highly recognized mark of distinction among collegiate institutions through a point system that awards a respective institution points based on its national finish in an NCAA or NAIA championship.