April 27, 2012

2012 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup (Final Winter)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville continues to rank among the nation's elite heading midway into the spring season, as the Cardinals currently are tied for 10th in the Capital One Cup men's standings and finished 19th in the final winter Division I Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings.

In the Capital One Cup, schools earn points based on their teams' top-10 finishes in NCAA Division I championships as well as rankings in final official coaches' polls across 19 men's and 20 women's sports. The Learfield standings rank institutions maintaining a broad-based program, which achieve success in men's and women's sports.

Behind 38 points, the Cardinals are tied with California for 10th in the Capital One Cup thanks in large part to the men's basketball team's Final Four run and national champion Carlos Almeida propelling the men's swimming team to a ninth-place finish at the NCAA Championships.

The Capital One Cup winners will be determined after the remaining 13 NCAA championships are completed and honored at the ESPY Awards in July.

Louisville's 19th-place showing in the final winter Sports Directors' Cup standings gives the Cardinals the second-highest finish of any BIG EAST team behind Notre Dame (No. 14). U of L received 50 points from women's basketball's second round appearance in the NCAA Tournament, while the men's team earned 83 from its journey to the Final Four. Additional points were inherited from the men's and women's swimming and diving teams, as the men took ninth and the women placed 24th.

The first spring Division I standings will be released May 31.