Oklahoma found competition at its highest in its inaugural season in the talent-packed, ultra-competitive Southeastern Conference during the 2024-25 athletic season.
That tough competitive environment actually benefited Sooner sports on a national scale with Oklahoma finishing in ninth place in the final 2024-25 Learfield Directors' Cup standings.
The ninth-place finish was just the fourth time Oklahoma has finished in the top 10 in the final Directors' Cup standings and was the school's second-best showing ever. OU finished seventh in 2012-13, and 10th in both 2010-11 and 2021-22. The Sooners' 1,017.2 total points were their third-most ever, eclipsed only by 1,078.25 in 2012-13 and 1,064.75 in 2010-11.
Sooners finish 9th in Directors' Cup standings
Points are awarded in the Directors' Cup standings on the basis of where each school finishes in NCAA championships. OU women's sports of gymnastics (national champion), softball (3rd place) and basketball (9th) were key contributors to Oklahoma's point total. Men's golf (5th) and men's gymnastics (3rd) were major contributors on the men's side.
Oklahoma's chief rival, Texas, was the top team in this year's Directors' Cup standings with 1,255.25 total points. The rest of the top 10 in order was USC, Stanford, North Carolina, UCLA, Tennessee, Florida, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Duke. The final standings were top-heavy with SEC schools, with 11 schools out of the conference finishing in the top 25.
The Directors' Cup, established in 1993 by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, recognizes schools with the most championship success across multiple men's and women's collegiate athletic programs that take place throughout the academic year.
For Division I schools, 19 sports are counted, five of which must be baseball, men's basketball, women's basketball, women's soccer and women's volleyball. The next highest 14 sports, regardless of gender, are included in the points calculation.
In seemingly every sport, SEC schools were among the best in the country, which is why the Sooners' average 7.5 finish in the conference standings in the 20 SEC men's and women's athletic programs that they participated in was actually much better than it might appear at first. Oklahoma's 9th-place all-sports finish on a national basis underscores how tough the competitive level is in the SEC and why 11 SEC schools finished in the top 25 of the Directors' Cup standings.
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