Santa Clara ranked No. 14 in USSA Director's Cup
By Grant Hughes
The Santa Clara University Athletic Department was ranked 14th in the most recent USSA Director's Cup standings. The Broncos accumulated 181 points, with three of six teams advancing to the NCAA tournament.
"I'm extremely proud of our fall teams and their accomplishments on the field and on the court," Santa Clara University Athletic Director Cheryl Levick said. "They were strong from top to bottom and showed dedication and great focus. I hope we can keep the momentum going through winter and spring. We have a great year started, and I'd like to complete it with a strong baseball season as well," .
The Director's Cup, formerly the Sears Cup, assigns points to a university's athletic program based on the performance of each of its teams. A national title is worth 100 points, second place is worth 90, and so on. Obviously, this system favors schools that have more teams competing during a given season as the statistics aren't averaged. That explains why the current leaders of the Director's Cup resemble a virtual "who's who" of major Division I athletics. The University of Michigan, which received at least 50 points from each of the six sports that affect the rankings is currently in first place with 413 points. UCLA, Stanford and BYU round out the top four, with Maryland and North Carolina tying for fifth.
Santa Clara earned 73 points for women's soccer, 83 for men's soccer and 25 for women's volleyball. Of the 13 teams ranked above the Broncos, only the University of Connecticut, ranked 10th, received points from three or fewer teams. Given the discrepancy in the number of scholarships, resources, and national exposure between schools in the top 15, the Broncos' 14th place ranking is especially impressive.
If the Director's Cup points were not cumulative, but instead averaged, Santa Clara would vault all the way up to sixth place. Between Santa Clara's three scoring teams, the average points earned was 60.3. The new rankings, with points averaged, would be significantly different. Averaging the points awards UCLA the top spot with 74.5. Stanford would be second with 72.25, Michigan third with 68.8, Connecticut fourth with 66.7, BYU fifth with 62, and Santa Clara sixth with 60.3.
As it stands now, schools like Santa Clara are penalized for not having enough money to spend on smaller athletic programs like cross country and field hockey. In the case of cross country, the lack of funds means fewer scholarships and fewer blue chip athletes with which to build a competitive program. Santa Clara has no field hockey team due to lack of funding and cannot earn any points in that sport.
Strange as it may sound, the Director's Cup is essentially a list that shows how rich athletic programs get richer. There is no way to truly compete without an enormous budget and a full slate of athletic programs with which to earn points. Santa Clara managed in the fall season to live lavishly on a decidedly smaller budget, a truly impressive feat.
Contact Grant Hughes at (408) 554-4852 or at ghughes@scu.edu.