Arkansas Leads SEC and Ranks Among Nation’s Best

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas leads the Southeastern Conference and remains among the nation’s top 25 intercollegiate athletics programs in the most recent 2018-19 Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup Standings released on Thursday by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of America (NACDA). The Directors’ Cup tracks the nation’s most successful intercollegiate athletics programs for their performances throughout the year.

Arkansas, ranked No. 21, leads all SEC programs and is one of only two league programs (Ole Miss) in the top 25 of the most recent standings. The standings released on Thursday included women’s field hockey, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s soccer and men’s water polo. The Razorbacks currently have 160.5 points.

Full Directors’ Cup Standings

The Razorbacks earned 50 points in the latest fall standings thanks to another post-season run by the soccer program. Arkansas reached its third-straight SEC Tournament final and earned its third-straight NCAA Tournament appearance under Coach Colby Hale. For the second time in school history, Arkansas hosted an NCAA Tournament match at Razorback Field and advanced to the second round of the draw.

Earlier in the season, Arkansas unseated No. 2 Texas A&M, marking its first win over the Aggies since 1993. The win also was the fifth result over a top-10 team since 2016, which is more than any other SEC team in that time frame.

For only the second time in school history, Arkansas won 10 games at Razorback Field, but this year marked the first time in school history that the team went unbeaten at home (10-0-1). The 10 wins matched the win total from 2016, also tying a school record.

The 2019 cross country season was full of championships for the University of Arkansas. The women’s team won its sixth-straight SEC cross country crown while junior Gilbert Boit won the SEC individual men’s title. After the Arkansas men’s and women’s teams won the NCAA South Central Regional crowns in College Station, Texas, both squads advanced to the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Madison, Wisconsin.

The Arkansas women’s cross country team raced to a 14th-place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championship to earn 61.5 points. Freshman Katrina Robinson was the Razorbacks’ top individual finisher, earning a 41st-place finish in her first national race. Dating back to its 14th-place finish at the 2011 Championships, the Razorbacks have finished in the top-20 eight-consecutive years, including four top-15 finishes in the past five years.

Arkansas’ men’s cross country team finished 25th at the NCAA Cross Country Championship. Senior Cameron Griffith led the way for the Razorbacks finishing 42nd in the individual race. Arkansas earned 49 points for its Top-25 team finish.

In 2017-18, Arkansas tied a program record with a No. 16 finish in the Directors’ Cup. The Razorbacks finished in the top 25 for the ninth time in the past 11 years and in the top 20 for only the seventh time since the Directors’ Cup program began 25 years ago. Arkansas ranked first in the nation among programs with 19 or fewer sports.

The Directors’ Cup program has been tracking the success of the nation’s top intercollegiate athletics programs since 1993-94.