BATON ROUGE – LSU wrapped up another banner year of athletics, as the school produced five Top 5 NCAA finishes and had 15 of its 21 teams earn points toward its No. 19 national ranking in the annual Learfield Directors’ Cup released Friday.
Of LSU’s 21 varsity sports, 15 competed and placed in an NCAA championships event as the Tigers finished in the Top 10 in seven sports. D-D Breaux’s gymnastics squad led the way for LSU as the Tigers were the NCAA runner-up, the highest finish in program history.
The LSU softball team, coached by Beth Torina, appeared in the Women’s College World Series for the second-straight year and reached the semifinals of the event to match its best finish in history at No. 3 in the nation.
LSU’s track and field program, led by coach Dennis Shaver, produced three Top-10 finishes in 2015-16. The men’s team placed fourth at the NCAA Indoor Championships and then followed that with a fifth-place showing at the NCAA Outdoor meet, while the Lady Tigers placed sixth outdoors.
Chuck Winstead’s men’s golf team advanced to match play at the NCAA Championships for a school-record third-straight season and the Tigers tied for fifth overall, falling to eventual national champion Oregon on its home course in the quarterfinals.
Despite returning just one position starter from 2015, coach Paul Mainieri and the LSU baseball team advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals and finished the year tied for ninth nationally.
LSU also advanced to the NCAA Tournament second round in both men’s and women’s tennis, while also reaching NCAA postseason in both women’s golf and women’s soccer.
The LSU football team played in a bowl game for a school-record 16th straight season and finished the year ranked No. 17 in the nation after posting a 56-27 win over Texas Tech in the Texas Bowl. The Tigers ended the year with a 9-3 overall mark.
LSU also received Director’s Cup points from the swimming and diving teams as the women placed 27th at the NCAA Championships, while the men finished in 40th place.
The annual Learfield Sports Director’s Cup, which measures the overall strength of institution’s athletic programs, released its final standings for the 2015-16 athletic year following the conclusion of the College World Series. Points are awarded based on each institution’s finish in up to 20 sports – 10 women’s and 10 men’s.
Stanford won the overall Directors’ Cup title with 1526.5 points followed by Ohio State with 1306 points, Michigan with 1196.75 points, Southern Cal with 1196.2 points and Florida with 1177 points.
LSU was fourth among all Southeastern Conference teams in the standings. Texas A&M followed Florida in the SEC with a 12th place showing with 962 points, while Georgia was next among league members in 15th place with 949.5 points.
LSU’s History In the Director’s Cup
Year Rank Total Points
1993-94 No. 36 213.5
1994-95 No. 19 271.5
1995-96 No. 16 302.5
1996-97 No. 10 374.5
1997-98 No. 10 440.0
1998-99 No. 16 390.0
1999-00 No. 10 764.0
2000-01 No. 22 653.5
2001-02 No. 10 842.5
2002-03 No. 23 597.25
2003-04 No. 11 867.75
2004-05 No. 23 571.25
2005-06 No. 20 675.125
2006-07 No. 17 888.0
2007-08 No. 8 1,085.0
2008-09 No. 9 1,029.0
2009-10 No. 19 824.0
2010-11 No. 19 831.5
2011-12 No. 13 967.75
2012-13 No. 19 847.0
2013-14 No. 22 833.75
2014-15 No. 15 930.25
2015-16 No. 19 883.50
LSU’s Top 10 National Finishes in 2015-16
Gymnastics No. 2
Softball No. 3
Men’s Indoor Track/Field No. 4
Men’s Outdoor Track/Field No. 5
Men’s Golf No. 5
Women’s Outdoor Track/Field No. 6
Baseball No. 9
You must be logged in to post a comment.