The 2021-22 Directors’ Cup standings are now final. See where Kentucky ranks.

Cameron Drummond
·3 min read

The 2021-22 NCAA Division I athletics season has reached an end, and the Kentucky Wildcats rank among the best schools in the country for their on-field achievements over the last school year.

Following the conclusion of the NCAA baseball College World Series, the final standings were released Thursday for the Learfield Directors’ Cup.

First established for the 1993-94 season, the Directors’ Cup awards points to schools based on where they finish in NCAA championships.

In the final Division I standings, up to 19 sports can be counted toward a school’s point total: Four of the sports must be baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and women’s volleyball.

The other 15 sports represent the next highest sports scored for each institution, regardless of gender.

UK finished the 2021-22 season in ninth in the Directors’ Cup standings.

Kentucky’s ninth-place finish is the best in school history, ahead of standings of 10th in 2016-17, 11th in 2014-15 and 12th last year. UK extended its streaks of five years in a row in the top 20 and 10 consecutive years in the top 30, not including the 2019-20 school year when there were no standings kept because of the cancellation of winter and spring sports championships.

The best eight finishes in the Directors’ Cup in UK history have all come within the last nine years.

Kentucky scored points in the following sports: Men’s basketball, women’s basketball, women’s cross country, football, men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s gymnastics, rifle, softball, men’s soccer, men’s swimming, women’s swimming, men’s tennis, men’s track and field (indoor and outdoor), women’s track and field (indoor and outdoor), women’s volleyball.

For UK, 18 of 22 eligible teams scored points toward the final Directors’ Cup total.

The Cats won a second-straight national championship in rifle in March, and finished as the national runner-up in the men’s tennis team competition.

Kentucky also scored a pair of third-place finishes in women’s track and field at both the indoor and outdoor national championships.

Other highlights from the past year in UK athletics included conference tournament wins for the men’s soccer and women’s basketball programs, as well as another outright SEC championship for the volleyball team.

Kentucky Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart oversaw the Wildcats’ best-ever finish in the Directors’ Cup standings this year.
Kentucky Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart oversaw the Wildcats’ best-ever finish in the Directors’ Cup standings this year.

Texas won the Directors’ Cup for the second straight season, having won four overall national championships during the 2021-22 season.

Stanford — which won three national championships — finished in second.

Michigan, Ohio State and Florida finished out the top five.

The SEC boasted the strongest performance of all athletic conferences.

An impressive nine SEC schools finished in the Top 25 of the final standings: Florida (fifth), Arkansas (seventh), Kentucky (ninth), Tennessee (13th), LSU (16th), Georgia (19th), Ole Miss (20th), Alabama (22nd) and Texas A&M (25th).

Other state schools appearing in the final Directors’ Cup standings include:

▪ Louisville (34th)

▪ Western Kentucky (134th)

▪ Murray State (134th)

▪ Eastern Kentucky (251st).

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • Mike Johnson calls for Columbia president’s resignation as he heads to college campus protests: Live

    Over 100 students at NYU and Columbia have been arrested this past week over pro-Palestinian protest encampments

  • Dairy cattle must be tested for bird flu before moving between states, agriculture officials say

    Dairy cattle moving between states must be tested for the bird flu virus, U.S. agriculture officials said Wednesday as they try to track and control the growing outbreak. The federal order was announced one day after health officials said they had detected inactivated remnants of the virus, known as Type A H5N1, in samples taken from milk during processing and from store shelves. They stressed that such remnants pose no known risk to people or the milk supply. “The risk to humans remains low,” s

  • Israeli push to legalize settlements in West Bank 'dangerous and reckless,' US says

    Legalizing settler outposts in the Israeli-occupied West Bank would be "dangerous and reckless," the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday in response to reports Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was pushing to do so. Times of Israel reported that Smotrich wanted to begin the process of legalizing 68 illegal outposts in the West Bank, calling it "one of the most dramatic expansions" for the settlement movement in decades. "These reports about directives to support illegal outposts in the West Bank, we believe that to be dangerous and reckless," State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said in a daily briefing.

  • A day later, 'The Save' still had Panthers marveling at Bobrovsky's NHL playoff heroics

    FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — In the moment, The Save kept the game tied. By night's end, it became a game-saver since Florida went on to prevail in overtime. And the way Panthers coach Paul Maurice sees it, the impact from Sergei Bobrovsky's moment on Tuesday night will only continue — with a reach beyond these NHL playoffs and this series between Florida and the Tampa Bay Lightning. It won a game. It may grow the game, too. “There'll be a number of kids in the driveway this weekend and they'll

  • Federal ministers visit Sunshine Coast to detail $4 billion in reconciliation commitments

    Over $4 billion of this year's federal budget will go towards advancing Indigenous reconciliation. shíshálh Nation lhe hiwus yalxwemult (Chief Lenora Joe) and hihewus (councillors) were joined by Terry Beech, Minister of Citizen Affairs, Mark Holland, Minister of Health and Patrick Weiler, MP for West Vancouver–Sunshine Coast–Sea to Sky Country on April 23 at the tems swiya Museum to highlight measures of this year's budget that will have a significant impact for Indigenous communities. Weiler r

  • Why Trump's hush money scandal is a criminal case

    As witness testimony begins in former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial, Yahoo News Senior Editor David Knowles explains why the charges of falsifying business records — which would typically be considered a misdemeanor in New York state — have been elevated to criminal offenses in the eyes of the prosecution.

  • Beyoncé sends flowers to little boy obsessed with her whereabouts in viral video: ‘She’s my friend’

    Little boy receives sweet surprise from Beyoncé after he claimed to be her friend in a viral video

  • ’Are you Eric Adams?!’ Watch plane passenger berate NYC mayor on a flight from Miami

    The former cop was a speaker at a summit at the University of Miami

  • Stock market today: Tesla soars as most of Wall Street drifts in mixed trading

    NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are drifting Wednesday, as Wall Street’s big week so far lets off the accelerator. The S&P 500 was 0.1% higher in afternoon trading. Its two-day winning streak to start the week erased nearly two-thirds of last week’s steep loss. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 19 points, or 0.1%, as of 2:02 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.3% higher. Tesla soared 11.6% after saying the night before that it would accelerate production of new, more affordable

  • US House Democrat Donald Payne Jr. dead at 65

    Donald Payne Jr., a Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives who represented a northern New Jersey district, has died after a cardiac episode, the state's governor's office said on Wednesday. "As a former union worker and toll collector, he deeply understood the struggles our working families face, and he fought valiantly to serve their needs, every single day," Governor Phil Murphy said in a statement. "Our prayers are offered today for his family and friends, and especially his wife, Bea, and their three children," Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, said.

  • Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning receives $5 million in federal funding

    The 2024 federal budget includes a $5 million contribution to Yellowknife’s Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning. Kelsey Wrightson, the school’s executive director, said she and her team were thrilled to learn about the new funding when it was announced on Tuesday, April 16. “We’re feeling really excited,” she said. “I was sitting at my desk on Tuesday waiting for the budget announcement, and then when we got the news, I felt not only a huge amount of relief, but also the responsibility of

  • Israel's Netanyahu says 'more has to be done' to stop pro-Palestinian protests on US campuses

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday "more has to be done" to stop pro-Palestinian protests that have spread across U.S. campuses in recent weeks. "What's happening in America's college campuses is horrific," he said in a recorded statement, accusing "antisemitic mobs" of taking over leading universities. Protests over Israel's actions in Gaza have intensified across U.S. campuses in recent weeks with the Gaza war now in its seventh month.

  • Zendaya reveals why it’s ‘terrifying’ to go to the Met Gala

    ‘Going up the steps is very daunting,’ Zendaya says about the fashion event

  • GoFundMe established for pregnant wife, ‘close-knit family’ of slain Ada County deputy

    “Tobin’s life has been a reflection of God’s grace,” according to a statement provided by the family. “He was a selfless man of conviction, giving God the glory in all circumstances.”

  • Markham city councillor Ritch Lau to host charity concert

    Markham Ward 2 Councillor Ritch Lau is stepping into a new spotlight, hosting his first charity concert on April 28 at the Flato Markham Theatre. Before running for council, Lau worked as a radio host, then transitioned to become a news reporter and TV news anchor for Fairchild TV. He is a household name known by Chinese families nationwide. As the first sitting city councillor to take the stage for a solo concert, Lau is merging his passion for public service with his lifelong love for music. D

  • Girl arrested after two teachers and pupil stabbed at south Wales school

    Police say three were taken to hospital after incident at Amman Valley school and teenager held on suspicion of attempted murder

  • After long battle over Ukraine aid, Mitch McConnell says largest foes were outside Congress

    Mitch McConnell blamed Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson for the delayed passage of Ukraine aid included in Tuesday's $95 billion foreign aid package.

  • Steve Diamond: Newcastle’s bus ride home from Bristol demolition like a six-hour funeral

    Newcastle Falcons’ bus journey back from Bristol was described as “like going to a funeral for six hours” by their consultant director of rugby, Steve Diamond, after the club were defeated 85-14 on Sunday.

  • Steve Carell confirms new Netflix show following Space Force axe

    Steve Carell has joined forces with Mean Girls' Tina Fey for new Netflix comedy The Four Seasons, following the axe of his show Space Force.

  • UNCG provost to step down as she battles cancer, stands by controversial program review

    UNC Greensboro’s provost shared her breast cancer diagnosis as the school announced her departure.