The Razorbacks Make Their Directors’ Cup Debut Ranked #8
Just three league clubs are ranked in the top 25 in the preliminary standings, including Arkansas. Men’s and women’s cross-country, football, women’s field hockey, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s volleyball, and men’s water polo were among the sports for which the rankings were made public on Thursday. The Razorbacks have 272 points following the competition’s autumn phase.
In the last six years, Arkansas has won 33 SEC team championships, with 15 of those victories coming in the last three years alone. The 33 titles won by the Razorbacks in the same period of time are equal to the combined titles of seven other league teams, and both players top all SEC programs.
The Directors’ Cup monitors the year-round performance of the most prosperous intercollegiate athletics programs in the country. The Razorbacks have garnered top-15 results in each of the previous three years, including an eighth-place finish in 2020-21, a seventh-place performance in 2021-22 and a 13th-place finish in 2023-24.
Prior to 2020–21, Arkansas’ highest finish was 14th. Since 1993–1994 the Directors’ Cup program has monitored the performance of the best college athletics programs in the country.
At the NCAA Cross Country Championships, head coach Chris Bucknam and the Razorback men’s cross country team secured a podium position once more. Arkansas, the 2023 SEC Cross Country Championship winners, placed fourth in the NCAA, marking their third podium result in the previous four years following their fourth-place finishes in 2020 and 2021.
Additionally, it was the Hogs’ seventh top-five finish since 2016. The Razorbacks were led by Kirami Yego and Patrick Kiprop to 80 Directors’ Cup points, earning them All-America status. At the NCAA Cross Country Championship, the women’s cross country team from Arkansas finished in the top ten.
The Razorbacks, led by Head Coach Chris Johnson in his first year and Distance Coach Megan Elliott, placed ninth in the team competition, marking their 17th top-10 result in school history. Sydney Thorvaldson led Arkansas to a 69-point gain in the Directors’ Cup standings, earning him All-America honors.
For the first time in school history, Razorback Volleyball made it to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, capping an incredible season. Only one Arkansas squad has ever made it to the round of 16 before 2023. In the round of sixteen in Lincoln, Arkansas defeated Kentucky for the first time in eleven years, earning its most victories since 1999 (28).
In addition to posting its best record (15-3) in SEC play since 2003, Arkansas achieved its highest-ever rating of No. 8, its third consecutive season with 20 or more victories, and the greatest 20-match start (18-2) to a season in program history. The team led by coach Jason Watson erased the history books and scored 73 Directors’ Cup points in the process.
Once again, Arkansas’s great season on the field was headed by coach Colby Hale. The Razorback soccer team secured a coveted No. 2 seed in the NCAA Soccer Tournament in 2023 by winning the SEC Western Division and the Overall Regular season title.
At Razorback Field, the Razorbacks hosted many rounds of the NCAA Tournament. They defeated Grambling in the first round of the tournament and lost to Pittsburgh in the second round. Arkansas gained 50 Directors’ Cup points in women’s soccer.