Penn State finishes 3rd in Learfield Directors’ Cup winter standings

Penn State is holding steady as one of the top college athletics programs in the nation.

The university finished third in the Learfield Directors’ Cup final winter standings Thursday, marking the school’s 12th straight top-5 finish. The Cup was designed to measure and compare the top overall athletic programs in the country, as schools receive points based on success in 20 different varsity sports.

The Nittany Lions now have 786 points and trail first-place Stanford (1,088.50 points) and second-place Ohio State (818). Michigan (762.25) and Wisconsin (692) round out the top 5. Penn State received a boost after the wrestling team captured the national championship and jumped four spots since the fall standings.

The first set of spring standings will be released May 25.

Penn State has now earned top-10 finishes in the final winter standings in 23 of 24 years, and the Nittany Lions are joined by Stanford as the lone schools to record top-5 finishes in the winter every year for the last 12 years.

The Penn State wrestling team picked up 100 Directors’ Cup points after earning the national title, and the Big Ten tournament champion men’s hockey team earned 60 points after reaching the NCAA quarterfinals. The Nittany Lions fencing team was also key in picking up 69 points.

This story was originally published April 27, 2017 at 7:19 PM with the headline "Penn State finishes 3rd in Learfield Directors’ Cup winter standings."