Brian: The final Directors Cup standings were released this week. For those of you unfamiliar with this, the NACDA Directors’ Cup is an award given to the colleges or universities with the most success in college athletics. Points are awarded based on order of finish in various NCAA sponsored championships or college football’s media-based polls, where there’s no NCAA-sanctioned National Championship.
Boston College finished 63rd overall, up 12 spots from the final 2008-09 standings.
Here is a look at how BC has fared over the last 10 years.
2001: 51st
2002: 73rd
2003: 62nd
2004: 68th
2005: 57th
2006: 51st
2007: 58th
2008: 69th
2009: 75th
2010: 63rd
Here is a breakdown of BC’s final Directors’ Cup point total:
100 points - Men’s hockey National Championship
73 points - 5th place finish in women's Soccer
64 points - 9th place finish in men's Soccer
30 points - 22nd place finish in Fencing
25 points - 9th place finish in women’s Field Hockey
25 points - 44th place finish in Football
BC finished 11th in the ACC, ahead of only N.C. State. Now BC is annually hurt in the Directors’ Cup by not participating in some of these sports (including men’s lacrosse, water polo, etc.), not offering full scholarships (track & field) or simply not being very good at other sports (tennis, golf). Plus the school doesn’t get credit for their National Championships in sailing, which isn’t an NCAA sanctioned sport.
My question is would you rather see BC finishing higher in the Directors’ Cup or simply have the school finish strong in the revenue (football, basketball) and revenue-neutral (men’s hockey) sports annually?
Jeff: Fortunately or unfortunately, from both a fan perspective and from an Athletic Department stability perspective, I want BC to be strong in the revenue generating sports. It's all about football, then basketball, then hockey. I know some fans have those three sports in slightly different orders, but BC alum are scattered all over the country and at that point, you only follow what's on TV. Fencing, track & field, and golf are certainly not getting any ESPN time. It's the same for students, other than maybe some roommates and significant others, students are not going to watch sports outside of football, hockey, basketball, soccer and baseball.
But let's get back to how the sports are weighted in the Directors' Cup. How did BC receive more points in fencing than they got in field hockey or football?
Brian: I'm not exactly sure. It looks like it's a function of your program's finish in the rankings relative to the number of programs in the sport. BC finished 22nd in the fencing rankings and 14th in the final field hockey rankings. If the Eagles had won the bowl game against USC, they would have received an additional 20 points, putting them ahead of both fencing and field hockey.
And now I know more than I ever thought I'd know about collegiate fencing rankings.
Big Finish
Brian: BC spent $19.4 million dollars in 2008-09 on football, the second highest total in the ACC behind only Miami ($20.97 mil). Your thoughts?
Jeff: WOW! Did not expect to be that high on the list.
Jeff: In another surprise, BC was profiled in a free version of ESPN's Blue Ribbon preview and they said that the Eagles could win the Atlantic Division. BC isn't used to being picked for anything preseason. Could this hurt BC's chances somehow?
Brian: I doubt it. "Could" win the Division could mean finishing first, second or third. BC's been predicted in that range before in the preseason.
Brian: BC baseball coach Mik Aoki could be headed to Notre Dame to take the head coaching position there. On a scale of 1 to Fredo, where would a move like this fall on your treason scale?
Jeff: It's not in football so going to Notre Dame doesn't really matter to me. I don't want him to leave though.
Jeff: The 2012 NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Northeast Regional was awarded to Holy Cross and the DCU Center. That’s good news, right?
Brian: Great news. BC ends up in Worcester more often than not and the Eagles have never lost there in the NCAAs under York.
Brian: Rutgers plans to sell the naming rights to Rutgers Stadium and the RAC. If BC sold the naming rights to Alumni Stadium, what company do you think would buy the rights?
Jeff: I'd bet Under Armour would at least put in a bid.
Jeff: Are you starting to get excited about the future of BC hoops given the players Donahue is starting to bring in?
Brian: I'm a little more optimistic than I was a few weeks ago. That's for sure.
Brian: Last one, Andy Katz has Reggie Jackson as one of several potential NBA draft picks NBA scouts are eyeing for next year’s draft. Right now, do you think Reggie stays for his senior season?
Jeff: Yes.