Clemson spring sports mark move up Directors Cup standings

Clemson softball led the program's spring sports scores in the Directors Cup.

Brandon Rink · Assoc. Editor / Staff Writer · Thursday, June 26 2025

Clemson moved up in the Directors Cup standings to finish 47th overall for the 2024-25 college sports season.

The program ranked 12th in the ACC after scoring 271.5 points in the spring sports, compiling numbers from softball (64), women's lacrosse (53), men's tennis (50), women's track and field (42), baseball (37.5) and women's tennis (25).

The Tigers were 16th out of 18 ACC teams after the winter scores (123.50), which was a score slightly down from the fall sports (129.25).

Overall it was a downtrend from the 2023-24 standings, where the Clemson sports season ranked 31st overall.

ACC news release

Six ACC schools are ranked among the top 25, including three in the top 10, in the final Division I LEARFIELD College Directors’ Cup standings, announced Thursday. All 18 ACC programs finished in the top 75 of the final standings.

This marks the 23rd consecutive year that four or more ACC schools placed among the top 30 in the final LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup standings. North Carolina and Virginia have ranked among the top 30 nationally in each of the 30 years the Directors’ Cup has been conducted.

The ACC is one of only two conferences with every school among the final top 75 this year. This marks just the second time in the last decade in which every ACC team finished in top 75 (2020-21 was the other occurrence).

“The final LEARFIELD Directors’ Cup standings once again show off the tremendous achievements of our student-athletes, coaches and programs,” stated ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips, Ph.D. “With six team national championships and over two dozen individual national titles, the ACC has much to be proud of, both athletically and academically. With another successful year in the books, we are eagerly anticipating the new academic year and building on this success."

For the fourth straight year, the ACC won six or more national titles, finishing with six (North Carolina women’s soccer, Virginia women’s swimming & diving, Notre Dame fencing, Wake Forest men’s tennis, North Carolina women’s lacrosse, Stanford rowing). The ACC has won 29 national championships in league-sponsored sports over the past four seasons – no conference has won more.

In the league’s 72-year history, ACC institutions have captured 196 team national championships and 460 individual NCAA titles, including 32 during the most recent academic year (25 women’s, seven men’s).

Stanford totaled 1,251 total points, finishing just 4.25 points shy of Directors’ Cup champion Texas. The Cardinal tallied 14 top-10 finishes among the 16 total sports in which they scored points, including national championships in women’s rowing and women’s water polo. North Carolina (1,195.25 points) notched a fourth-place finish, highlighted by national championships in women’s soccer and women’s lacrosse. The Tar Heels also scored in all five countable sports (men’s basketball, baseball, women’s basketball, women’s soccer, women’s volleyball).

Duke finished in 10th place with 1,010 points. The Blue Devils were followed by Virginia (12th), NC State (20th), California (24th) and Florida State (28th).

Notre Dame (36th), Louisville (37th), Wake Forest (41st), Virginia Tech (45th) and Clemson (47th) give the ACC 12 institutions among the top 50. They were followed by Miami (55th), Syracuse (61st), Boston College (66th), SMU (70th), Georgia Tech (71st) and Pitt (74th).

The ACC currently sponsors 28 NCAA sports – 15 for women and 13 for men – with the addition of women’s gymnastics in 2023-24. No Autonomy Five conference sponsors more than 28 sports, nor does any peer conference sponsor more than 15 women’s sports.

The LEARFIELD Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in the NCAA Championships.

Overall, 19 total sports are counted for the final standings including the five countable sports, and the next highest 14 (max.) sports scored for each institution, regardless of gender.