Duke in 2014 Learfield Director's Cup

[MCFinARL]

The women's rowing championships are completed, with UVA placing 5th and Notre Dame 9th. Stanford was 4th, which will add to their already prohibitive lead if they don't already have ten women's sports.

Based on the scoring from last year, UVA will receive 75 points and Notre Dame 61.5.

UVA has also advanced to the Super regional in baseball, which I believe guarantees them at least a 9th place finish (along with all teams that don't advance to the college world series). That is apparently worth 64 points. That would put UVA at 1016 points, still behind Duke. But if they beat Maryland to reach the College World series, they will pass Duke unless Duke can somehow earn enough points in Track and Field to hold them off (probably unlikely since Duke's most competitive qualifier for nationals is Juliet Botorff, and as noted earlier in the thread, Duke already has points from 10 women's teams).

Notre Dame has already passed Duke with these rowing points.

Florida, somewhat shockingly, was eliminated in the baseball regionals with two losses and no wins; last year the lowest score awarded in baseball was 25, which would tie them with Duke. Unfortunately, both their men's and women's track teams are among the very best in the country, so they will also pass Duke.

North Carolina remains alive in the regional bracket now vacated by Florida, but no one has yet advanced. College of Charleston, at 2-0, has the edge right now.

[dpslaw]

An update and a caveat: UNC lost to Long Beach State today, so their season is over. And if any of the schools that might pass Duke already have 10 men's or women's teams counted in their totals, their net total points cannot be determined simply by adding in any new points earned. Their lowest scoring team's points must also be subtracted out.

[MCFinARL]

An update and a caveat: UNC lost to Long Beach State today, so their season is over. And if any of the schools that might pass Duke already have 10 men's or women's teams counted in their totals, their net total points cannot be determined simply by adding in any new points earned. Their lowest scoring team's points must also be subtracted out.

I am pretty sure I checked UVA and Notre Dame for the 10-sport rule, though I may have misremembered. Haven't checked Florida but since they can pass Duke with a good finish in either men's or women's track, the odds are probably in their favor--I doubt they already have ten sports in both genders.

UNC will receive 50 points if they count as being in 17th place and 25 if they count as being in 33rd place (same as 49th place, apparently--so I guess any team that is considered to have come in second in the region is "17th" and all others get 25 points). Since they go out with only one win and the two remaining teams each have 2, I'm thinking that should mean they will get 25 points. That would put them at 966, still almost 60 points behind Duke. UNC advanced a few athletes to the NCAA track and field finals, but probably not enough to do very well there--so it's looking good that Duke will stay ahead of UNC--which is, after all, the most important thing.

As a side note, while researching their track performance at regionals on the goheels.com site, I came across this fascinating quotation from the head track coach, Harlis Meaders, about their qualifying 5000 meter runner: "Isaac ran a very smart and tactful race." Nice to know they are training such well-mannered athletes over there.

[sagegrouse]

As a side note, while researching their track performance at regionals on the goheels.com site, I came across this fascinating quotation from the head track coach, Harlis Meaders, about their qualifying 5000 meter runner: "Isaac ran a very smart and tactful race." Nice to know they are training such well-mannered athletes over there.

Yeah, that's quite a complement.

[devildeac]

Yeah, that's quite a complement.

Your write.

[arnie]

As a side note, while researching their track performance at regionals on the goheels.com site, I came across this fascinating quotation from the head track coach, Harlis Meaders, about their qualifying 5000 meter runner: "Isaac ran a very smart and tactful race." Nice to know they are training such well-mannered athletes over there.

I guess Mr. Meaders must have gradeated from the Hole with honors.

[SCMatt33]

One note to add is that golf has previously awarded points to teams who make the regional, but do not qualify for the championship. UVA finished 7th in its regional (only top 5 qualified). There are 6 regionals, and each team who finishes 6th, 7th, 8th, etc. will be grouped as a 6 way tie for the directors cup. Some wrenches can be thrown into the pot by teams who tied, or who lost a playoff to advance, but unless there are an excessive number of those, UVA's finish will put its overall placing in the high 30's and will receive about 30-35 points for this. Unless Duke makes up ground in track, it is likely that they will finish behind UVA. My count had UVA at 8 men's sports as of the last update, with baseball being 9. Golf would currently be the lowest so their track team would need to score more than that to count, but I suspect that even with a super regional loss in baseball, they will stay ahead of Duke. I haven't seen Penn State mentioned yet, but they're sending 15 athletes to the track and field championship and scored about 100 combined directors cup points last year, so I suspect they'll pass Duke as well.

The other wild card is UCLA. I have no idea if they have 10 sport issues, but they had a 12 place finish in Rowing (worth 54 points last year), a T5 in Men's golf (72.75), a T9 in Softball (64), plus 812.75 points as of the previous update for a total of 1003.5 before track, and they are sending 11 athletes to Eugene. They might have 10 sport issues that make these totals moot but that appears to be the closest race Duke has.

All of that put together would put Duke in 6th or 7th place depending on UCLA unless UNC pulls off a big week in Oregon.

[MCFinARL]

One note to add is that golf has previously awarded points to teams who make the regional, but do not qualify for the championship. UVA finished 7th in its regional (only top 5 qualified). There are 6 regionals, and each team who finishes 6th, 7th, 8th, etc. will be grouped as a 6 way tie for the directors cup. Some wrenches can be thrown into the pot by teams who tied, or who lost a playoff to advance, but unless there are an excessive number of those, UVA's finish will put its overall placing in the high 30's and will receive about 30-35 points for this. Unless Duke makes up ground in track, it is likely that they will finish behind UVA. My count had UVA at 8 men's sports as of the last update, with baseball being 9. Golf would currently be the lowest so their track team would need to score more than that to count, but I suspect that even with a super regional loss in baseball, they will stay ahead of Duke. I haven't seen Penn State mentioned yet, but they're sending 15 athletes to the track and field championship and scored about 100 combined directors cup points last year, so I suspect they'll pass Duke as well.

The other wild card is UCLA. I have no idea if they have 10 sport issues, but they had a 12 place finish in Rowing (worth 54 points last year), a T5 in Men's golf (72.75), a T9 in Softball (64), plus 812.75 points as of the previous update for a total of 1003.5 before track, and they are sending 11 athletes to Eugene. They might have 10 sport issues that make these totals moot but that appears to be the closest race Duke has.

All of that put together would put Duke in 6th or 7th place depending on UCLA unless UNC pulls off a big week in Oregon.

Yes, I have been assuming Penn State would probably pass Duke as well, though I didn't mention them in my most recent post. Some of their track and field people finished fairly high at the regionals and thus could be competitive at nationals. I don't think they have 10 sports yet in either men or women.

I didn't realize points were awarded for regional golf. That does suggest that UVA will pretty definitely pass Duke.

[MCFinARL]

Florida wins the women's college world series, which will vault them into second place; this is their 11th women's sport, so the 100 points for softball will replace the 28 points they earned for women's cross country, for a net added 72 points. Along with the 25 points for baseball (Florida still has plenty of room to score men's teams), this will put them 72 points ahead of Duke; they are likely to add a lot of points in men's track (with an expected top-5 finish and a reasonable chance to win) and a few in women's track (they are ranked very highly there as well, but would have to drop a 50-point sport to count the track points).

While they still won't be able to approach Stanford, Florida should have a pretty solid lock on second place, as the other teams that are close to them now won't be earning as many points--Penn State has a shot at some track points but won't beat Florida, and they have no baseball or softball points; Notre Dame will get some softball and crew points, but those won't exceed Florida's totals from softball and baseball, and they won't beat Florida at track either.

[dpslaw]

The latest Directors' Cup standings, which include everything but baseball, were released today. Duke is in fourth place behind Stanford, Notre Dame, and Florida. Only Virginia, currently in seventh place will pass Duke in the final standings. Somewhat shockingly, it appears that Notre Dame will hold off Florida for second place, due to the latter's minimal baseball points.

Fifth place ain't too shabby, particularly considering Duke's early out in men's basketball!

[roywhite]

Yes, I have been assuming Penn State would probably pass Duke as well, though I didn't mention them in my most recent post. Some of their track and field people finished fairly high at the regionals and thus could be competitive at nationals. I don't think they have 10 sports yet in either men or women.

I didn't realize points were awarded for regional golf. That does suggest that UVA will pretty definitely pass Duke.

Just a note here on Track and Field.

The NCAA championships run this week. Unfortunately, decathlete Curtis Beach will not be competing. He's headed off to have elbow surgery and we hope to see his return to the sport. With good health and continued development (esp. in the throwing events), he can be a factor on the national scene, with some chance of making an Olympic team.

Congratulations to Curtis on a fine career at Duke, which included two NCAA Indoor Heptathlon championships.

Duke Qualifies 3 Individuals & Relay for NCAA Champ.


Duke will be represented at the NCAA championships as noted in this goduke.com piece

[drhbre]

The latest Directors' Cup standings, which include everything but baseball, were released today. Duke is in fourth place behind Stanford, Notre Dame, and Florida. Only Virginia, currently in seventh place will pass Duke in the final standings. Somewhat shockingly, it appears that Notre Dame will hold off Florida for second place, due to the latter's minimal baseball points.

Fifth place ain't too shabby, particularly considering Duke's early out in men's basketball!

I think UCLA could also pass Duke. They are 21 points behind Duke and are currently ranked 25th in Men's Track and Field. A 25th place finish would be worth more than 21 points.

[dpslaw]

Apologies for misreading the schedule. I thought track and field, which hasn't yet occurred, was included.
*sigh* Never mind.

[Olympic Fan]

Yes, baseball and track and field are still to be included ...

While Duke is ranked fourth in the current standings, Virginia, which reached the College World Series, is already guaranteed enough points in baseball to pass us. Agree that UCLA is likely to pass us too. That would drop us to sixth place, which I think is our best possible scenario,

That leaves Penn State, which remains one-quarter point behind Duke, They are out of baseball too, but as somebody pointed out, they have some track performers. If they do better in T&F, we drop to seventh.

I think we stay ahead of North Carolina -- they are currently 93.50 points behind, but that doesn't include the 25 points they got for baseball .. a year ago, they got zero points for track and field. Unless that changes big time, our lead over them is safe.

Still, we'll almost certainly finish third in the ACC (behind Notre Dame and Virginia).

Next record (which includes Track and Field results) is June 19.

[MCFinARL]

Just a note here on Track and Field.

The NCAA championships run this week. Unfortunately, decathlete Curtis Beach will not be competing. He's headed off to have elbow surgery and we hope to see his return to the sport. With good health and continued development (esp. in the throwing events), he can be a factor on the national scene, with some chance of making an Olympic team.

Congratulations to Curtis on a fine career at Duke, which included two NCAA Indoor Heptathlon championships.

Duke Qualifies 3 Individuals & Relay for NCAA Champ.


Duke will be represented at the NCAA championships as noted in this goduke.com piece

Thanks so much for the information on Curtis Beach. I had wondered why he was not competing. Presumably the injury may have contributed to his surprising 3rd place decathlon finish (behind 2 Duke teammates) at the ACC championships as well. I echo your congratulations and thanks to Curtis for an excellent Duke career; it has been a pleasure following his achievements.

From a Director's Cup perspective, Beach is a major loss, as he produced some significant points last year; on the women's side, where Juliet Botorff has a chance to score in two events, Duke already has 10 sports, as has been noted earlier--so any track and field points will help only if they are more than the 22 points earned in our lowest current women's sport--and then the score will only be increased by the number above 22.

[sagegrouse]

Thanks so much for the information on Curtis Beach. I had wondered why he was not competing. Presumably the injury may have contributed to his surprising 3rd place decathlon finish (behind 2 Duke teammates) at the ACC championships as well. I echo your congratulations and thanks to Curtis for an excellent Duke career; it has been a pleasure following his achievements.

From a Director's Cup perspective, Beach is a major loss, as he produced some significant points last year; on the women's side, where Juliet Botorff has a chance to score in two events, Duke already has 10 sports, as has been noted earlier--so any track and field points will help only if they are more than the 22 points earned in our lowest current women's sport--and then the score will only be increased by the number above 22.

The shoulder injury explains why he only threw the javelin about 100 feet in the ACC's -- but he still placed third!

[SCMatt33]

Juliet Botorff finishes in 3rd in the 10,000 for 6 team points. That probably won't get the team above the 22 point threshold by itself, so it remains to be seen if Duke can add to it's total. Penn State has already gotten some points on the board as has UCLA, so it's likely that Duke will need to score points to stay ahead of either.

[MCFinARL]

Juliet Botorff finishes in 3rd in the 10,000 for 6 team points. That probably won't get the team above the 22 point threshold by itself, so it remains to be seen if Duke can add to it's total. Penn State has already gotten some points on the board as has UCLA, so it's likely that Duke will need to score points to stay ahead of either.

The women's 4x400 meter relay has already run, finishing 17th--really quite a good effort as it was the first time the Duke women have ever sent a 4x400 relay to the NCAA championships. But no team points from that. So the only remaining women's event where Duke can score points is the 5000, where Juliet Botorff will be running Saturday. I believe the 10,000 is her better event, but we'll see.

On the men's side, Brian Atkinson finished in a very respectable 14th in the 10,000 meters for second-team All-American honors but no team points; the remaining competitor is Thomas Lang, who will compete in the Javelin on Saturday.

It's hard to get a lot of director's cup points in track and field, as so many teams participate in the meet and score points. Last year the Duke women scored 2 team points, which tied them for 53rd and resulted in 17.5 director's cup points; Penn State scored 9 team points, which tied them for 29 and resulted in 44 director's cup points. If the rankings hold with last year's (which, of course, they may not), Botorff's six points would result in a tie for 39th place and a resulting 32.5 director's cup points, which would add 10.5 to Duke's total as the T&F points would replace the women's swimming points. If Thomas Lang can place anywhere in a point scoring position, Duke will earn some points--last year Curtis Beach's 7th place decathlon finish was worth 2 championship points and 5 director's cup points.

But if Penn State earns even one more point than Duke at the championships it will finish higher and pass Duke in the director's cup; UCLA is likely to finish a lot higher in both men's and women's track and field.

[MCFinARL]

Juliet Botorff ran a personal best time to finish fifth in the 5000 meters and earn two first-team all-American honors at the Track and Field championships. She single handedly gave the Duke women a 22-place finish, which should earn 45-50 Director's Cup points and thus increase Duke's total by 20-something after those points replace the swimming points. Not sure it will be enough to hold of the various teams that could pass Duke, however. Penn State finished a lot higher on the women's side and also placed (although pretty far down) on the men's side, and i don't believe they are over 10 sports on either side.

[Olympic Fan]

The latest Director's Cup standings were released today and Duke has dropped to 7th place.

These standings include everything except baseball. That makes it relatively easy to calculate Duke's finish. The Devils can't gain on anybody because they were shut out in baseball.

But No. 8 Virginia (23 points back) and No. 9 Texas (41 points back) are both in the College World Series and no matter how they finish, they will get enough points to pass Duke.

I can't see anybody else getting enough baseball points to pass us. FSU (82 points back) might have if the Seminoles had gotten out of the baseball regionals, but they went 0-2 and will get minimum points (25 I think ... but even if they get 50, that's not near enough).

So while it won't be official for another couple of weeks, it's pretty certain -- 9th place ... Duke's fifth top 10 finish in the last 10 years.