Year of the Razorback: Directors’ Cup Finish & Top 25 Teams

When measuring the collective success of an intercollegiate athletics programs in a given year, there are numerous points of information on which to evaluate. Some may compare national and conference championships, NCAA postseason berths, ranked teams, All-Americans or other team and individual honors. No matter the chosen criteria, the University of Arkansas was one of the nation’s elite programs in 2020-21.

Since the 1994, the Learfield IMG College Directors’ Cup, published by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of America (NACDA), has been the gold standard of determining the best all-sports programs in the nation. The Directors’ Cup tracks the nation’s most successful intercollegiate athletics programs for their performances throughout the year.

Arkansas has been a perennial top 25 finisher in the Directors’ Cup. In 2020-21, a record-setting athletics year elevated the University of Arkansas to a program best No. 8 finish in the 2020-21 Learfield IMG College Directors’ Cup final standings. Arkansas’ previous best Directors’ Cup finish came in the 1998-99 competitive year when the Razorbacks finished No. 14.

Arkansas finished in the top 10 of the Directors’ Cup standings for the first time in school history and ranked No. 1 in the standings among programs with 19 or fewer sports. Arkansas was one of four SEC programs (Florida, Alabama and Georgia) to be ranked in the top-10 in the standings. A total of eight SEC programs ranked in the top 25 of the final standings.

Along the way, Arkansas was a mainstay in nearly every national poll for sports in which the Razorbacks compete. Of the Razorbacks’ 19 sport programs, 17 programs made an appearance in the Top 25 of their respective polls, with 12 of those programs reaching the Top 10.

In fact, Arkansas was ranked No. 1 in the nation in four different sport polls, with baseball, women’s cross country, men’s indoor track and field and women’s indoor track and field all holding the top spot at some point in their respective seasons.