Carolina Eighth In Final 2022-23 Learfield Directors' Cup Standings

NCAA championships by field hockey in the fall and women's tennis in the spring provided 100 points apiece to lead the University of North Carolina to eighth place in the final 2022-23 Learfield Directors' Cup standings, the Tar Heels' fourth consecutive top-10 finish and seventh in the past eight years of the all-sports competition.

Carolina amassed a total of 1,068 points in 17 sports. Stanford regained the title, its 26th in the 29-year history of the competition, after Texas had won the previous two seasons (UNC was the inaugural winner in 1993-94).

Stanford totaled 1412 points. Texas, Ohio State, Virginia, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, UNC, LSU and Southern California finished second through 10^th.

The eighth-place finish is Carolina's 24th season in the top 10. Only Stanford and Florida (with 29 apiece) have more.

The Tar Heels have accounted for 24 of the Atlantic Coast Conference's 48 all-time finishes in the top 10.

UNC's field hockey team won its 10th national championship, completing an unbeaten and untied season at 21-0-0 with a 2-1 win over Northwestern. It was Karen Shelton's 10th NCAA title as head coach and National Player of the Year and Final Four MVP Erin Matson's fourth as a player. Matson was named head coach in January following Shelton's retirement after 42 seasons directing the Tar Heel program.

The women's tennis team, led by head coach Brian Kalbas and National Player of the Year Fiona Crawley, capped a 35-1 season with a 4-1 win over NC State in the NCAA championship match. It was the women's tennis team's first NCAA title, becoming the eighth Tar Heel men's or women's program to claim an NCAA championship.

It was the 12th time UNC has won multiple NCAA championships in the same season (1981-82, 1989-90, 1990-91, 1992-93, 1993-94, 1996-97, 1997-98, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2012-13, 2015-16 and 2022-23).

The two national championship teams were among six at Carolina to finish in the top five and nine to finish in the top 10 this year.

Women's soccer advanced to in the national championship game for the 27th time under head coach Anson Dorrance and finished second; men's golf was third; women's cross country and women's lacrosse were fifth; men's tennis was ninth and men's cross country and women's swimming and diving each placed 10th.

The men's golf team won five tournaments, finished first in stroke play and advanced to the semifinals in match play in the NCAA Championship. Its third-place finish led by ACC Player of the Year David Ford and head coach Andrew DiBitetto was UNC's highest in an NCAA Championship in 30 years.

This season was the first in Tar Heel history in which both cross country programs finished in the top 10 in the NCAA meet. The women's fifth-place finish under director of track and field/cross country Chris Miltenburg and head cross country coach Dylan Sorensen was its highest ever and the men's 10th-place effort was its best since 1985.

Aranza Vazquez won not only the first NCAA championship ever by a Tar Heel diver but swept both the 1- and 3-meter titles. Head coach Mark Gangloff led the women's swimming and diving team to its first top-10 finish since 2001.

It was the women's lacrosse team's and head coach Jenny Levy's 18th consecutive top-10 finish.

Thirteen teams had top-25 performances in NCAA post-season play, including wrestling (12th), women's basketball (17th), fencing (21st) and men's swimming and diving (23rd).

Austin O'Connor was the ACC Wrestler of the Year and won his second NCAA title on the mats, entering the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed at 157 pounds and taking home the title to cap a 23-0 season. He led the wrestling team to UNC's best NCAA Championship finish since placing eighth in 1995.

The Tar Heels did not score points in two of the four sports that schools are required to include among the maximum 19 allowed to count in the point total. Four other UNC sports had NCAA post-season finishes but were above the maximum and were not included in the scoring (football, women's golf, men's soccer and women's outdoor track and field).

2022-23 NCAA DIRECTORS' CUP STANDINGS
Place-School, Points
1-Stanford, 1412.00
2-Texas, 1370.50
3-Ohio State, 1170.75
4-Virginia, 1105.50
5-Florida, 1091.50
6-Tennessee, 1078.75
7-Georgia, 1072.50
8-UNC, 1068.00
9- LSU, 1062.25
10-Southern California, 1048.00

2022-23 ACC DIRECTORS' CUP STANDINGS
Place-School, Points
4- Virginia, 1105.50
8-UNC, 1068.0
16-Duke, 977.80
17-Florida State, 909.25
19-NC State, 893.00
20-Notre Dame, 884.00
32-Louisville, 672.80
42-Wake Forest, 569.00
45-Syracuse, 559.50
49-Miami, 480.00
51-Clemson, 475.50
52-Pittsburgh, 469.00
55-Virginia Tech, 443.00
78-Georgia Tech, 253.00
105-Boston College, 170.00

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA'S DIRECTORS' CUP FINISHES
2022-23: 8th
2021-22: 6th
2020-21: 4th
2019-20: no competition due to the pandemic
2018-19: 10th
2017-18: 13th
2016-17: 5th
2015-16: 7th
2014-15: 5th
2013-14: 14th
2012-13: 8th
2011-12: 8th
2010-11: 6th
2009-10: 7th
2008-09: 2nd
2007-08: 14th
2006-07: 3rd
2005-06: 4th
2004-05: 9th
2003-04: 7th
2002-03: 8th
2001-02: 4th
2000-01: 15th
1999-2000: 5th
1998-99: 17th
1997-98 : 2nd
1996-97: 2nd
1995-96: 6th
1994-95: 2nd
1993-94: 1st

Carolina Eighth In Final 2022-23 Learfield Directors' Cup Standings

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