CLEVELAND, OH – For the fourth consecutive year, Johns Hopkins sits atop the final Learfield Directors' Cup standings at the end of the fall season.  With seven teams qualifying for NCAA Championship competition, Johns Hopkins totaled 471 points to claim the top spot in the final fall standings, which were announced today.
 
2021-22 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup
Final Division III Fall Standings (12-23-2021) • Top 10
1 - Johns Hopkins (471 points)
2 – Middlebury (397.5)
3 – Tufts (330.5)
4 – Chicago (320.5)
5 – Calvin (308)
6 – MIT (300.5)
7 – Christopher Newport (278.5)
8 – Emory (270)
9 – Washington & Lee (267.5)
10 – Washington-St. Louis (261)
 
The Super Seven
Johns Hopkins had a Division III national-best seven teams qualify for the NCAA Championships this fall.  This is the fourth consecutive year that at least six Blue Jay teams have qualified for the NCAAs in the fall.  The seven this year tie the school record originally set in 2018; six of the seven NCAA Tournament/Championship-eligible Blue Jay teams qualified in 2017 and 2019.  USA Water Polo, not the NCAA, sponsors the Division III Water Polo championship, and thus Johns Hopkins' recent third-place finish at that championship does not accumulate Directors' Cup points.
 
Breakin' It Down  (the seven NCAA teams for Johns Hopkins this fall, point totals & NCAA placement)
Women's Cross Country  (100 Directors' Cup Points) – NCAA Champion
Field Hockey (90) – NCAA Runner-Up
Volleyball (64) – NCAA Sweet 16
Women's Soccer (64) – NCAA Sweet 16
Football (53) – NCAA Sweet 16
Men's Soccer (50) – NCAA 2^nd Round
Men's Cross County (50) – 24^th place at NCAA Championships
 
Why They Vary
Directors' Cup points accumulated can vary by sport even if teams advance to the same round.  In the above, a run to the Sweet 16 in the 32-team football bracket is worth fewer points than a similar finish in the 64-team volleyball and women's soccer brackets.
 
JHU Now Holds Top Three
Johns Hopkins came within 11 points of setting a Division III Directors' Cup record for points accumulated in the fall with its 471 this year.  Of course, the only two totals that outpaced the 471 were also accumulated by Johns Hopkins.  Hopkins set a record with 481 points in the fall of 2019 after punching up 475 just a year earlier in 2018. For the record, the Directors' Cup debuted in 1995-96 and JHU's three 400+ point fall efforts represent three of just five such occurrences.  While the 481 points accumulated in 2019 stand as the record, there were officially no final standings in 2019-20 after the COVID pandemic shut down all athletic competition in March 2020.
 
Most Directors' Cup Fall Points – Division III History (1995-2021)
Johns Hopkins – 481 (2019-20)
Johns Hopkins – 475 (2018-19)
Johns Hopkins – 471 (2021-22)
Williams – 412 (2004-05)
Washington-St. Louis – 410 (2016-17)
Middlebury (397.5)
Johns Hopkins – 383 (2017-18)
Williams – 376 (2013-14)
Williams – 376 (2002-03)
Washington-St. Louis (372) – 2013-14
 
11th-Best Fall, All Divisions – All-Time
In addition to posting the third-best fall total in Division III Directors' Cup history, the 471 points Johns Hopkins totaled this fall rank as the 11th-highest total among all Divisions of the NCAA and NAIA in Directors' Cup history.  The 471 points JHU accumulated this fall are also the third-most ever by a non-NCAA Division I program; Stanford's 594.5 points in 2019-20 stand as the best ever (Division I standings for 2021-22 will not be announced until January 13, 2022).
 
Most Directors' Cup Fall Points – All Divisions, All-Time (1995-2021)
Stanford (Division I) – 594.5 (2019-20)
Stanford (Division I) – 545 (2014-15)
Stanford (Division I) – 541 (2018-19)
Stanford (Division I) – 523 (2017-18)
Stanford (Division I) – 504.5 (2016-17)
UCLA (Division I) – 497.5 (2014-15)
Michigan (Division I) – 482 (2003-04)
Johns Hopkins (Division III) – 481 (2019-20)
Stanford (Division I) – 479.5 (2015-16)
Johns Hopkins (Division III) – 475 (2018-19)
Johns Hopkins (Division III) – 471 (2021-22)
Stanford (Division I) – 461.25 (2013-14)
Grand Valley State (Division II) – 440 (2005-06)
 
Seven of Nine
The Johns Hopkins women's cross country team claimed its seventh national championship in the last nine years and grabbed 100 Directors' Cup points.
 
Streaking
The Johns Hopkins women's soccer team has qualified for the NCAA Tournament in each of the last 16 years, that's the longest active streak by a Johns Hopkins fall team.
 
Program Best
The Blue Jay field hockey team made its first-ever trip to the national championship game after back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Semifinals in 2018 and 2019.  Head coach Jane Wells' team grabbed 90 Directors' Cup points for its runner-up finish.
 
The Big Picture
There are more than 400 schools competing under the NCAA Division III banner and 177 of those schools scored points in the Directors' Cup standings in the fall.
 
About the the Learfield Directors' Cup
 The Learfield IMG Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today.  Through the course of the year, Directors' Cup points are awarded based on a school's finish in up to 18 sports – nine men and nine women – in NCAA Championships.  New to the scoring structure four years ago in Division III, men's and women's soccer and men's and women's basketball must be included by every school in their scoring total.  Previously, the top nine men's and women's scoring teams could be counted; now, regardless of whether a school's soccer and basketball teams qualify for the NCAAs, they must be counted.
                                                                         
About Learfield
Learfield is a leading media and technology services company in intercollegiate athletics. The company unlocks the value of college sports for brands and fans through an omnichannel platform with innovative content and commerce solutions. LEARFIELD services includes licensing and multimedia sponsorship management; publishing, audio, digital and social media; data analytics; ticketing, ticket sales and professional concessions expertise; branding; campus-wide business and sponsorship development; and venue technology systems. Since 2008, it has served as title sponsor for the acclaimed LEARFIELD Directors' Cup, supporting athletic departments across all divisions.