For the first time in school history, NC State has had 11 (and counting) athletic programs finish inside the top 25 in their respective sports.
NC State’s wrestling (4), men’s swimming and diving (4), women’s cross country (8), rifle (11), men’s cross country (17), women’s swimming and diving (18), women’s gymnastics (20), women’s basketball (21), women’s soccer (21), football (23) and men’s golf (24) teams all finished their seasons nationally ranked inside the Top 25.
The NC State baseball team has an excellent opportunity to add to the current school record, as the Pack is ranked in the top 15 and is hosting an NCAA Regional, all but assuring itself of a finish inside the Top 25.
If the baseball team finishes inside the Top 25, which it almost assuredly would even with a subpar performance in the regional, the Pack will have had 12 of its 22 athletic programs finish their seasons as a nationally ranked team, good for over half the school’s programs.
NC State achieved something this year that only three other schools in the entire country did. The Pack won a bowl game during football season, reached the NCAA tournament in men’s basketball and hosted a regional in baseball.
The Pack’s all-around excellence in its sports for the 2017-18 academic year has been on display in the Learfield Director’s Cup standings. The Director’s Cup, as it is more commonly referred to as, awards schools for excellence in all athletic programs, therefore gauging the all-around performance of every school’s programs.
NC State currently sits at No. 7 in the Director’s Cup standings, ahead of every single ACC school and behind only teams from the Pac 12 and Big Ten. With a good showing in the NCAA Tournament in baseball, the Pack has an excellent chance of finishing inside the Top 10 and remaining ahead of the rest of the ACC.
With just a small handful of sports finishing up their seasons, NC State has guaranteed itself a program-record finish in the Director’s Cup. The Pack’s current record finish is No. 27, which it earned in the 2014-15 academic year.
For a school with a reputation as the “little brother” to rivals UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke, NC State is once again proving that its athletic programs are consistently the cream of the crop.
