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Commodores Have “Top 20” Program 7/9/2003
Commodores Have “Top 20” Program Vanderbilt’s Department of Athletics finished the 2002-03 year in the top twentieth percentile of all Division I institutions in the country, according to the final standings of the NACDA Cup, which measures all-sports success in NCAA post-season competition. Vanderbilt officially finished the recently completed year in 54th place out of the 265 institutions competing in Division I athletics. It is the University’s best finish since the Cup points have been tabulated. Six Commodore teams combined to score a total of 351.75 points, based on their finishes in NCAA Tournament action. The NACDA Cup is calculated on the basis of a school’s NCAA performance in 20 sports and Vanderbilt offers just 14 of those of those sports. When using an equal comparison of those programs, Vanderbilt’s athletic program shows even more muscle. For example, Vanderbilt officially placed 12th out of 28 leading private institutions. Using an apples-to-apples comparison of only the 14 sports, Vanderbilt would shoot up to a fifth place finish among major private schools. In the highly competitive Southeastern Conference, the Commodores officially placed 10th, just behind Kentucky in 50th position and ahead of Mississippi State and Ole Miss. However, comparing only the Commodore-sponsored programs, Vanderbilt jumped ahead of LSU, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Alabama and Ole Miss for a seventh place standing in the SEC. The NACDA Cup (formerly called the Sears Cup) allots points based on NCAA Tournament finish. A team national champion, for instance, earns 100 points while the runner-up gains 90 and the rest of the NCAA team qualifiers earn an appropriate number of points based on how far they advance in the competition. Vanderbilt scored points in six sports — men’s tennis, women’s tennis, men’s golf, women’s golf, women’s track and field and women’s basketball. Just four years ago, Vanderbilt scored just 70 points and placed 107th nationally but has had a steady climb in points and rankings. In 2000-01, the Commodores combined for 237 points and a 68th place finish. A year ago, Vanderbilt was in 64th place with 226 Cup points. Stanford won the competition for the ninth consecutive year. Florida, in seventh place, was the SEC’s highest finisher. Adjusted SEC NACDA Cuo Standings NACDA Cup adjusted point totals if using only Vanderbilt’s sponsored programs. (The NACDA Cup considers track and field as one sport instead of splitting indoor and outdoor track )
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