CLEVELAND—Villanova ranked as the top BIG EAST institution for across-the-board success in athletic competition during the 2021-22 seasons of competition. The final standings for the LEARFIELD Directors' Cup were revealed on Thursday afternoon and the Wildcats came in with an impressive No. 54 ranking, the best finish for Villanova Athletics in the Division I LEARFIELD standings since 2010-11 and the 11th top-60 national ranking over the last 26 years. There were several benchmarks this year which make the No. 54 overall finish stand out even more, as noted below.
- No. 54 overall finish is the best for Villanova Athletics since 2010-11
- Villanova was the top BIG EAST institution in this year's final standings
- Villanova ranked No. 3 among non-FBS schools in the final standings
- 10 teams scored national postseason points for the Wildcats – a new program-high
- One of two FCS schools to score points in football, men's basketball, women's basketball
Villanova had multiple teams advance to national postseason competition during each of the fall, winter and spring sports seasons and scored a total of 470.5 points in this year's LEARFIELD standings. The points came from four fall sports (women's cross country, men's cross country, football, men's soccer); three winter sports (women's basketball, men's basketball, women's indoor track & field); and three spring sports (softball, women's outdoor track & field, men's outdoor track & field). Prior to this year, the Wildcats had nine teams score points in the Directors' Cup standings on five different occasions.
This is the first time since 2017-18 that Villanova has been the top-ranked BIG EAST school in the Directors' Cup, while the No. 3 ranking among non-FBS schools is the best since 2010-11. Strength in numbers was the difference maker for the Wildcats over the past year, as five of the 10 teams to earn points in the final standings tallied top-20 national finishes. The men's basketball team reached the Final Four for the fourth time since 2009 and tied for third nationally in the standings, while the CAA champion football team advanced to the FCS quarterfinals and tied for fifth place in Directors' Cup points. Villanova was one of just two FCS schools to earn postseason points this year in football, women's basketball and men's basketball.
The other top-20 teams for the Wildcats were men's soccer (tie-17th), women's basketball (tie-19th) and women's outdoor track & field (tie-20th). The men's soccer and women's basketball teams each advanced to the second round of their respective NCAA tournaments, with men's soccer defeating Vermont for the first NCAA win in program history. Women's outdoor track & field was the last squad standing for Villanova this year and had two student-athletes tally top-four individual finishes at the NCAA Championships last month.
The LEARFIELD Directors' Cup was originally developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. The program honors institutions for maintaining a broad-based program and for achieving success in up to 20 sports – including 10 women's sports and 10 men's sports – which conduct an NCAA Championship during their competition seasons. The program began in 1993-94 for Division I and was expanded in 1995-96 to include Division II, III and the NAIA.
In addition to its success at the national level this year, Villanova won conference titles in football, women's swimming & diving, men's basketball and softball.
Villanova Athletics – 2021-22 Accomplishments
Conference Champions
Football
Women's Swimming & Diving
Men's Basketball
Softball
NCAA Tournament Team Appearances
Women's Cross Country
Football
Men's Soccer
Women's Basketball
Men's Basketball
Softball
NCAA Tournament Individual Appearances
Men's Cross Country
Women's Swimming & Diving
Women's Indoor Track & Field
Men's Indoor Track & Field
Women's Outdoor Track & Field
Men's Outdoor Track & Field
