Tennessee earns its best finish in Directors' Cup

Tennessee athletics claimed its best-ever finish in the Directors' Cup standings for the 2022-23 calendar year.

The Vols locked in a No. 6 finish in the standings released Wednesday, recording a total of 1,078.75 points. At least 25 points were scored by 19 Tennessee teams, pushing the Vols to the second-highest finish among SEC schools.

The SEC leads all Division I conferences with eight schools finishing in the top 25. Florida is the only SEC school to finish ahead of Tennessee at No. 5. Georgia placed seventh, LSU ninth, Alabama 12th, Arkansas 13th, Kentucky 18th and Texas A&M finished 24th.

Softball led all Tennessee teams with 83 points after its historic season. The Lady Vols swept the SEC titles for the first time in program history and made a run to the Women's College World Series semifinal.

The last time Tennessee posted a top-10 finish in the Directors' Cup was the 2006-07 school year when it ranked No. 7, which was the previous best finish. Tennessee has finished in the top 15 for three straight years.

"Competitive excellence is a major priority inRise Glorious, our comprehensive five-year strategic plan, and to record our best LEARFIELD Directors' Cup finish ever is an incredible achievement," White said in a school release. "It's important to us to cultivate a championship culture across all 20 of our sports, and this finish is a prime example of that. Congratulations to our student-athletes, coaches and staff on this record finish. Buckle up Vol Nation, we're just getting started, and it's going to be one heck of a ride!"

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Tennessee was sitting at No. 10 when the last rankings was posted on June 13. Tennessee baseball's run to the College World Series brought its total to 78 points – which is the second-highest behind softball – jumping the Vols ahead of Michigan, Southern California, North Carolina and Georgia in the final standings.

Tennessee football contributed the third-highest point total with 73.5 points.

Tennessee also won the SEC All-Sports title, presented by USA Today Network. The Vols and Lady Vols finished first in both the men's and women's standings for the first time.

Athletic director Danny White earned a $184,400 bonus for the top-10 finish.