UNC Finishes 5th in Learfield Sports Directors' Cup

After finishing out of the top ten last season when UNC failed to win a title conference or national, the Tar Heel athletic program has rebounded for a 5th place finish in the 2014-15 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup.

The full standings can be found here.

UNC reached as high as second in the standings as of June 11th but after the track and field results were factored in UNC dropped to fourth. With the addition of the points from baseball, Florida moved ahead of UNC to drop the Tar Heels into fifth. It should be noted UNC managed to finish 5th despite the baseball team bringing in zero points thanks to the Tar Heels missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2001.

UNC's fifth place finish is an ACC best with Virginia and its league first three NCAA titles in one season just behind the Heels in 6th. Virginia also ended the ACC's 60 year drought in the College World Series winning the title on Wednesday night with a 4-2 over Vanderbilt.

After UNC and Virginia it was Notre Dame in 10th, FSU 11th, Duke 20th, NC State 27th, Louisville 29th, Virginia Tech 35th, Syracuse 47th, Miami 55th, Clemson 57th, Boston College 68th, Georgia Tech 72nd, Wake Forest 90th and Pitt 96th.

Following last season's dip in these rankings, the Tar Heels bounced back across the board. UNC won ACC titles in women's cross country and volleyball. In the NCAA Tournament UNC finished 2nd in women's lacrosse, lost in the national semifinals in field hockey and made the final eight in men's lacrosse, men's and women's tennis, women's volleyball and men's soccer.

As far as team success goes, this was a good year for UNC athletics though it would be nice to see the national title counter go up with so many teams in contending positions. After a down year, this was a step in the right direction.