At the end of the day, only one thing matters. You can win lots of regular season games. You can win lots of conference titles. You can even win tons of National Championships. But if you aren't bringing DOCTOR Gross his delicious, delicious National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup points, you might as well just up and quit.
And when it comes to NACDA points, Syracuse's field hockey, lacrosse and cross country teams will be sitting at the head of the table at this year's imaginary team banquet I just made up.
Right now, Syracuse currently sits in 52nd overall in the NACDA Standings with 323.00 points. Last year, the Orange ranked 57th out of 283 universities in the final standings with a school-record 368.5 points. I'm not 100% sure if Syracuse has any more chances to score points (Softball perhaps?). If that's their final spot, it'll be the 2nd-best finish in school history.
Syracuse was tied for 16th nationally with 213 points after the Fall season. Winter and Spring unfortunately couldn't keep up.
So who scored all of these wonderful points?
Field Hockey - Scored 60 points for advancing to the second round of the NCAA Championship and winning the Big East Conference.
Men's Cross Country -Scored 60 points for finishing 14th at the National Championship meet and winning the Big East crown. Ended the year ranked 10th in the nation.
Men's Lacrosse - Scored 60 points after compiling a 15-2 overall record, advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals, winning its second straight Big East title and defeated nine ranked opponents.
Men's Basketball -Scored 50 points after it posted its 41st straight winning season, the longest active Division I streak. Tons of wins, an NCAA Tournament berth and a high ranking in the Big East...same old, same old.
Women's Cross Country - Scored 48 points when they finished 10th at the NCAA Championship. They finished the season ranked 11th nationally by the USTFCCCA.
Football - Scored 45 points for going 8-5 and winning the inaugural New Era Pinstripe Bowl.
I would imagine Syracuse's softball team will get the Orange a few more points and then we'll see if SU can inch up into the 40's for its best finish ever. Drinks on DOC Gross if that happens...