Syracuse Orange Athletics Clinches Best Directors' Cup Finish in School History

This has been a great year for Syracuse Orange sports, and it was punctuated Tuesday by the release of the (basically) final standings of the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup. Baseball is the last sport to be accounted for, with the College World Series starting this weekend.

Syracuse ranks 19th in the latest standings, good for the best finish in school history. The Orange accumulated 853 points, a representation of the success of SU teams in the post-season, highlighted by the six Final Four finishes in various sports.

The program's previous best finish was 39th in 2013. Even after baseball is included in the final tally, Syracuse cannot mathematically drop below 38th, so this year will be the best finish regardless of baseball standings. 'Cuse finished fourth in the ACC behind North Carolina, Virginia, and Notre Dame.

Given that Syracuse is currently seeking a new athletic director, this year's success comes at an important transition period for the athletic department. It can certainly be an attractive feature to a candidate, but also puts pressure on them to try and replicate the success and carry it on over the future. And while Mark Coyle may attempt to hang his hat on Syracuse's record-breaking season, the wheels were really put in motion by Doc Gross' emphasis on non-revenue sports, and that emphasis finally paid off after he left.

The entire June standings can be found here. The final standings, with baseball included, will be released on July 1.