MCLEAN, Va., June 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The
ACC's new kids on the block have just earned one of the highest
honors in college sports – the 2013-2014 Capital One Cup. The
men's athletics program at the University
of Notre Dame finished first in the final Capital One
Cup men's standings, claiming their first Capital One Cup title and
$200,000 toward student-athlete
scholarships. The Capital One Cup trophy, which is awarded to
the best men's and women's Division I athletics programs in the
country, will be formally presented to Notre
Dame during the ESPY Awards ceremony in
Los Angeles on July 16.
Notre Dame first claimed the top
spot on the leader board after winning its national championship in
Soccer and delivering a strong top-10 finish in Fencing this
winter. The Fighting Irish then moved
up to the No. 1 spot again following its second-place finish
in Lacrosse this spring, proving
that every sport counts in the race toward the Capital One
Cup. After falling short of Baseball regionals, Notre Dame's run at the top of the standings was in
jeopardy – a win by the University of
Virginia in the NCAA® Men's College World
Series® could have bumped the Irish from the No. 1 spot,
but with Vanderbilt winning the
baseball national championship in a very close series, Notre Dame secured its first-ever Capital One Cup
trophy with a total of 98.5 points.
Once again, the race for the Capital One Cup came down to the
wire underscoring the importance of every sport. Throughout the
season, the competition remained tough with only two leaders ever
surging to the top: Florida State and
Notre Dame, with the Irish ultimately
taking home bragging rights. National championships in both Indoor
and Outdoor Track and Field ensured that Oregon finished second, 6-½ points off the
pace of Notre Dame, while Florida's top-10 finishes in Basketball,
Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field and Swimming guaranteed a
third place finish in the standings. Rounding out the top-10 were
Virginia (4), Florida State (T-5), USC (T-5), Connecticut (7), Duke (8), and Maryland, North Dakota
State and Vanderbilt all
tied for 9th.
"I am so proud to see our coaches and student-athletes reach
such a milestone, and to earn the Capital One Cup for the
first-time ever is a great accomplishment," said Jack Swarbrick, Vice President & Director of
Athletics.
Below are the official Capital One Cup men's final standings for
the 2013 – 2014 season, with the top-10 point earners in men's
Division I athletics listed.
Men's Capital One Cup
Final Standings
|
Rank
|
School
|
Points
|
1.
|
Notre Dame
|
98.5
|
2.
|
Oregon
|
92.0
|
3.
|
Florida
|
86.0
|
4.
|
Virginia
|
77.0
|
5.
|
Florida
State
|
68.0
|
5.
|
USC
|
68.0
|
7.
|
Connecticut
|
66.0
|
8.
|
Duke
|
60.5
|
9.
|
Maryland
|
60.0
|
9.
|
North Dakota
State
|
60.0
|
9.
|
Vanderbilt
|
60.0
|
"I can't stress it enough – every sport counts in the race
toward the Capital One Cup," said Barry
Larkin, Capital One Cup Advisory Board member, World Series
champion, 12-time MLB All-Star and former University of
Michigan student-athlete.
"Notre Dame is a prime example of that.
They climbed to the top of the standings early with their
championship in Soccer and kept the momentum going by reaching the
National Championship game in Lacrosse and finishing well in Fencing."
"Congratulations to the University of Notre
Dame men's athletics program on winning this year's Capital
One Cup," said Marc Mentry, Senior
Vice President at Capital One. "It takes a lot of grit to remain at
or close to the top of the standings throughout the entire season
and the Fighting Irish showed their
resilience all year long. We're looking forward to honoring
Notre Dame at the ESPY Awards next
month."
Highlights from the Capital One Cup during the 2013-2014
athletics season include:
- Notre Dame put the ball in the net
twice against powerhouse Maryland
to claim its first National Championship in soccer with a score of
2-1
- Connecticut captured its
fourth Men's Basketball National Championship becoming the first 7
seed to win the title
- Vanderbilt won its first
College World Series baseball title in a dramatic series over
Virginia
- Duke claimed its third
NCAA® DI Men's Lacrosse
title since 2010
- Southern California captured
the university's 100th NCAA® championship
beating Oklahoma for the program's
21st win in tennis
- Alabama won its second
consecutive NCAA® golf title, defeating Oklahoma State 4-1
- Oregon Ducks won the Men's Outdoor Track & Field
Championship with a team score of 88 points giving the track team
their first NCAA® title since 1984
- Combined, 105 schools earned points in the Capital One Cup
men's standings
Schools earn points based on their teams' top-10 finishes in
NCAA Division I championships and in final official coaches' polls
across 19 men's and 20 women's sports as they compete to win the
Capital One Cup trophy and a combined $400,000 in scholarships for student-athletes.
The University of Florida athletic
program captured this year's Capital One Cup for the women.
In addition to Barry Larkin,
other Capital One Cup Advisory Board members include Rece Davis, Jennie
Finch, Doug Flutie,
Clark Kellogg, Brandi Chastain and Lisa
Leslie.
To view the complete men's and women's final standings, please
visit www.CapitalOneCup.com. Fans can join in on the conversation
at Facebook.com/CapitalOneCup and Twitter.com/CapitalOneCup.
About Capital One
Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a
financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital
One, N.A., and Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., had $208.3
billion in deposits and $290.5
billion in total assets as of March
31, 2014. Headquartered in McLean,
Virginia, Capital One offers a broad spectrum of financial
products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial
clients through a variety of channels. Capital One, N.A. has
approximately 900 branch locations primarily in New York, New
Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. A
Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock
Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 100
index.
Capital One, an NCAA Corporate Champion, began its affiliation
with college sports with the sponsorship of the 2001 Capital One
Florida Citrus Bowl (now the Capital One Bowl) and ESPN's Capital
One Bowl Week. In addition, Capital One sponsors the ABC College
Football Halftime Report, Capital One All-America Mascot team,
Capital One Academic All-America Program, and supports all 89 NCAA
Championships including the Division I Men's and Women's Basketball
Championships, and numerous other collegiate athletics
programs.
NCAA and CWS are trademarks owned or licensed by the National
Collegiate Athletic Association. All other licenses or
trademarks are property of their respective holders.
Contact:
|
Chris O'Neill,
804-284-5443
|
|
Chris.ONeill@capitalone.com
|
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SOURCE Capital One Financial Corporation