Dec. 18, 2003

Columbia, Mo. - The Mizzou Athletic Department got some tidings of comfort and joy today as it learned that it had moved up one spot in the United States Sports Academy Directors' Cup (formerly the NACDA Directors' Cup) standings, to 27th place overall. Mizzou moved up one spot, from 28th, from the previous set of standings, and the move leaves MU in its highest-ever place in the history of the Directors' Cup.

The Tiger soccer team accounted for the upward move in the standings, as Brian Blitz and company reached the second round of the 2003 NCAA Tournament, winning the first NCAA game in school history. Their second round appearance netted MU 50 points in the Directors' Cup, and combined with the previous 54 scored by women's cross country (12th place nationally) to give Mizzou a current total of 104 points.

These standings are based upon the completion of women and men's cross country, field hockey and women and men's soccer.

The United States Sports Academy Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. The United States Sports Academy, based in Daphne, Alabama, is in its first year sponsoring the program. Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in up to 20 sports - 10 women's and 10 men's. Each national champion receives 100 points.

Fall sports standings to date follows. Please note, standings published midseason are unofficial standings. Official standings will be published upon the completion of the spring season. Complete standings and the scoring structure can be found on NACDA's web site at www.nacda.com.