Tigers continue to rise in DI College Directors’ Cup
Towson University finishes highest among Greater Baltimore schools in annual competition between athletic departments
By Towson University Athletics on July 19, 2019
This past season, Towson University Athletics had four teams reach NCAA postseason play. For Tigers’ Athletic Director Tim Leonard, four teams or more should be the standard.
Behind these four postseason berths, the Towson University Athletics Department earned the highest finish among the Greater Baltimore area Division I schools in the 2018-19 Learfield IMG College Directors’ Cup.
The Learfield IMG Directors’ Cup is a program that honors institutions maintaining a broad-based program, achieving success in many sports, both men’s and women’s. Points are tallied in 19 sports, four of which must be baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, and women’s volleyball, then the next highest 15 for each institution.
Points are earned for finishes in the postseason, with determinations given in bracketed, non-bracketed and individual sports.
Towson picked up 114 total points off 2018-19 postseason finishes in four sports: men's swimming & diving (39), women's basketball (25), football (25) and men's lacrosse (25). With these teams’ postseason success, Leonard says this is a good sign TU Athletics is making significant progress.
“Now our goal is that we continue to receive four bids or more to NCAA postseason tournaments, and we want to do this every year,” Leonard says. “”It has to be consistent and get to the point where it’s four sports, five sports, six sports and we’re doing it every year.”
Overall, TU was 138th in the standings out of all Division I schools. The Tigers finished above Loyola (139), UMBC (223), Coppin State (264) and Morgan State (266).
The Tigers also finished second among Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) programs and third among schools in the state of Maryland.
The Towson University Athletic Department has a vision of being Greater Baltimore’s premiere intercollegiate athletics’ program. For Leonard, that statement means a lot of things.
“The first thing we have to do is be the best and most competitive athletic program in this market,” Leonard says. “I feel strongly we’re in a position with the resources we’re providing for our programs that we’re only going to get stronger.”