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Phil Harrison

Ohio State has a sizeable lead in the Director’s Cup standings nationally, where are the rest of the Big Ten programs?

If you haven’t followed along all of these years, there’s a little friendly competition between college athletic programs known as the “Director’s Cup. It all started in 1993 and the premise is that an athletic program that does the best across some of the most popular sports wins the cup. The scoring system is somewhat complicated, and we won’t get too deep into it here, but you can read all about it if you so desire.

Basically, by winning the Director’s Cup, you can claim to have the best athletic program for a calendar year. Ohio State has never won it, but has come close many times and is routinely inside the top ten in the overall standings.

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However, this year, the Buckeye athletic program is looking to make history and is currently in first place by a wide margin after all the winter sports have been scored. It’s not a done deal that OSU will finish in the No. 1 spot because it’ll have competition from Texas and almost perennial winner Stanford, but there’s a good chance that Ohio State can take home the prize for the first time ever. Currently, the standings of the top five look like this:

  1. Ohio State – 858.00
  2. Texas – 758.75
  3. Stanford – 754.50
  4. North Carolina – 686.50
  5. Alabama – 634.25

The winner will almost assuredly come between the top three, but it’ll really depend on some likely unexpected results to sort it all out. We’ll keep in touch with it all and keep you posted.

However, in the meantime, we thought we’d take a look at where all the Big Ten athletic programs stack up when it comes to total domination across all sports. Obviously, Ohio State is No. 1 in the conference based on this, but where do the other teams fall? Here’s a look at where each team is ranked by conference and where they are based on the national ranking as well. We go from worst to first.

14
Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Mar 6, 2022; Piscataway, New Jersey, USA; The Rutgers Scarlet Knights mascot performs during the second half of the game between the Scarlet Knights and the Penn State Nittany Lions at Jersey Mike’s Arena. Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Scoring and national ranking

Total Score | 89.50
National Rank | No. 129

13
Illinois Fighting Illini

Dec. 30, 2019; Santa Clara, California, USA; General view of the Illinois Fighting Illini helmet during the second quarter against California Golden Bears at Levi’s Stadium. Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

Scoring and national ranking

Total Score | 173.00
National Rank | No. 74

12
Purdue Boilermakers

The Purdue mascot waves to the Stead Family Children’s Hospital at the conclusion of the first quarter against Iowa on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019, at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. Credit: USA TODAY Sports

Scoring and national ranking

Total Score | 238.50
National Rank | No. 56

11
Michigan State Spartans

Oct 1, 2022; College Park, Maryland, USA; Michigan State Spartans mascot during the second half against the Maryland Terrapins at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium. Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Scoring and national ranking

Total Score | 268.00
National Rank | No. 51

10
Nebraska Cornhuskers

Dec 30, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; The Nebraska Cornhuskers mascot and cheerleaders perform during a pep rally prior to the game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Nissan Stadium. Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Scoring and national ranking

Total Score | 329.75
National Rank | No. 41

9
Maryland Terrapins

Sep 30, 2017; Minneapolis, MN, USA; A general view of Maryland Terrapins helmets during pre-game before a game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium. Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Scoring and national ranking

Total Score | 338.50
National Rank | No. 39

8
Iowa Hawkeyes

Dec 27, 2019; San Diego, California, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes mascot Herky the Hawk gestures in the first half against the Southern California Trojans during the Holiday Bowl at SDCCU Stadium. Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Scoring and national ranking

Total Score | 349.50
National Rank | No. 35

7
Northwestern Wildcats

Mar 1, 2018; New York, NY, USA; The Northwestern Wildcats mascot dances during a time out against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the second half of a second-round game of the 2018 Big Ten Tournament at Madison Square Garden. Credit: Nicole Sweet-USA TODAY Sports

Scoring and national ranking

Total Score | 396.50
National Rank | No. 29

6
Indiana Hoosiers

Sep 5, 2015; Bloomington, IN, USA; A Indiana Hoosiers helmet sits on the ground while the players warm up before the game at Memorial Stadium. Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports

Scoring and national ranking

Total Score | 407.50
National Rank | No. 26

5
Minnesota Golden Gophers

Sep 8, 2018; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers mascot Goldy pumps up the crowd right before kickoff against Fresno State Bulldogs at TCF Bank Stadium. Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Scoring and national ranking

Total Score | 443.50
National Rank | No. 23

4
Michigan Wolverines

Nov 26, 2022; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Michigan Wolverines cheerleader celebrates a touchdown by wide receiver Cornelius Johnson (6) during the first half of the NCAA football game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium. Credit: Adam Cairns-The Columbus DispatchNcaa Football Michigan Wolverines At Ohio State Buckeyes

Scoring and national ranking

Total Score | 497.50
National Rank | No. 19

3
Penn State Nittany Lions

Feb 7, 2018; University Park, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions mascot and cheerleaders dance on the court during a stoppage in play against the Maryland Terrapins at Bryce Jordan Center. Credit: Eric Firestine-USA TODAY Sports

Scoring and national ranking

Total Score | 624.50
National Rank | No. 7

 

2
Wisconsin Badgers

Bucky Badger does 65 pushups in front of the crowd during the University of Wisconsin 68-17 football game win over Bowling Green at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin, Saturday, September 20, 2014. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel photo by Rick Wood/RWOOD@JOURNALSENTINEL.COM

Scoring and national ranking

Total Score | 624.75
National Rank | No. 6

 

1
Ohio State Buckeyes

March 27, 2023; Seattle, Washington; Brutus Buckeye gestures during the third quarter between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Ohio State Buckeyes at Climate Pledge Arena. Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Scoring and national ranking

Total Score | 858.00
National Rank | No. 1

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Michael Chen on Twitter.

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