Aug 31, 2024; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns athletic director Chris Del Conte and lineman Hayden Conner (77) after defeating the Colorado State Rams at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Meullion-Imagn Images Aaron Meullion-Imagn Images

Texas Longhorns Win Directors' Cup, Narrowly Beating USC Trojans

Originally posted on Texas Longhorns on SI
By Zach Dimmitt | Last updated Jun 15, 2025 12:41 AM ET

The Texas Longhorns athletic department reclaimed its place at the top of college sports Saturday night by winning the 2024-25 NACDA Learfield Directors' Cup, narrowly beating the USC Trojans with a score of 1255.25 to 1253.75 to give UT its fourth Cup win in the last five years.

Texas clinched the Cup after the Texas A&M Aggies tied USC with a total score of 41 at the men's outdoor track and field championships in Eugene, OR. on Saturday night. Had the Trojans won, they would have had enough to pass Texas instead of barely finishing in second.

During the 2024-25 season, the Longhorns won national championships in men's swimming and diving and more recently softball, the latter of which marked the school's first-ever national title in the sport. Additionally, Texas football finished in third along with women's basketball, rowing, women's swimming and diving, and men's tennis.

Since the award was first introduced in the 1993-94 athletic season, the Stanford Cardinal has won the Directors' Cup a record 26 times, which featured 25 consecutive seasons of winning the award until Texas broke the streak in 2020-21.

North Carolina won the first-ever Directors' Cup during the award's inaugural year. Stanford (26), Texas (4) and North Carolina (1) are the only three programs to ever win the Directors' Cup.

Here's a look at the final total score for Texas, USC and Stanford:

Texas wins the 2024-25 Director’s Cup for the best overall NCAA D1 Athletic program. Here are the final scores for the top 3 teams, separated by a total of 4.25 points over all sports this year. https://t.co/BGW3bp6ZNB pic.twitter.com/Bq8JQJu8hl
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) June 15, 2025

It's become clear that Chris Del Conte is one of the best athletic directors in the country, and Saturday's win is just another feather in his cap.

With Texas football finishing one win short of a national championship appearance in back-to-back seasons, the expectation is that Steve Sarkisian will be able to get the Longhorns over the hump in the near future, potentially as soon as the 2025 campaign.

Though Stanford remains one of the top programs in the country, evident by its 31 straight top three finishes, Texas will be the athletic department to beat until further notice.

This article first appeared on Texas Longhorns on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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