The Capital One Cup is a multi-sport award given to a school to acknowledge athletic success across all sports. Several sports programs from higher-education institutions across the United States are pitted against each other, acquiring points throughout the school year based on how individual sports teams finish in national championships. Sports are divided into two groups based on popularity and pool of competition, with Group B scoring three times the number of points of Group A. There are separate cups for men's and women's sports. The winning school for both men and women receives $200,000 to their student athlete scholarship fund.[1] Stanford University and the University of Florida are tied for the most titles in the men's competition with 3. Stanford University has won the most titles in the women's competition with seven. Stanford, along with the University of Florida, are the only two schools to win a Capital One Cup in both the men's and women's divisions.

Capital One Cup
LeagueNCAA Division I
Awarded forAwarded annually to each of the best men's and women's Division I college athletics programs in the country
History
Most winsMen: Stanford Cardinal, Florida Gators, Notre Dame Fighting Irish (3)
Women: Stanford Cardinal (7)
Most recentMen: Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Women: Texas Longhorns

Scoring system

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Unlike the NACDA Directors' Cup which scores each sport equally, the Capital One Cup employs a two-tiered scoring system in which higher profile sports ("Group B") are valued more highly than others ("Group A"). Schools' performances in the Group B sports earn three times as many points as those in Group A. This valuing of certain high-profile sports over smaller, less popular sports has drawn criticism from college sports administrators.[2] In its history, the Capital One Cup has revised its scoring structure on several occasions to adjust such factors as the number of tiers, the inclusion/exclusion of certain sports, and the tier designation of the included sports. With the last revision (2020–21), only 10 sports were given the high-value "Group B" designation.[3]

The current Capital One Cup scoring structure:

Finish 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Group A: 20 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1
Group B: 60 36 30 24 18 15 12 9 6 3
Group A Sports Group B Sports
Bowling (W) Baseball (M)
Cross Country (M/W) Basketball (M/W)
Field Hockey (W) Beach Volleyball (W)
Fencing (M/W) Football (M)
Golf (M/W) Gymnastics (M/W)
Ice Hockey (M/W) Lacrosse (M/W)
Indoor Track and Field (M/W) Soccer (M/W)
Outdoor Track and Field (M/W) Softball (W)
Rifle (M/W) Wrestling (M)
Rowing (M/W) Volleyball (W)
Skiing (M/W)
Swimming and Diving (M/W)
Tennis (M/W)
Volleyball (M)
Water Polo (M/W)

Champions

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School Year Men's Champion Women's Champion
2010–11[4] Florida Gators Stanford Cardinal
2011–12[5] Florida Gators Stanford Cardinal
2012–13[6] UCLA Bruins North Carolina Tar Heels
2013–14[7] Notre Dame Fighting Irish Florida Gators
2014–15[8] Virginia Cavaliers Stanford Cardinal
2015–16[9] Stanford Cardinal USC Trojans
2016–17[10] Ohio State Buckeyes Stanford Cardinal
2017–18[11] Stanford Cardinal Stanford Cardinal
2018–19[12] Virginia Cavaliers Stanford Cardinal
2019–20 Not awarded due to COVID-19 pandemic.
2020–21[13] Stanford Cardinal Stanford Cardinal
2021–22 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Texas Longhorns
2022–23[14] Florida Gators Texas Longhorns
2023–24 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Texas Longhorns

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Capital One Cup". Capital One Cup. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  2. ^ "Cup's scoring irks college sports execs". www.sportsbusinessjournal.com. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  3. ^ "2020-21 Scoring Structure" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on July 6, 2021.
  4. ^ "Download 2010–2011 Full Standings" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 11, 2017. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  5. ^ "Download 2011–2012 Full Standings" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 11, 2017. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  6. ^ "Download 2012–2013 Full Standings" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 11, 2017. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  7. ^ "Download 2013–2014 Full Standings" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 11, 2017. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  8. ^ "Download 2014–2015 Full Standings" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 11, 2017. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  9. ^ "Download 2015-2016 Full Standings" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 7, 2017. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  10. ^ "Download 2016-2017 Full Standings" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 7, 2017. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  11. ^ "Stanford wraps up 25th Directors' Cup, plus Capital One Cup for men, women".
  12. ^ "COMPLETE CAPITAL ONE CUP STANDINGS 2018-2019" (PDF).
  13. ^ "2021 Standings" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on June 3, 2021.
  14. ^ "COMPLETE CAPITAL ONE CUP STANDINGS 2022-2023" (PDF).
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