USC finishes ahead of Clemson in rankings for best sports programs
South Carolina finished at No. 31 nationally in the Learfield Director’s Cup Standings for the 2015-16 academic year, ahead of Clemson, which finished No. 42.
The Learfield Directors Cup takes into account final national rankings and NCAA Tournament appearances and finishes in computing its rankings. The Director’s Cup allows scoring for 20 sports -- 10 men and 10 women.
South Carolina had 680 points, well ahead of Clemson’s 504 points for the year.
The Gamecocks scored 75.00 points in the fall, 225.50 in the winter and 379.50 in the spring. The spring score was helped by strong national finishes by the men’s and women’s golf teams.
Clemson had 230 points for fall, 58.50 for winter and 215.50 for the spring. The Clemson football and men’s soccer programs each reached championship games, a first for the Tigers program in the same fall semester.
USC ranked seventh in the SEC, while Clemson was 11th in the ACC. Florida (No. 5) was best in the SEC and North Carolina (No. 7) was tops in the ACC.
Stanford, Ohio State, Michigan and Southern Cal were the top programs.
Directors Cup rankings
Where SEC and ACC schools finished nationally:
SEC
5. Florida
12. Texas A&M
15. Georgia
19. LSU
23. Arkansas
26. Kentucky
31. South Carolina
34. Tennessee
35. Auburn
36. Alabama
43. Missouri
44. Miss. State
49. Ole Miss
58. Vanderbilt
ACC
7. North Carolina
8. Virginia
17. Notre Dame
21. Syracuse
22. Florida State
24. Duke
29. Louisville
32. N.C. State
38. Virginia Tech
40. Miami
42. Clemson
48. Boston College
68. Wake Forest
80. Georgia Tech
110. Pittsburgh
This story was originally published July 6, 2016 at 1:17 PM with the headline "USC finishes ahead of Clemson in rankings for best sports programs."