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Director's Cup final standings: Where Alabama's Group of 6 programs finished
Jacksonville State set a program record. Troy made the biggest jump in the state. The five-year trends tell the story.
Tim Stephens
The LEARFIELD Directors' Cup final standings dropped Thursday. Two of Alabama's four Group of 6 programs posted career years. Two are still searching.
Jacksonville State: 95th nationally, 220 points (program record)
The Gamecocks set a program record for points and cracked the top 100 for only the second time in school history. The previous record was 202 points and a top-100 finish in 2013-14.
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Sign Up FreeThree Conference USA championships drove the score — baseball, softball and bowling. The bowling program won its second NCAA National Championship in three years. The football team went 9-5 and won the IS4S Salute to Veteran's Bowl.
In Conference USA, only Liberty (87th, 245.50 points) finished ahead of Jacksonville State. The Gamecocks doubled third-place Louisiana Tech (153rd, 110.00 points).
Among FBS institutions nationally, Jacksonville State ranked 77th. Among in-state schools, the Gamecocks trailed only Alabama and Auburn for the second consecutive year.
The five-year trajectory:
- 2021-22: 266th
- 2022-23: Unranked
- 2023-24: 123rd
- 2024-25: 141st
- 2025-26: 95th (record)
Troy: 130th nationally, 128 points
Troy climbed from 197th to 130th in one year — the largest jump among Alabama's Group of 6 programs.
The baseball team reached the College World Series and finished as high as sixth in the final national polls, a program best. The men's basketball team won the Sun Belt championship. The women's basketball team reached the Sun Belt championship game. The football team reached the Sun Belt championship game.
In the Sun Belt, Troy finished fourth behind Texas State (93rd), Arkansas State (96th) and James Madison (127th). The Trojans finished ahead of Appalachian State (201st), Louisiana (188th), Southern Miss (133rd) and Old Dominion (140th).
The five-year trajectory:
- 2021-22: Unranked
- 2022-23: 177th
- 2023-24: 262nd
- 2024-25: 197th
- 2025-26: 130th
South Alabama: 265th nationally, 25 points
South Alabama scored 25 points. The Jaguars peaked at 112th in 2023-24, when a softball regional win and a bowl title produced 163 points. The program has not sustained that postseason depth.
The five-year trajectory:
- 2021-22: 162nd
- 2022-23: 157th
- 2023-24: 112th
- 2024-25: 186th
- 2025-26: 265th
UAB: Unranked
UAB did not score a point in the Directors' Cup for the second consecutive year.
The five-year trajectory:
- 2021-22: 196th
- 2022-23: 243rd
- 2023-24: 262nd
- 2024-25: Unranked
- 2025-26: Unranked
What the Directors' Cup measures
The Directors' Cup awards points based on NCAA postseason finishes across 19 sports. Five are mandatory — men's and women's basketball, baseball, women's soccer and women's volleyball. The next 14 highest-scoring sports are counted for each institution. Schools that don't advance teams or individuals through NCAA championship brackets don't score.
Texas won the 2025-26 Directors' Cup with 1,322 points. Stanford finished second at 1,263.50. UCLA finished third at 1,199.25.
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Tim Stephens
Founder & CEO
Tim Stephens has spent nearly 40 years at the intersection of sports and technology — from small-town newspapers to leading day-to-day newsroom strategy for CBSSports.com. He founded Diehard Sports Network to cover the programs the industry forgot.
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