Pitt Ranks Top 25 in LEARFIELD Directors' Cup

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers had great seasons from their programs in the fall of 2024, which reflected amongst the best schools in the nation.
The LEARFIELD Director's Cup fall standings came out on Jan. 23 and Pitt ranked at No. 24 out of 205 schools across the country, for their performances throughout the fall season, with 181.00 points.
The standings reflect how teams did in the fall sports, which includes men's and women's cross country, football, women's volleyball, men's water polo and women's field hockey
Pitt volleyball earned the most points, garnering 83 points for a third place finish. They had a fantastic 2024 season, finishing 33-2 overall, 19-1 in the ACC, marking their third straight and sixth overall ACC Title in the past eight seasons.
The Panthers also earned the top seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history where they hosted through to the Final Four, which they made it to for the fourth straight season, the only Division I team to do so.
Pitt had both the AVCA National Player of the Year in right side Olivia Babcock and the AVCA National Coach of the Year in Dan Fisher. They also had three more All-Americans, in First Team honorees in outside hitter Torrey Stafford and setter Rachel Fairbanks and Second Team honoree middle blocker Bre Kelley.
Pitt men's soccer had a fifth place finish and earned 73 points. They had a 14-6 record and made it to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth straight season under head coach Jay Vidovich.
The Panthers also won the ACC Regular Season Title for the first time in program history and earned the No. 2 overall seed, allowing them to host through to the College Cup. Vidovich won ACC Coach of the Year and junior Casper Svendby won ACC Defender of the Year.
They made it to the Elite Eight for the fourth time in the past five seasons, but would lose to eventual National Champions Vermont at home in the Elite Eight.
Pitt football also got 25 points, as they saw a four-win improvement from the previous season, where they finished 3-9.
The Panthers started out 7-0 for the first time since 1982, earning them a spot in the initial College Football Playoff Rankings.
Injuries would stall Pitt the rest of the way, as they lost their final six games of the season, including a six-overtime defeat to Toledo in the GameAbove Sports Bowl at Ford Field in Detroit.
The Panthers didn't get any points from the men's and women's cross country teams and also didn't see any from women's soccer, who missed the NCAA Tournament after making it the past two seasons.
Pitt ranked 10th in the ACC, behind North Carolina in No. 1, Stanford in No. 2, Virginia in No. 5, Notre Dame in No. 6, Wake Forest in No. 12, Duke in No. 15, SMU in No. 18, Syracuse in No. 19 and NC State in No. 24.
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