VILLANOVA, Pa. - Updated standings for the Learfield Directors' Cup were released this week following the conclusion of the men's and women's basketball seasons. Fresh off winning its second NCAA men's basketball title in the last three seasons, and coming off strong NCAA performances by the women's basketball and indoor track & field teams, Villanova surged to No. 42 in the latest rankings. During the fall sports season, the Wildcats earned Directors' Cup points for a 12th place finish by women's cross country at the NCAA Championships. Villanova's current No. 42 ranking is the highest it has been at this point in the academic year since 2010.

The Learfield Directors' Cup measures an athletic program's across-the-board success based on teams qualifying for national postseason play. In the updated standings released this week, Villanova has a total of 305 points to top all BIG EAST programs and rank second among all non-FBS football schools. The women's basketball advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and both the men's and women's indoor track & field teams tallied first team All-America performances during the winter sports season.

Highlighting the 2017-18 academic year thus far is the Wildcats team's run to its third men's basketball national championship, culminating with a 79-62 victory over Michigan in the title game last week. Villanova won all six of its NCAA Tournament games by 12 or more points and finished with a school record 36 victories on the year. Along the way, the Wildcats also won their second straight BIG EAST title and set the NCAA Division I record for three-pointers in a season.

The women's basketball won 23 games during one of its strongest seasons over the last several years. Villanova went 12-6 in BIG EAST regular season play and went on to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. As the #9 seed in the Spokane Region, the Wildcats tallied an 81-74 overtime victory over #8 seed South Dakota State in the first round before falling to eventual national champion Notre Dame in the second round.

Villanova also had a terrific indoor track & field season, with both the men's and women's teams capturing BIG EAST titles. The men's distance medley relay squad and women's middle distance runner Siofra Cleirigh Buttner were NCAA qualifiers, and Cleirigh Buttner raced to a runner-up finish in the 800 meters at the national championships. The distance medley relay squad of fifth-year senior Ben Malone, freshman Brian Faust, junior Harry Purcell and sophomore Casey Comber finished in eighth place.