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VT, the Commissioner's Trophy, and the Directors' Cup
by Kevin Cuddihy, 7/25/03
Much has also been made about the disparity between that Directors' Cup finish and the Hokies' finish in the Big East's Commissioner's Trophy competition, as Virginia Tech finished third overall in the race for the Trophy, and in second place on the men's side behind perennial winner Notre Dame (with their fifty kajillion dollar budget). How can one team finish so well in a conference, yet so poorly in the NCAA? I aim to discuss the differences between the two competitions, look back at how the Hokies have fared in both competitions over the past decade, and see what that might foretell for Tech's chances in the powerful ACC.
How it Works
Let's start first with the Directors' Cup. In essence, a team gets points in the Directors' Cup standings for each varsity sport in which they go to postseason play. If a sport has no postseason tournament, such as football, the final rankings are used. The national champion receives 100 points, and the points are prorated down the scale for all teams in the postseason. They award points for ten men's and ten women's sports, but allow each school to choose its top ten sports for each gender (i.e., they take the top ten point-getters for each school; for schools like Virginia Tech, with just 21 varsity sports, that's still a non-starter).The Commissioner's Trophy, meanwhile, is contested with points based on a team's finish in the Big East only. Points are based on regular season finish in sports with full round-robin play; winning percentage in sports with divisional play; and championship finish in all others. Unlike the Directors' Cup where you must excel to earn points, a school gets points for every sport in which they participate.
So what's the difference? Well, let's narrow our view to two generic teams in two generic sports. Let's say Team A places first in the Big East in one sport, but 14th in the other. And let's say Team B finishes fifth in the Big East in both sports. Team A, by virtue of their first-place finish, will go on to postseason play and earn points in the Directors' Cup standings. Team B, with two fifth-place finishes, is unlikely to make the playoffs in either sport. Thus Team A takes the lead in the Directors' Cup.
However, when looking at scoring for the Commissioner's Trophy, Team A scores fifteen points (14 for a first place, 1 for last place) while Team B tops that with 20 points (10 for each fifth-place finish). So the Directors' Cup rewards excellence in one or more sports while allowing for extreme failure in others; the Commissioner's Trophy takes all sports into account. (Note, however, that Directors' Cup perennial champ Stanford scored points in all twenty sports, so at least at the top of the heap "failure" is not an option.)
A Decade for VT
The Directors' Cup was started in the 1993-94 school year, allowing for a full decade of scores to look at. However, I was unable to find results for any intraconference competition for the Metro Conference, so those statistics are left out. Below is a chart of how Virginia Tech fared in Commissioner's Trophy competition and Directors' Cup competition over the past decade. Three notes: First, the Atlantic 10 did not record separate men's and women's champions for the 1995-96 school year. Second, the Big East does not award an overall winner; I compiled the overall scores by adding the men's and women's scores together and re-ranking. Last, the Directors' Cup changed scoring systems often, so point totals varied.
| Virginia Tech's Conference Ranking vs. Directors' Cup Ranking | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Conference (Commissioner's Trophy) Placement | Directors' Cup Placement | ||
| Overall | Mens | Womens | ||
| 1993-94 | - | - | - | 90th, 141.5 pts |
| 1994-95 | - | - | - | 129th, 81.5 pts |
| 1995-96 | Third, 117 pts | N/A | N/A | 91st, 147.5 pts |
| 1996-97 | Second, 143 pts | First, 76.5 pts | Second, 66.5 pts | 92nd, 152 pts |
| 1997-98 | Second, 153.5 pts | First, 78 pts | Second, 75.5 pts | 96th, 70 pts |
| 1998-99 | First, 165.5 pts | First, 78 pts | Second, 87.5 pts | 86th, 90 pts |
| 1999-00 | First, 161.5 pts | First, 80.5 pts | Second, 81 pts | 63rd, 260.5 pts |
| 2000-01 | Sixth, 117 pts | Seventh, 58.5 pts | Eighth, 58.5 pts | 63rd, 278.5 pts |
| 2001-02 | Fifth, 125.5 pts | Fourth, 62.5 pts | Ninth, 63 pts | 105th, 168 pts |
| 2002-03 | Third, 142.5 pts | Second, 75 pts | Seventh, 67.5 pts | 112th, 157 pts |
As you can see, Virginia Tech's highest rankings in the Directors' Cup was 63rd, in both the 1999-2000 school year, and the 2000-01 school year. That corresponds with the Hokies' two best football seasons, back-to-back 11-1 records that got VT a high number of points. Tech's lowest was 129th in the 1994-95 year, VT's last in the now-defunct Metro Conference.
The first thing that jumps out is the Commissioner's Trophy increases the Hokies saw every single year. They placed third their first year in the Atlantic 10, then jumped up to second (behind UMass) for two years before taking the top overall spot their last two years in the conference. When the Hokies joined the Big East, they started sixth overall, moved up to fifth, and this past season took third. Most of the gains seem to be on the men's side, as the men's teams jumped from seventh to second, while the women's teams stayed middle of the pack.
From there we can look at the Directors' Cup standings and see if there's any corresponding increase. From what I can tell, joining a new conference results in a two- to three-year stumble in the Directors' Cup rankings before progress is made. The Hokies went from 91st to 92nd to 96th their first three years in the A-10 before starting to improve. When the Hokies started full conference play in the Big East, they plummeted to 105th and now 112th in the Directors' Cup. Again, this is at the same time that they rose steadily to the top of the race for the Commissioner's Trophy in both conferences.
What does it mean for this coming season? To begin with, I believe you can almost count on a continued improvement in the Commissioner's Trophy rankings. Tech has slowly acclimated itself in the Big East, and knows how to best compete at the level demonstrated. With that, I also believe Tech fans can and should expect at least a slight gain in the Directors' Cup standings. It's VT's fourth year in the conference, the same point where they started up while in the Atlantic 10, and especially with the men's teams doing so well, one would expect added postseason play out of this season.
If Tech had remained in the Big East for the 2004-05 season, Hokie fans could have seen a continued improvement in the intraconference competition and an even bigger increase in Directors' Cup standings as Tech started flexing its muscles in conference, but as everyone not living under a rock knows, Virginia Tech will make its way into the ACC next year, entering its third conference in less than ten years. What can we expect then?
How VT Scored
To begin with, let's take a look at where Virginia Tech got its points. In the Commissioner's Trophy standings, VT scored best with first place in Big East golf, and second-place finishes in swimming and diving and tennis. In the Directors' Cup, VT got points in football, women's basketball, wrestling, golf, and men's track and field. A good number of sports, but relatively low point totals for each. Let's see how that compares with past years.
| Sports in Which VT Scored Directors' Cup Points | |
|---|---|
| Year | Sports |
| 1993-94 | FB, WBB, WRST, BB, Golf |
| 1994-95 | FB, WBB |
| 1995-96 | FB, MBB, WTen, MTen |
| 1996-97 | FB, WTen, MTen, BB |
| 1997-98 | WBB, WRST, WTen, MTen |
| 1998-99 | FB, WBB, WTen, MTen, BB |
| 1999-00 | FB, WRST, WTen, MTen, BB, MT&F |
| 2000-01 | FB, WBB WRST, Golf, WT&F |
| 2001-02 | FB, WRST, MTen, Golf |
| 2002-03 | FB, WBB, WRST, Golf, MT&F |
As you can see, the Hokies got points in five sports last year, the same number of sports they scored in when they received their highest point total, in 2000-01. So progress is already being made.
Another thing I noticed right off is that the Hokies have a "power three" of sports: Football, women's basketball, and wrestling. In only one year out of the past decade did the Hokies not score Directors' Cup points in at least two out of the three. Three years all three sports saw postseason action, a strong figure indeed.
Also notice the clear demarcation with baseball and both tennis teams. As soon as Virginia Tech joined the Big East, postseason play (often gained by the Atlantic 10's automatic bid) ceased immediately. Note, however, that golf picked up part of the slack, no doubt as a result of competing in the better conference and quickly getting (haha) up to par.
Why are these the two points I bring up? First, it's to show that even though history shows Virginia Tech will fall in Directors' Cup rankings as they join the ACC until they acclimate themselves, their "power three" are a strong base on which to build. Furthermore, Hokie fans can expect those three to see continued success in the ACC, with the level of competition roughly equal in the Hokies' new home (if not worse in wrestling).
Second, it's to show that Virginia Tech still has a long, long way to go in the Directors' Cup. If the Hokies didn't see postseason play while competing in the Big East in baseball and tennis, they'll find the road even tougher in the ACC. While golf should be able to keep its current pace, it may be years before those three former strong suits Directors' Cup-wise are able to register points for the Hokies again.
Conclusion
Virginia Tech will fall in the Directors' Cup standings after joining the ACC. That is just about as good a guarantee as you can get. The league is stronger in many Olympic sports than the Big East, and will be a tough place to call home. Tech scored zero Directors' Cup points over the last decade in sports such as cross country, women's lacrosse, women's soccer, men's soccer, softball, swimming and diving, and volleyball. Failing to reach postseason play in the Big East and Atlantic 10 may mean a start in the lower division in the all-around stronger ACC for many of those teams.But that doesn't mean it's where they'll stay. The ACC has no intraconference award similar to the Commissioner's Trophy, but I for one will be watching Virginia Tech's conference finishes in that first year. I'll hold my own ACC Cup, and see where Virginia Tech ranks. And the next year, I'll do it again. Based on the past, it's safe to say that Virginia Tech will have begun their climb up the ACC standings. It may be slower than many hope, and it may cost a few coaches their jobs, but the past has shown that as the Hokies get acclimated in a new conference, they improve in the conference standings over the course of a few years. And then they start their improvement in the Directors' Cup.
Virginia Tech hasn't been in a conference long enough to see how high they could climb in the Directors' Cup once they acclimated themselves in that conference. They'll get that chance in the ACC, and while the climb will probably be slower than in the past, they'll have the opportunity to climb even higher due to better recruiting, better league play, and more money. It may take a few years of taunts about poor rankings, but based on the past, I'd say the Hokies will have nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to the
Directors' Cup very soon.
