The Utah women’s athletic program finished in the top 40 in the 2016-17 Capital One Cup standings, which annually recognizes the best Division I college athletic programs in the country based on NCAA Championships’ finish and final coaches’ polls.
With NCAA postseason appearances by the (coed) skiing, gymnastics, softball, soccer, cross-country and volleyball teams, the strong finished helped the Utah women place 40th overall. The accolade makes it their second-best finish in the seven years that Capital One has sponsored the Cup.
Utah received a big push from their ski team’s NCAA Championship, along with a fifth-place NCAA finish by the gymnastics team – jumping 18 places from last year’s number 58 finish. Utah’s best Capital One Cup ranking is when the team placed in at number 36 in 2014-15.
The Ute softball team advanced to the NCAA Super Regional for the second-straight year and earned a Number 14 final ranking, while soccer ranked Number 16 in the nation after advancing to the third round of the NCAA Tournament, where the Utes fell to eventual national champion USC.
The women’s cross country team placed 20th at the NCAA Championships—its best national finish ever—football’s Number 21 USA Today coaches’ ranking marked its third-straight top-25 national finish and volleyball earned a Number 22 ranking after appearing in the NCAA Tournament for a 13th time.
The Utah men, led by the coed ski team’s 2017 NCAA Championship and a number 21 Coaches’ ranking by the football team, placed them at Number 56 in the men’s Capital One Cup standings.