The final 2025-26 LEARFIELD Directors' Cup standings were released on Tuesday, June 9, with the Keiser Seahawks placing third.
The Seahawks have now finished in the top-5 in the Learfield Cup standings for nine consecutive years, registered 918.00 points in the final 2025-26 Learfield Directors' Cup standings. The Seahawks had
20 teams qualify for the postseason during the year, with men's lacrosse, women's tennis, men's swimming & diving, women's swimming & diving, and women's soccer claiming NAIA National Championships.
The University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) topped the standings at 1021.00 points followed by Indiana Wesleyan with 969.00 points while Marian and Lindsey Wilson rounded out the top-5 with 861.00 and 794.75 points, respectively.
No. 2-ranked Keiser Seahawks completed a perfect season and captured the 2026 NAIA National Championship on Saturday, May 16, defeating the No. 1 Madonna Crusaders, 20-10, at the Jack Allen Complex in Decatur, Alabama. The Seahawks closed the year at 15-0 and claimed the program's fourth straight NAIA National Championship in dominant fashion, using a fast start and explosive offensive attack to overwhelm the top-seeded Crusaders. Keiser scored seven goals in the opening quarter and never surrendered control, leading by as many as 10 goals in the second half.
No. 1 Keiser women's tennis captured the NAIA National Championship with a 4-1 victory over No. 2 Lindsey Wilson on Saturday, May 16, at the Mobile Tennis Center, finishing the season at 24-1, the most wins in a season in program history. The Seahawks lost the doubles point after winning on court one but rallied in singles with wins on the top four flights to claim the program's first national title since 2003, when the school competed as Northwood.
No. 1 Keiser Men's Swimming and Diving claimed their seventh NAIA National Championship on Saturday, March 8, at the Elkhart Aquatics Center in Elkhart, Ind. After the meet,
Noel De Geus was awarded the Swim of the Meet Award for the fourth year in a row for his performance in the 100 Breast.
Adrian Avilan was named NAIA Diver of the Year.
Isaiah Aleksenko garnered NAIA Swimmer of the Year for a second straight year. Head Coach
Adam Epstein was named the Coach of the Year for the sixth time.
No. 1 Keiser Women's Swimming & Diving won their fifth consecutive NAIA National Championship on Saturday night in Elkhart, Ind. After the meet,
Luiza Bersi was named NAIA Swimmer of the Year and
Sinead Valero was named NAIA Diver of the Year.
No. 3 Keiser women's soccer are NAIA National Champions after defeating No. 9 Cumberlands (Ky.) 3-2 on penalty kicks following a 1-1 draw through 110 minutes at Ashton Brosnaham Stadium in Pensacola, Fla. on Monday, December 8. The victory secured the program's third national championship and second straight trip to the final game. After going through two overtimes without a winner, the national title came down to penalty kicks, where a save from
Madison Priebe denied the Patriots and secured the win for KU. After the game,
Georgia Little,
Lauren Riley, and
Maria Vilhena were named to the 2025 NAIA All-Tournament Team. Little was then awarded Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the tournament before Riley was named the 2025 NAIA Women's Soccer National Championship Most Valuable Player.
Final Sport Standings
| Sport |
Finish |
Points |
| Women's Soccer |
National Champions |
100 |
| Women's Swimming & Diving |
National Champions |
100 |
| Men's Swimming & Diving |
National Champions |
100 |
| Men's Lacrosse |
National Champions |
100 |
| Women's Tennis |
National Champions |
100 |
| Football |
2nd Place |
90 |
| Women's Golf |
3rd Place |
85 |
| Men's Tennis |
3rd Place |
83 |
| Men's Golf |
10th Place |
60 |
| Men's Basketball |
17th Place |
50 |
| Men's Soccer |
17th Place |
50 |
| Women's Lacrosse* |
3rd Place |
-- |
| Softball* |
11th Place |
-- |
| Wrestling* |
19th Place |
-- |
| Baseball* |
27th Place |
-- |
| Men's Indoor Track & Field* |
55th Place |
-- |
| Men's Outdoor Track & Field* |
55th Place |
-- |
*Overall, 13 sports are counted in the final NAIA standings, four of which must be men's basketball, men's soccer, women's basketball and women's volleyball. The next highest (9 max.) sports scored for each institution, regardless of gender, are used in the standings. Five total scores were not counted due to the maximum number of sports that are able to be counted – baseball, softball, men's indoor track & field, men's outdoor track & field, wrestling and women's lacrosse.
Sun Conference Schools in the Top 100 of the Standings
| School |
Finish |
Points |
| Keiser |
3rd Place |
918.00 |
| Southeastern |
6th Place |
751.00 |
| SCAD Savannah |
10th Place |
668.00 |
| St. Thomas |
18th Place |
587.25 |
| Ave Maria |
74th Place |
245.00 |
| Coastal Georgia |
98th Place |
171.50 |
Overall Department Success on the Year
- 1 Sun Conference Commissioner's Cup
- 3 NAIA National Coach of the Year Award Winners
- 5 National Championships – Men's Lacrosse, Women's Tennis, Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving, and Women's Soccer
- 5 Conference Regular Season Champions
- 6 Conference Coach of the Year Winners
- 6 National Athletes of the Year Award Winners
- 10 Conference Tournament Champions
- 15 teams ranked in the final NAIA Top 25 polls
- 20 NAIA Tournament appearances
- 34 Conference Specialty Award Winners (ie Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Newcomer of the Year)
- 155 All-Americans
- 152 NAIA Scholar-Athletes
- 182 academic all-conference honorees
- 214 all-conference individual awards
The Learfield Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and
USA Today. Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in NAIA Championships.
Complete standings and the scoring structure can be found on NACDA's website at
www.directorscup.org. In addition, please visit
www.thedirectorscup.com and follow us on Twitter
@ldirectorscup.
About Learfield: Learfield is the leading media and technology company powering college athletics. Through its digital and physical platforms, Learfield owns and leverages a deep data set and relationships in the industry to drive revenue, growth, brand awareness, and fan engagement for brands, sports, and entertainment properties. With ties to over 1,200 collegiate institutions and over 12,000 local and national brand partners, Learfield's presence in college sports and live events delivers influence and maximizes reach to target audiences. With solutions for a 365-day, 24/7 fan experience, Learfield enables schools and brands to connect with fans through licensed merchandise, game ticketing, donor identification for athletic programs, exclusive custom content, innovative marketing initiatives, NIL solutions, and advanced digital platforms. Since 2008, it has served as title sponsor for the acclaimed Learfield Directors' Cup, supporting athletic departments across all divisions.
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