UAlbany Ranks In Top-50 Of Final Capital One Cup Standings

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Both University at Albany men's and women's athletics teams have been recognized in the final Capital One Cup standings, which honors the nation's best Division I athletic programs. The Great Dane women's programs finished 49^th, while the men placed 50^th out of 106 ranked schools and 347 total NCAA Division I athletic programs.

In 2014-15, UAlbany competed in a school-record six NCAA Tournaments, while winning nine conference championships, and was one of three universities in the country to have its men's basketball, women's basketball, men's lacrosse, women's lacrosse, field hockey, and women' golf teams make NCAA Division I Tournament appearances -- the others were Duke and North Carolina. With field hockey's run to the Final Four and men's lacrosse's quarterfinal appearance, the Great Danes boasted two top-10 national finishes.

The Capital One Cup is awarded annually to each of the best men's and women's Division I college athletics programs in the country. Points toward the Capital One Cup are earned and tracked throughout the year based on final standings of NCAA Championships and final official coaches' polls.

The top-ranked institutions for both men's and women's sports programs will be awarded a combined $400,000 in student-athlete scholarships and the Capital One Cup trophy at the ESPY Awards in July. Virginia finished first in the men's Capital One Cup standings, while Stanford captured the top spot in the final women's rankings.

UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY 2014-15 HIGHLIGHTS

• Won its fourth America East Commissioner's Cup in program history (2004-05, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15) with 404 points -- the most since Boston University accumulated 426 during the 2001-02 season.
• Finished first or second in 11 of the 17 America East sports it sponsors.
• Captured America East Conference championships in field hockey, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's indoor and outdoor track & field and men's lacrosse.
• Regular-season America East champions in field hockey, men's basketball, women's basketball (co-champions) and men's lacrosse.
• Runners up in volleyball, women's tennis and women's lacrosse.
• Women's golf won it's first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title and made the program's first NCAA Regional appearance.
• Field hockey made the University's first NCAA Semifinal appearance, downing No. 6 Wake Forest in the First Round and No. 2 Maryland in the Second Round.
• Paula Heuser was named Honda Sport Award winner, NFHCA Player of the Year, NFHCA First Team All-America, and NCAA All-Tournament Team (all firsts in program history).
• Men's basketball won its third consecutive America East title on Peter Hooley's famed buzzer-beater, earning a 14-seed in the NCAA Tournament vs. No. 3 Oklahoma in Columbus, Ohio.
• Women's basketball won its fourth straight America East title, and nearly upset No. 4 Duke in the NCAA Tournament.
• Shereesha Richard's was named the program's first-ever Division I All-American (second overall) -- only second women's basketball All-American in America East history.
• The men's indoor track & field team won its 10th consecutive America East Indoor Championship, and its 12th in 13 years.
• The women's indoor track & field team won its third consecutive America East Indoor Championship, and its fifth in the last six years.
• The men's outdoor track & field team won its 11th consecutive America East Outdoor Championship, and its 12th in the last 13 years. 
• The women's outdoor track & field team won its seventh consecutive America East Outdoor Championship, and its 10th in the last 11 years. 
• Women's lacrosse earned the first Division I at-large NCAA Tournament bid for any UAlbany team, advancing to play Penn in Syracuse, N.Y.
• Men's lacrosse won its third straight America East title and after beating Cornell, advanced to the quarterfinals against Notre Dame in Denver, Colo.
• Lyle Thompson became the nation's first back-to-back men's Tewaaraton Award Winner, leading the NCAA in points per game for the third straight year.