The final Directors' Cup standings were released last week, and as usual Stanford finished at the top.  The Hokies had their second best finish in school history.

Virginia Tech stacked up fairly well when compared with the rest of the ACC.

UNC: 8
FSU: 11
Duke: 12
UVA: 20
NC State: 34
VT: 36
Maryland: 44
Clemson: 52
Miami: 71
GT: 74
BC: 76
Wake: 98

Of the new teams added to the ACC, Notre Dame finished #9, Syracuse finished #39, while Pitt came in at #109.  Louisville, who will join the ACC in 2014, finished #38.  The Cardinal won the Sugar Bowl, won the National Championship in men's basketball, played for the National Championship in women's basketball, and advanced to the College World Series in baseball.  They will be quite an addition in the major sports for the ACC.

This is Virginia Tech's second highest finish in the Directors' Cup.

1994: 90
1995: 129
1996: 91
1997: 92
1998: 96
1999: 86
2000: 63
2001: 63
2002: 105
2003: 112
2004: 79
2005: 58 (first year in ACC)
2006: 45
2007: 48
2008: 37
2009: 46
2010: 38
2011: 45
2012: 35 (highest ever)
2013: 36

2012 and 2013 represent Virginia Tech's best back-to-back years in the Director's Cup in school history.

It's easy to see that Virginia Tech has benefited as a whole from joining the ACC.  The Hokies have become competitive across multiple sports, as opposed to the Big East days when they struggled to recruit and were competitive in only a few sports.  They finished with an average rank of 91.45 during the Big East days, and that average rank has improved to 43.11 in the ACC.  You can literally say that Tech's overall athletics department is more than twice as good as it was pre-expansion.

Let's take a look at which Virginia Tech sports scored points this year…

Men's Cross Country: 22nd place, 52 points
Women's Soccer: 33rd place, 25 points
Football: 26th place, 45 points
Women's Indoor Track and Field: 34th place, 40 points
Men's Indoor Track and Field: 9th place, 67.5 points
Women's Swimming: 24th place, 49.5 points
Men's Swimming: 20th place, 53.5 points
Wrestling: 10 place, 67.5 points
Men's Tennis: 17th place, 50 points
Men's Golf: 56th place, 15 points
Softball: 17th place, 50 points
Women's Outdoor Track and Field: 61st place, 9 points
Men's Outdoor Track and Field: 19th, 55 points
Baseball: 17th, 50 points

That's a good year overall, and it includes two top 10 finishes and five other top 20 finishes.