Lobos Top All G5 Schools in Final Learfield Directors’ Cup Rankings

WESTLAKE, Ohio — Paced by a big spring where the Lobos picked up points in men’s tennis, men’s outdoor track & field and women’s outdoor track & field, the University of New Mexico finished 49th in the final Learfield Directors’ Cup rankings, finishing as the top program among the Group of 5 conferences.

Only Power-4 programs and three Ivy League schools (which offer more sports than UNM) finished ahead of the Lobos as New Mexico had its highest finish in the Learfield standings overall since the 2011-12 academic year in which the Lobos finished 41st in a year in which UNM won a school record 10 conference titles.  In 2024-25, the Lobos won six titles, winning in men’s cross country, women’s cross country, men’s basketball, women’s indoor track & field, women’s outdoor track & field, and men’s tennis.  The six titles tied for the fourth-most in a single year in Lobo history.

The 49^th place finish marked just the third time in school history that the Lobos have picked up a Top-50 finish. Along with a 41^st place finish in 2011-12, UNM also finished 47^th in 2009-10.  UNM’s 49^th-place finish is the highest finish for a Group of 5 conference institution since Louisville finished 30^th in the 2013-14 Learfield Directors’ Cup Standings as a member of the American Athletic Conference.

Among the name programs in the Power-4 that UNM finished ahead of SEC members Missouri and Vanderbilt, Big 10 members Indiana, Purdue, Northwestern, and Iowa, ACC members Miami (Fl.), Boston College, SMU, and Georgia Tech and Big 12 members Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Colorado, and Houston. All told, UNM finished ahead of 23 Power-4 conference institutions, including nine from the Big 12.

The closest Group of 5 school to New Mexico was South Florida, which finished 78th with 294.75 points.  Within the Mountain West, the closest any school came to New Mexico was Boise State with 214.5 points for a 91^st-place finish.

“To finish as the top program in the Group of Five is a tremendous accomplishment for our program,” said Vice President/Director of Athletics Fernando Lovo. “It’s not just a tribute to our terrific student-athletes and coaches, but everyone behind the scenes and for our fans too, as they provide such a great advantage for us at home. This coupled with our record academic successes this year has me excited to continue to build our championship culture.”

Overall New Mexico picked up 69 points for women’s outdoor track & field’s ninth place overall finish, and 75 points for the fifth-place finish on the men’s side.  Those points, coupled with the 25 points for men’s tennis, gave the Lobos 495.5 points on the year.  It was the third-highest single-season point total for UNM behind 522 points in 2009-10 and 516 in 2011-12.

The 49th place finish and the 495.5 points are the most since UNM adopted its current 18-sport configuration in 2019.  UNM’s finish also marked the sixth time in the last 13 years (not counting 2019-20 when there were no standings due to the COVID year) that UNM led the Mountain West, and it marked the 10^th time being either first or second among Mountain West members.