PRINCETON, N.J. — The more things change, the more they stay the same. Following the 2025-26 athletics season, the Ivy League finished as the fifth-strongest conference in Division I according to the Learfield Directors' Cup rankings. It is the ninth consecutive year that the league has finished in the top-six.
In addition to over 90 nationally-ranked teams, Ivy League programs recorded nine national championships (three team, six individual) throughout the year. Matching the national athletics success was the unwavering commitment to a world-class education — with the league once again leading all Division I conferences in the NCAA Graduation Success Rate and Academic Progress Rate metrics.
Learfield Directors' Cup rankings (by conference):
- SEC: 838.8
- Big Ten: 729.8
- ACC: 667.0
- Big 12: 531.8
- IVY LEAGUE: 410.9
- Pac-12: 299.0
- Big East: 189.9
- WCC: 149.2
- Mountain West: 148.1
- Summit League: 147.5
- Big West: 134.4
- Patriot: 128.4
- WAC: 118.8
- American: 113.6
- Big Sky: 106.9
The Ivy League boasts the three highest-ranked schools outside of the “Power 4” conferences in Princeton (No. 20), Yale (45), and Harvard (48). Six Ivy League schools finished inside the top-100 of the rankings out of 300+ NCAA Division I schools. It is the ninth-consecutive competitive season where the Ivy League as a whole has finished inside the top-six (also finished at No. 5 in 2019 and 2025).
The average rating for all eight Ivy schools is 410.9, the highest amongst non-Power 4 conferences. The next highest average rating for a conference is the Pac-12 at 299.0.
2025-26 By The Numbers:
- 1 - top-ranked conference in NCAA Graduation Success Rate
- 1 - top-ranked conference in NCAA Academic Progress Rate
- 5 - fifth-strongest athletics conference in the Learfield Directors Cup
- 9 - National Champions
- 10 - multiple-bid sports in NCAA championships (e.g., automatic qualifer plus another Ivy)
- 94 - Nationally-Ranked Teams
The Ivy League finished the season with nine national championships (six individual and three team). In the fall season, Columbia's
Michael Zheng won his second-straight NCAA tennis men’s singles title. A few months later in the winter season, two Ivies (Columbia’s
Sam Kumbia and Harvard’s
Jessica Guo) earned fencing national titles before Penn’s
Omar Hafez and Princeton’s
Zeina Zein also won individual squash championships. The Quakers also earned the Howe Cup. A few weeks later, Harvard’s
Tito Alofe added to the tally with a title in the men’s high jump at the indoor track & field championships. Then in the spring season, Princeton won the conference’s second-straight men’s lacrosse national title as Harvard picked up their third-straight men’s lightweight rowing national championship.
In addition to the national titles, 2025-26 saw many Ivy League sports earn multiple bids into NCAA Championships. For the second-straight season, five Ivies punched their tickets to the NCAA Men’s Tennis Tournament. Four Ivies also paved their way to the NCAA Women’s Rowing Championships, marking the fifth-straight season that at least four programs have punched their tickets to the event. Three Ivy League field hockey programs, including national runner-up Princeton, and three men’s lacrosse programs, including national champion Princeton, earned their spots in the respective fields. In the league’s first year sending teams to the FCS playoffs, both Harvard and Yale claimed their spots in the playoffs. Men’s cross country, men’s ice hockey, women’s ice hockey, women’s lacrosse, and men’s soccer all also put two teams in the NCAA championships.