CLEVELAND – MIT finished 11th in the final Division III Learfield Directors' Cup Standings for the 2025-26 season.
MIT earned 849.00 points in the final standings after claiming 333.50 points during the spring season. The Engineers finished 14.75 points behind 10th-place Amherst (863.75) and 45.25 points ahead of 12th-place Washington & Lee (803.75). MIT was the top finisher in the NEWMAC as Babson finished second with a 33rd-place finish (543.50). Springfield (328.00) was also in the top 100, finishing 57th overall.
Washington University in St. Louis captured the 2025-26 Learfield Directors' Cup with 1,266.50 overall points, becoming just the eighth different institution to win the award. Tufts finished second with 1,252.50 total points. Johns Hopkins was third with 1,180.00 total points, Emory was fourth with 1,066.00 total points and Williams took fifth with 1,063.75 points following an 11th-place finish in 2024-25.
The MIT men's volleyball team's run to the regional final of the NCAA Division III championship earned the Engineers 65 points with a fifth-place finish, as MIT won its first two NCAA games in program history before falling in five sets to Cal Lutheran. Women's tennis added 64 points with a ninth-place finish, hosting an NCAA regional but falling in the final to Bowdoin.
MIT added 50 points thanks to a 17th place finish in women's lacrosse, where the Engineers hosted and fell to Gettysburg in the second round, as well as 50 points in softball where the Engineers advanced to the regional final before falling to Colby in the Bangor, Maine Regional to finish 17th in the nation. Finally, the men's and women's track and field teams combined for 104.5 points, as women's track and field finished tenth nationally to earn 67.5 points and men's track and field was 34th at nationals to earn 37 points.
In the winter, MIT earned points in men's and women's swimming and diving and men's and women's indoor track and field. MIT claimed 73.5 points in women's swimming and diving thanks to the Engineers' sixth place finish at the NCAA Division III Championships. The men's swimming and diving team earned 61.5 points for finishing 14th at the NCAA Championships. In indoor track and field, the women's team placed eighth nationally to earn 70.5 points while the men's team added 38 points thanks to a 33rd place finish at nationals.
MIT earned 143 points in the fall on the strength of the men's and women's cross country programs, as both squads finished in the top-10 at this year's NCAA Division III Championships. The women placed fifth to claim 75 points and the men's team was ninth overall to earn 69 points. MIT added 64 more points in women's soccer as the Engineers finished the year with a 22-3-1 record and advanced to the third round of the NCAA tournament before falling to WashU, 1-0. MIT also claimed 64 points for advancing to the regional final in women's volleyball before falling to Trinity (TX), as the squad finished the season with a 29-4 record.
The Learfield Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today. Overall, up to 18 total sports may count towards the final Directors' Cup standings, four of which must be men's basketball and soccer, and women's basketball and soccer, leaving the next 14 highest points scored to also be counted. Points are awarded based on each institution's finish in NCAA Championships.
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