VCU Wins All-Sport State Survey

[TJ Reaper]

Norfolk, Va. - Virginia Commonwealth University won .673 of its intercollegiate athletic contests in 2002-03 to win the 25th annual Virginia Sports Information Director's Association Division I All Sport survey, claiming the title for the first time ever. The Rams won .759 of their men's contests to finish tops in the state in the men's rankings, and .578 of their women's games to place third in that category. VCU won CAA titles in baseball, men's soccer, men's tennis and women's tennis.

This is the first time that VCU has claimed the overall state title in winning percentage. It's .673 mark is the highest for a winning school since Old Dominion won .688 of its games in the 1984-85 season. All four VCU teams that claimed conference titles advanced to the NCAA tournament, and all four were ranked in the nation's top 25. Men's soccer received the national #8 seed in the men's soccer championship, and women's tennis was seeded 12th nationally. Each of those teams advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Overall, Virginia Division I schools compiled a 1947-1802-35 record for a winning percentage of .519. Men's teams were 981-874-21 (.528) while the women's teams finished up at 960-928-14 (.509). The survey began in 1978-79 and includes winning percentages of only those sports with NCAA sponsored championships. Old Dominion won
seven of the first eight overall titles, then again in 1993-94,1995-96 and 1998-99. Virginia dominated five years (1988-89 to 1992-93), then again in 1996-97 and 1997-98. George Mason won in 1986-87, and James Madison won in 1981-82 , 1987-88 and 1994-95. Hampton University won in 2000 and 2001.

OVERALL:

#1 - VCU
#2 - RICHMOND
#3 - VIRGINIA
#4 - HAMPTON
#5 - GEORGE MASON
#6 - W&M
#7 - VIRGINIA TECH
#8 - ODU
#9 - JMU
#10-LIBERTY
#11-VMI
#12-NORFOLK STATE
#13-RADFORD

Notable Notes:

VCU finished 1st overall, 1st in men's, 3rd in women's
MASON finished 5th overall, 7th men's, 4th women's
W&M finished 6th overall, 4th men's, 9th women's
ODU finished 8th overall, 9th men's, 2nd women's
JMU finished 9th overall, 10th men's, 8th women's

I would've expected ODU to finish 6th or 7th because of the 2nd place women's rank, but the school had 137 wins in all sports (Tech had 183)

[MrVCU]

Here are the actual numbers. Some were very interesting and surprising. I was surprised to see W&M down where they were, especially the women's record. JMU and ODU had terrible years in their Men's programs.
Can't argue with VCU's numbers, especially the Men winning 76% of their contests!

OVERALL :
VCU 172-83-2 .673
UR 173-100-5 .631
UVA 251-175-2 .589
HU 114-85-0 .573
GMU 179-151-4 .542
W&M 190-164-2 .534
VT 183-166-2 .524
ODU 137-134-2 .505
JMU 195-219-6 .471 (Longwood, VMI, NSU, Radford)

MEN :

VCU 102-32-1 .759
UVA 124-69-0 .642
UR 92-55-3 .623
W&M 107-66-1 .618
HU 40-25-0 .615
VT 88-75-1 .540
GMU 82-75-4 .522
NSU 49-55-0 .471
ODU 64-82-1 .439
JMU 77-102-3 .431 (VMI, Longwood, Radford)

WOMEN :

UR 81-45-2 .641
ODU 73-52-1 .583
VCU 70-51-1 .578
GMU 97-76-0 .561
HU 74-60-0 .552
UVA 127-106-2 .545
VT 95-91-1 .511
JMU 118-117-3 .502
W&M 83-98-1 .458 (Longwood, Radford, NSU)

[Oneway]

I'm quite sure this thread will receive a TON of impartial votes. :lol:

[Eric]

How come Hampton, which won the 2000 and 2001 "titles" is not in the poll? I wanted to vote for the Pirates!!!

[ramathon74]

I wonder what the winning percentages are for VA school against non-VA schools. Sinc the VA school play each other so often, it has to pull the overall record closer to .500.

[Al]

I wouldn't say that ODU had a terrible year for men's sports. ODU offers 8 men's sports (including sailing, but I'm assume this ranking didn't count sailing). ODU had winning seasons in 4 of the 8 teams.

Men's golf won the CAA title and advanced to the NCAA's. Men's soccer, despite their 10-9-1 record, got an NCAA at large bid. They beat UR in the 1st round before falling at #1 Wake 1-0 in the 2nd round. Men's tennis had a winning record and sent their top doubles team to the NCAA's. Men's sailing finished in the top 10.

The "big name" men's sports at ODU, basketball and baseball, continued their recent struggles.

I agree that playing each other will drive the percentages to .500. The CAA schools are also at a disadvantage because they have to play each other.

[Rob]

who cares, big deal.