NAIA Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings

In its final year as a member of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC), St. Ambrose led the league by placing 30th in the country in the 2025-26 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings.

SAU finished with 468.5 total points to outdistance Olivet Nazarene, who finished 32nd with 451.75 points, among CCAC institutions. Saint Xavier placed 58th overall.

Points are earned by finishes at NAIA National Championship events. Overall, 13 sports are counted in the final NAIA standings, four of which must be men's basketball, men's soccer, women's basketball and women's volleyball. The next highest (max. of nine) sports scored for each institution, regardless of gender, are used in the standings.

By winning a third National Championship in four years, the St. Ambrose Dance team earned 100 points. The SAU Cheer team picked up 85 points for its third-place finish. Those came as part of a strong winter-sports season for St. Ambrose as men's swimming & diving (66 points), women's swimming & diving (51 points), men's indoor track & field (51.5 points) and men's wrestling (26.5 points) also accumulated high point totals.

The women's soccer made its third straight appearance in the NAIA National Tournament to earn 25 points in the fall, while the baseball team's first trip to the NAIA Championship Opening Round since 2017 picked up 37.5 points in the spring. Men's golf (16 points), men's outdoor track & field (five points) and women's outdoor track & field (five points) also scored in the spring. 

The Bees jumped a total of nine spots from last year's 39th-place finish. St. Ambrose has finished inside the top 40 of the Directors' Cup standings going back to 2017-18.

The Learfield Directors' Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and USA Today.