The NACDA Directors Cup measures a school's postseason success in men's and women's sports. Each school is ranked based upon its 10-highest men's and 10-highest women's finishes.
The Tar Heels won the inaugural trophy in 1993-94 (the award was then known as the Sears Cup) and has averaged a sixth-place finish in the last five years.
Stanford won the 2005-06 Division I title for the 12th consecutive year with 1197.375 points. UCLA was second with 1071.375 points, Texas was third with 966, North Carolina was fourth with 952.75 and Florida was fifth with 913. Rounding out the Top 10 were Notre Dame, California, Duke, Georgia and Southern California.
This was the 11th time Carolina finished with the most points among Atlantic Coast Conference schools. In addition to No. 4 Carolina and No. 8 Duke, Florida State was 17th, Virginia was 26th, Maryland was 27th, NC State was 34th, Clemson was 39th, Miami was 42nd, Wake Forest was 44th, Virginia Tech was 45th, Georgia Tech was 50th and Boston College was 51st.
Twenty-four of Carolina's 28 varsity sports qualified for NCAA postseason play. In addition to baseball's second-place finish, the women's basketball team tied for third, women's indoor track and field was fourth, men's and women's soccer and women's lacrosse advanced to the final eight and earned fifth-place points, men's outdoor track and field was ninth, and field hockey and men's and women's tennis reached the Sweet 16 and earned ninth-place points.
Carolina's yearly finish in the Directors Cup is as follows:
2005-06: 4th
2004-05: 9th
2003-04: 7th
2002-03: 8th
2001-02: 4th
2000-01: 15th
1999-2000: 5th
1998-99: Tied 17th
1997-98: Tied 2nd
1996-97: 2nd
1995-96: 6th
1994-95: 2nd
1993-94: 1st