Outkicking the Coverage: Evaluating Outlier Performance in College Athletic Departments

This thesis aimed to examine why certain NCAA Division I power-conference universities perform better in the NACDA Directors’ Cup (a measure of success across all NCAA sports) than others despite financial and organizational resource disparities. Using multiple linear regression models to determine predicted placement, actual annual finishes were compared to each school’s predicted results to determine which schools performed differently than expected. The study found multiple significant predictors of Directors’ Cup success that helped to validate previous research. Results also indicate that schools that spend more money on less athletes perform better and tend to share geographic and conference longevity characteristics. These results support future research on potential efficiency and geographic advantages of certain power-conference schools and how certain qualitative resources may lead to competitive advantages in college athletics.