This news is coming to you a few days late, but it still certainly demands attention.

The University of Louisville ended the 2006-2007 athletics season by placing a program-best 28th in the annual Directors Cup Standings. The finish was tied for the second highest by a Kentucky university in the annual rankings for cumulative sports achievement, bested only by UK's 26th place finish in the 1996-1997 season.

Despite a budget inferior by $21 million, U of L finished 17 spots in front of their in-state rivals, who came in at #45.

Courtesy of Eric Crawford's blog, here is a chart that chronicles (TM) the Cup finishes of Louisville and Kentucky since the 1993-1994 school year:

Louisville's list of achievements in the most successful athletic year in school history includes:

--The only school to win a BCS game, a College World Series game and an NCAA men's basketball tournament game.

--17 of 22 teams made NCAA post-season play, 12 were ranked nationally.

--One of three schools (Ohio State, Texas A&M) to make the NCAA Tournament in baseball, football, softball and men's and women's basketball.

--Became one of two schools (Florida) to play in the College World Series, a BCS bowl game and the Final Four in the last three seasons.

--Two individual track national championships.

--Top ten final national rankings in football, baseball, men's track and women's golf.

Not a bad year to start blogging.

"Arguably the most remarkable decade of all-around progress in the modern era of college sports."--Pat Forde