Georgia State finishes program-best 88th in NCAA Director’s Cup

Championship Monday at the 2022 Sun Belt Basketball Championships at the Pensacola Bay Center on March 7, 2022 in Pensacola, Florida. Georgia State won the tournament. (Photo by AJ Henderson/Sun Belt Conference)

Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Credit: AJ Henderson / Sun Belt Conferen

Championship Monday at the 2022 Sun Belt Basketball Championships at the Pensacola Bay Center on March 7, 2022 in Pensacola, Florida. Georgia State won the tournament. (Photo by AJ Henderson/Sun Belt Conference)

Postseason appearances in five sports helped Georgia State to its highest finish in the NCAA’s Division I Director’s Cup.

The Panthers placed 88th overall, easily beating their previous best of 125th in 2008-09. The Panthers had the highest finish by a team in the Sun Belt Conference and the best by a Sun Belt team since Arkansas State in 2013.

Georgia State had 216.5 points. The University of Texas finished No. 1, with 1,449.5 points. Georgia finished No. 19 (865 points), and Georgia Tech finished No. 68 (352.25 points).

Georgia State had four teams advance to the NCAA Tournament – men’s basketball, men’s soccer, men’s tennis and beach volleyball – and the football team played in a bowl game for the third consecutive season. The four NCAA participants is the second-most in school history and most since four in 2008-09.

The Panthers had four postseason wins, and their three NCAA victories equals the total number before this year.

The beach volleyball team set a school record with 28 wins and finished with a No. 7 national ranking. They had 12 wins against ranked teams, including a victory over No. 2 TCU, which equals the highest-ranked opponent GSU has beaten in any sport.

The football team went 8-5 and won a bowl game for the second consecutive year.

Men’s basketball won the Sun Belt Conference tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. They have three conference championships and three NCAA appearances over the past five years.

Men’s tennis won the Sun Belt regular-season and tournament titles and earned its seventh NCAA berth. Women’s tennis won a share of the regular-season title.

Men’s soccer was the runner-up in the MAC, earned an at-large spot in the NCAA Tournament and beat Charlotte in the first round for the first NCAA win in school history.

Women’s track and field saw distance runner Marine Garnier win two conference titles and earn all-conference honors in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track.

The baseball team won 30 games for the first time since 2015, and its 15 conference wins equaled a program high. Max Ryerson set a school record with 22 homers.

The program had three academic All-American selections – Matthew Fearnley (soccer), Eva Chivu (tennis) and Garnier (track).