New Capital One Cup to Honor Top-Performing NCAA Athletics Programs

MCLEAN, Va., Sept. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF) today announced the launch of the Capital One Cup, a prestigious new program rewarding NCAA Division I athletics programs for their cumulative on-field performance across multiple men's and women's sports.  

Starting with the 2010-11 academic year, NCAA Division I men's and women's athletics programs will compete for the Capital One Cup and $200,000 to fund graduate-level scholarships for student-athletes.  The Capital One Cup will be served by an advisory board of prominent former NCAA student-athletes and current broadcasters, including Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie, women's soccer legend Brandi Chastain, former NCAA basketball player of the year Lisa Leslie, former NCAA baseball player Robin Ventura, and broadcasters Rece Davis and Clark Kellogg.

"The Capital One Cup was created to extend our support of college sports, its student-athletes and its fans by recognizing on-field supremacy at the highest level," said Capital One Chief Marketing Officer, Bill McDonald.  "This annual new program represents a year-long quest to claim the ultimate bragging rights in collegiate sports."

In the annual race for the Capital One Cup, schools will earn points based on their teams' top 10 finishes in NCAA Division I championships and in final official coaches' polls in 13 men's and 13 women's sports throughout the year.

"The creation of the Capital One Cup is an excellent way to highlight the outstanding accomplishments of NCAA student-athletes," said Greg Shaheen, NCAA interim executive vice president of championships and business strategies.  "As student-athletes continue to excel in the classroom, the Capital One Cup will be another measure of success for teams who perform at the highest level competitively.  We're proud to work with Capital One as it bestows this athletics honor and supports the values of higher education with the scholarship donation."

The official Capital One Cup standings will be released at the end of the fall, winter and spring athletics seasons.  In July, the two athletics programs with the highest aggregated point totals across the represented men's and women's sports will be announced as the Capital One Cup winners.  Each school will be presented with the Capital One Cup Trophy and a scholarship donation from Capital One in the amount of $200,000 at the annual ESPY Awards televised live by ESPN.  

Points will be earned by NCAA Division I athletics programs based on their teams' performance in the following sports:

The Capital One Cup Advisory Board members embody success, integrity, leadership and a commitment to excellence.  In their role, they will educate the sports community and fans about the program and help promote the positive values of college athletics.  The Capital One Cup Advisory Board members are:

• Doug Flutie – 1984 Heisman Trophy Winner, football (Boston College)
• Brandi Chastain – Two Women's College Cup® Quarterfinals appearances, women's soccer (Santa Clara)
• Lisa Leslie – 1994 NCAA National Player of the Year, women's basketball (USC)
• Robin Ventura – 1988 Golden Spikes Award winner, baseball (Oklahoma State)
• Clark Kellogg – CBS Sports' lead college basketball analyst and 1982 Big Ten MVP (Ohio State)
• Rece Davis – ESPN college sports commentator (University of Alabama)

"Being the best in college sports requires hard work, dedication and a commitment to excellence, and it's an honor to serve on the Capital One Cup Advisory Board," said former Boston College quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie.  

Throughout the year fans can follow the official standings, announcements and news updates about the Capital One Cup at www.capitalonecup.com.  The website will include video of advisory board member appearances, Capital One Cup information, NCAA Division I Championship results and the Capital One Cup Trophy appearance schedules.  In addition, starting this fall, ESPN will introduce the Capital One Cup Impact Performance of the Week on its college sports telecasts, allowing fans to vote for the plays they think will have the biggest impact on the race for the Capital One Cup.

About Capital One:

Capital One Financial Corporation (http://www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A. and Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., had $117.3 billion in deposits and $197.5 billion in total assets outstanding as of June 30, 2010. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One offers a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients. Capital One, N.A. has approximately 1,000 branch locations primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. A Fortune 500 company, Capital One trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in the S&P 100 index.  

Capital One, an NCAA corporate champion, began its affiliation with college sports with the sponsorship of the 2001 Capital One Florida Citrus Bowl (now the Capital One Bowl) and ESPN's Capital One Bowl Week. In addition, Capital One sponsors the ABC College Football Halftime Report, Capital One All-America Mascot Team, all 88 NCAA Championships including the Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Championships, and numerous other collegiate athletics programs.

About the NCAA:

The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and universities committed to supporting academic and athletic opportunities for more than 400,000 student-athletes at more than 1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 54,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA championships in Divisions I, II and III sports. Visit www.ncaa.org and www.ncaa.com for more details about the Association, its goals and members and corporate partnerships that help support programs for student-athletes.

SOURCE Capital One Financial Corporation