UCLA Men's Athletics Program Claims Its First Capital One Cup Title

MCLEAN, Va., June 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- With a win in the NCAA Men's College World Series, UCLA men's athletics program has claimed its first Capital One Cup title, highlighting an outstanding 2012-13 college sports season for UCLA.  The Capital One Cup is annually awarded to the best men's and women's Division I athletics programs in the country and UCLA's men's program will now be able to proudly display the Capital One Cup trophy and be awarded with $200,000 toward student-athlete scholarships – both to be presented at the ESPY Awards ceremony in Los Angeles on July 17.   

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UCLA secured a spot on the Capital One Cup leaderboard at the start of the fall season with a runner-up finish in the NCAA water polo championship and then went on to earn points toward the Cup with strong performances in tennis (runner-up finish) and volleyball (ranked No. 4 in the final coaches' poll) putting the school in contention to win the prestigious award heading into the College World Series. UCLA secured its first-ever NCAA baseball championship which earned them the necessary points to claim an overall first-place finish in the men's Capital One Cup standings with a total of 92 points. For the third straight year, the winner of the men's Capital One Cup came down to the final NCAA Division I championship with four out of the eight qualifying teams having the chance to win the men's Capital One Cup depending on the outcome of the College World Series.

Indiana University's second-place finish in the men's Capital One Cup standings came on the heels of the Hoosiers winning the NCAA men's soccer national championship and four other top-10 finishes across the 19 men's sports represented in the Capital One Cup. Indiana was a mere four points shy of the Bruins' total and their runner-up finish in the standings is their best finish in the three-year history of the award.  Texas A&M University and the University of Florida made late-season runs at the trophy, with the two schools ending the NCAA outdoor track and field championship in a tie for first place and both earning 60 points toward the Capital One Cup. Texas A&M tied Indiana for second in the standings while two-time defending winner Florida placed fourth. Rounding out the top five of the men's Capital One Cup is Duke University.

"The UCLA Athletic Department is honored to win the men's Capital One Cup for the 2012-13 school year," said UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero. "This award is a culmination of the efforts of our student-athletes, coaches and staff members, all of whom have worked tirelessly to strive for broad-based excellence throughout our program. We are truly grateful for this wonderful recognition."

Below are the official Capital One Cup men's final standings for the 2012 – 2013 season, with the top-10 point earners in men's Division I athletics listed.  

"This season, UCLA demonstrated how deep their athletics program is by consistently performing well across multiple sports," said Rece Davis, Capital One Cup Advisory Board member and ESPN college sports analyst. "UCLA posted strong finishes in key sports and was able to out-score two-time defending winner Florida. It was exciting to watch the race for the Cup come down to the College World Series again and what an honor it is for their athletics program to build on last season's third-place finish by becoming this year's Cup winner."

"The come-from-behind performances of the UCLA men's athletics program are great examples of how fierce the competition is for the Capital One Cup," said Marc Mentry, Senior Vice President, Capital One Brand Marketing. "Despite coming close to taking home the Cup last year, UCLA bounced back and brought a will to win to Omaha, winning the College World Series which propelled them to this year's Capital One Cup title. Congratulations to UCLA for earning bragging rights, $200,000 for student-athlete scholarships and the opportunity to be honored on a national stage at the ESPY Awards."

Highlights from the Capital One Cup during the 2012-2013 men's athletics season include:

• Indiana picked up its eighth national soccer championship after defeating Georgetown in the championship game
• Alabama rolled to its third national BCS title in four years with a victory over Notre Dame
• Oklahoma State's cross country team captured its third national championship in four years
• Louisville's basketball team won its third national championship, after defeating a hard-charging Michigan team and overcoming injuries
• Yale won its first national championship in men's ice hockey; the first Ivy League team to win the national title since 1989
• University of California, Irvine won its second consecutive national volleyball championship and fourth in the last seven years
• Virginia claimed its first-ever national tennis championship and became the first ACC school to win a men's NCAA tennis title
• Combined, 102 schools earned points in the Capital One Cup men's standings this season

Schools earn points based on their teams' top-10 finishes in NCAA Division I championships and in final official coaches' polls across 20 women's and 19 men's sports as they compete to win the Capital One Cup trophy and a combined $400,000 in scholarships for student-athletes.

Earlier this month, the University of North Carolina women's athletics program won the Capital One Cup and will join UCLA at the ESPY Awards on July 17 where both schools will be formally honored.

In addition to Davis, other Capital One Cup Advisory Board members include Brandi Chastain, Jennie Finch, Doug Flutie, Clark Kellogg, Barry Larkin and Lisa Leslie.

To view the complete men's and women's standings, please visit www.CapitalOneCup.com. Fans can join in on the conversation at Facebook.com/CapitalOneCup and Twitter.com/CapitalOneCup.

About Capital One
Capital One Financial Corporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company whose subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A., and Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., had $212.5 billion in deposits and $312.9 billion in total assets outstanding as of December 31, 2012. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One offers a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients through a variety of channels. Capital One, N.A. has more than 900 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, Capital One Academic All-America Program, and supports all 89 NCAA Championships including the Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Championships, and numerous other collegiate athletics programs.

NCAA and CWS are trademarks owned or licensed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.  All other licenses or trademarks are property of their respective holders.

Contact: Chris O'Neill, 804-284-5443 
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SOURCE Capital One Financial Corporation