Michigan is 11th with Penn State (21), Nebraska (22) and Wisconsin (24) also representing the Big Ten in the top 25.
Texas will be the 2024 winner followed by Stanford, Tennessee, Florida, UCLA and No. 6 Notre Dame.
Alabama is right behind Ohio State with future Big Ten member USC ranking ninth and Virginia 10th.
Ohio State overcame a week fall to rise into the national top 10 by June.
With football slipping to 10th, Ohio State was just No. 51 in early January but 18 teams ended up contributing points in the cup standings with nine finishing in their respective top 10.
The latter group includes the national champion women’s ice hockey team, third-place men’s tennis and men’s golf, fifth-place men’s volleyball, sixth-place men’s gymnastics, eighth-place wrestling and ninth-place women’s swimming and diving.
Ohio State previously led the Big Ten in the Director’s Cup standings in 2003, ‘06, ‘10, ‘11, ‘12, ‘15, ‘16, ‘17 and ‘23.
Next year, the Buckeyes will have to contend with Big Ten newcomers USC and UCLA, and the other two teams coming with them from the Pac-12 are no slouch.
Washington is 26th with Oregon 34th in the standings this year.
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