MCLEAN, Va., Jan. 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2012-13 college sports season is heating up as Capital One Financial Corporation (NYSE: COF), an official NCAA® Corporate Champion, announced the official fall standings for the Capital One Cup, which is awarded each year to the best men's and women's NCAA Division I athletics programs in the country. Tied for first on the women's side are Penn State and North Carolina. The Nittany Lions earned points in three fall sports, turning in top 5 finishes in the final coaches' polls in volleyball, soccer and field hockey. The Tar Heels rose to the top of the women's standings after claiming 60 points for their NCAA soccer title, while also collecting points after their runner-up finish in the NCAA field hockey national championship. On the men's side, there is a three-way tie between Alabama, Indiana and North Dakota State for the number one spot. Alabama climbed to the top after claiming its third national BCS title in four years while North Dakota State won the FCS championship for the second consecutive year. Indiana earned its first place Capital One Cup ranking after winning the Men's College Cup.

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Below are the official Capital One Cup standings for the 2012 -2013 fall athletics season, with the top 10 point earners (including ties) in men's and women's athletics listed. The complete standings can be found at www.CapitalOneCup.com or Facebook.com/CapitalOneCup.

Highlights from the fall season include:

• The Oregon women's athletics program clinched its first NCAA cross country crown since 1987.
• Princeton's Lady Tigers edged out North Carolina in the NCAA field hockey championship earning the program's first ever national title.
• North Carolina toppled three number one seeds on its way to claiming the school's 21^st national championship in women's soccer.
• Indiana picked up its eighth soccer national championship for the men's program after defeating Georgetown in the championship game.
• The Oklahoma State men's cross country team captured its third national championship in four years after defeating Louisville.
• Alabama rolled to its third national BCS title in four years with a victory over Notre Dame. In the FCS championship, North Dakota State claimed its second consecutive title.
• Women's championship winners were Oregon (Cross Country), Princeton (Field Hockey), North Carolina (Soccer) and Texas (Volleyball).
• Men's championship winners included Oklahoma State (Cross Country), USC (Water Polo), Indiana (Soccer), North Dakota State (Football-FCS) and Alabama (Football-BCS).
• 47 schools earned points in the Capital One Cup men's standings and 26 schools earned points in the women's standings.

"There have been some inspiring performances from championship teams and student-athletes this fall," said Capital One Cup Advisory Board member, Brandi Chastain, a former student-athlete at Santa Clara University. "The UNC women's soccer team persevered through a challenging bracket to take home their 21^st championship.  And the women's volleyball tournament was filled with exciting upsets from teams like Oregon and Michigan before seeing Texas come away with the final victory. I'm looking forward to seeing which programs will challenge these current Capital One Cup standings leaders during the winter and spring sports seasons and gain the inside track at winning the trophy and $400,000 in combined total scholarships for student-athletes."

"The college football season has been one of the most exciting in recent memory, and the race for the Capital One Cup has been no different," said Capital One Cup Advisory Board member and former Heisman Trophy winner, Doug Flutie. "There's been a lot of movement at the top of the Capital One Cup standings this fall and Alabama and North Dakota State have claimed their early first place standing following strong performances on the football field.  This is my third year with the program and I love how the enthusiasm from schools and fans continues to build as their respective teams earn points and move up in the standings."

"In the fall we saw athletics programs like Penn State, North Carolina, Alabama, North Dakota State and Indiana start to assert themselves," said Marc Mentry, Senior Vice President, Capital One Brand Marketing. "But anything can happen in the race for the Capital One Cup, as last year's men's winner, Florida, wasn't even ranked in the top 10 after the fall.  As we move into the winter and spring seasons, we look forward to following the great performances of college athletics and the contenders for the Capital One Cup."

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. The Capital One Cup winners will be determined at the end of the spring season and honored at the ESPY Awards in July.  Last year the University of Florida won on the men's side and Stanford University claimed the women's Cup – each for the second consecutive year. This is the third year of the Capital One Cup. 

Please visit us at CapitalOneCup.com, Facebook.com/CapitalOneCup and Twitter.com/CapitalOneCup for more information and news on the Capital One Cup as well as updates on the standings.

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 $213.3 billion in deposits and $302.0 billion in total assets outstanding as of September 30, 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 approximately 1,000 branch locations primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. ING DIRECT, a division of Capital One, N.A., offers direct banking products and services to customers nationwide.  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 is a trademark 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
Chris.ONeill@capitalone.com

SOURCE Capital One