Capital One Cup Adds New Sports as 2011-12 Season Kicks Off

MCLEAN, Va., Sept. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- On the eve of the 2011 NCAA football season, Capital One Financial Corporation  (NYSE: COF) – an official NCAA Corporate Champion – today announced enhancements for the second year of its Capital One Cup to make it more inclusive of the schools, teams and student-athletes competing in all NCAA Division I championship sports.

The biggest update: adding seven women's sports and six men's sports– bringing the program's total to 39 (20 women's and 19 men's) NCAA sports in the Capital One Cup, which honors the best men's and women's NCAA Division I athletics programs for their cumulative on-field performance across multiple men's and women's sports. The new women's sports are bowling, fencing, rifle, skiing, ice hockey, gymnastics and water polo. The new men's sports are water polo, fencing, rifle, skiing, gymnastics and volleyball.  

"In listening to our partners, Advisory Board members and the fans, we are growing the Capital One Cup in Year Two, making it even more inclusive and representative of program-wide college athletics excellence," said Capital One Chief Marketing Officer, Bill McDonald. McDonald continued, noting that in its first year, 75 men's and 64 women's programs scored points in the race for the Capital One Cup.  "Now even more teams on Division I campuses can contribute to the pursuit of the premier award in college sports. More student-athletes also will have the opportunity to compete for the combined $400,000 in student-athlete scholarships that is awarded to the winning schools."

Last year's Capital One Cup winning programs were the University of Florida (men) and Stanford University (women), which were both honored at the ESPY Awards in July. On Sept. 9 (Stanford versus Notre Dame in women's soccer and Stanford versus Penn State in women's volleyball) and Sept. 17 (Florida versus Tennessee in football), Capital One will present the trophy and scholarship checks to representatives of the schools.

"The Capital One Cup is an excellent way to raise the profile and visibility of NCAA athletics while supporting the educational pursuits of student-athletes with the winning scholarship money," said Greg Shaheen, NCAA interim executive vice president.  "In the second year of the program we're excited to see all NCAA Division I championship sports get the chance to be a part of this premier program. With the addition of the new sports, we expect and look forward to another exciting finish for the Capital One Cup."

This year, the Capital One Cup again will be served by its advisory board of prominent former NCAA student-athletes and current broadcasters who 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. This year, the Advisory Board features the addition of three-time All-American softball player, Jennie Finch.

• 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 (Alabama)
• Jennie Finch – Three-time NCAA All-American pitcher, softball (Arizona)

"One of the elements I love most about the Capital One Cup is the emphasis on winning national championships," said Advisory Board member and 1984 Heisman Trophy winner Flutie.  "Last year, we saw many great programs win multiple championships to fight their way to the top of the standings.  The Capital One Cup is the perfect barometer for program-wide athletic excellence, and I'm proud to be a part of it."

Capital One became an NCAA Corporate Champion in March 2010.  For more information on the Capital One Cup, fans can go to capitalonecup.com, facebook.com/CapitalOneCup or 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 $126.1 billion in deposits and $199.8 billion in total assets outstanding as of June 30, 2011. 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, 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.

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.

NCAA and College World Series 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
[email protected]

SOURCE Capital One

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