Performing a deep dive on NC State Winter Sports during the Director’s Cup era yielded this nugget, while seemingly always in the Top 25, and having an Olympian in the most recent Summer Games, Rifle has never finished 8th or higher nationally and thus has never earned NC State any Director’s Cup points.
I estimate that this year NC State has a 15% chance of winning an NCAA team title in Swimming (Men currently 3rd, Women currently 14th) and a 5% chance in Wrestling (currently 5th). That’s the best odds, I have for NC State in any sports this year.