CBS: U of L third-best in college sports

It wasn't quite "The Year of the Cardinal," which gained Louisville the top spot in the CBS Best in College Sports rankings after the 2012-13 school year, but 2013-14 still saw enough U of L success to rank the Cards third in the 2014 ratings.

Louisville is ranked behind first-place Stanford and second-place Michigan State in the new Best in College Sports ratings, which CBS published on Wednesday morning. Fellow ACC program Florida State is fourth, with UConn 14th, UK 15th and four (and a half*) ACC programs in the top 20.

The rankings are based on athletics programs' success in men's and women's hoops, football, baseball and a "wild card," which can be any of the other sports teams at a school that do well.

U of L ranked in the top 15 in each of the four main categories, and was solid enough in the "wild card" to beat out FSU, Baylor, Oregon, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, LSU and UCLA. CBS used Louisville men's soccer as its wild card -- that team reached the second round of the NCAA tournament before falling to quarterfinalist Michigan State.

The Cards finished atop the rankings last year thanks to a men's hoops national title, Sugar Bowl win, College World Series appearance and women's hoops Final Four berth. The men's soccer team helped last year, too, with a quarterfinals appearance in the NCAA tournament.

This year, in addition to the men's soccer tournament win, U of L men's hoops made the Sweet 16, football won the Russell Athletic Bowl, women's hoops reached the Elite 8 and the baseball team returned to the CWS.

Stanford's 2013-14 run featured a Pac-12 conference title in football, a Sweet 16 appearance in men's hoops, a Final Four run from the women's hoops team and a super regional berth for the baseball team. The Cardinal got their wild-card help from women's gymnastics, a regular power in that sport.

Follow U of L beat writer Jeff Greer on Twitter (@jeffgreer_cj) for constant Cards updates.